Apply now for one of seven playwriting commissions
Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival is an annual theatre festival supporting writers with a meaningful connection to Hull to create and develop new plays in the city.
Inspired by scratch nights, Fresh Ink showcases early versions of new plays, commissioned especially for the festival.
It features script-in-hand performances alongside writer workshops, industry talks and two keynote speeches, across venues in Hull’s Fruit Market quarter.
18-19 July
Plays
Daddy’s Girl
Elle Douglas
Lucky Numbers
Dan McGarry
Save the Wreck
Jamie Lee Falk
Kayfabe Babe
Aidan Thompson-Coates
The Power of Invisibility
James Hall
Ten Pound Per Minute
Nina Koshy
Please Don’t Make Me Explain This
Emily Lidgard
Middle Child Writers’ Group: Part One and Part Two
Various Writers
Class Acts: Working Class Writers’ Group
Various Writers
No Dress Code: Young Writers’ Group
Various Writers
Let It Burn (An Extract)
Sarah Middleton
Workshops
How to Write Compelling Applications
Lydia Marchant and Matthew May
How to Write Dialogue
Simon Stephens
How to Adapt Existing Stories
Kendall Feaver
How to Celebrate Liveness
Sami Ibrahim
How to Start Writing Plays
Tom Wells
How to Build Character
Iman Qureshi
Talks
How I Write Comedy
John Godber
How I Use Research
Gillian Slovo
How I Meet New Writers
Leeds Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres and York Theatre Royal
How I Join Rehearsals
Maureen Lennon
Keynote Speech
Rachel Twigg (National Theatre)
Keynote Speech
Lydia Marchant
Meet the Writers
Fresh Ink 2026 Commissioned Playwrights
Social
I Hate Networking
Rabbey
No Stupid Questions
Rabbey and Sarah Penney
Saturday Night Social
Seven writers were selected from 123 applicants to each write a new play for the 2026 festival
