ESB and Fishamble: The New Play Company launch Tiny Play Challenge

ESB, Ireland's leading energy company, and Fishamble: The New Play Company, have launched the Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future challenge, calling on the Irish public to submit 600-word plays on the theme of a brighter energy future.

Submissions are now open until March 1st for aspiring playwrights and anyone with an interest in writing for theatre, to develop a tiny play of 600 words on what a brighter energy future means to you. Shortlisted entries will be paid a fee to have their plays published online, and three chosen writers will be paid a commissioning fee to have their play brought to life by Fishamble, who will produce, stage and film multimedia pieces.

Pat O’Doherty, chief executive of ESB, said: “This unique partnership with Fishamble recognises the important role that theatre and the arts can play in communicating the opportunities and complexities of Ireland’s transition to a low carbon energy future. Clean electricity will not only be a transformative force in the fight against climate change but will also bring wider benefits for people in terms of health and wellbeing. We are looking forward to seeing how this can be brought to life through submissions from across Ireland.”

Jim Culleton, artistic director of Fishamble, said: “Fishamble is delighted to partner with ESB, a company with a long-term connection to the arts, to help discover and produce tiny plays about a brighter future. We look forward to seeing how artists respond to this latest callout in Fishamble’s Tiny Plays strand of work, to create mini pieces of theatre about one of the most important issues in the world today.”

Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future is an opportunity to give creative expression to all points of view in the transition to a low carbon energy future: to look at the choices we all must make to meet our future climate goals, examine how those choices will impact communities across Ireland, and imagine what we want the Ireland of our future to be, through 600-word Tiny Plays.

This is the latest Tiny Play challenge from Fishamble. During the first lockdown, from March to May 2020, Fishamble set an initial challenge to keep everyone's creativity flowing by challenging people in Ireland and around the world, to write 600-word Tiny Plays, with the themes of community, nature, trade, essential, and change. There were over 470 submissions, with the shortlisted plays published on their website, and 10 plays produced and streamed online as Tiny Plays 24/7.

Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future is part of ESB’s wider Brighter Future Strategy which puts sustainability at the heart of its strategic objectives and its purpose as an organisation.

To learn more about the challenge visit www.esb.ie/tinyplays

About Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future

This partnership between ESB and Fishamble provides a unique platform for everyone to creatively imagine what we want for Ireland’s energy future.

Submission form for all entries can be found here.

T&Cs and FAQs for Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future can be found here.

About Fishamble: The New Play Company

Fishamble: The New Play Company. Fishamble is an Irish theatre company that is passionate about discovering, developing and producing new plays of national importance with a global reach, while championing the role of the playwright. It typically supports over 50 per cent of the writers of all new plays produced on the island of Ireland each year. Fishamble tours its productions to audiences throughout Ireland, and to 19 other countries, and has received many awards in Ireland and internationally, including an Olivier Award.