The Popcorn Group have announced the judging committee and the longest of imaginative new plays for this year’s Popcorn Writing Award, with the group pairing with BBC Writersroom for the first time. 

Bridgerton star Luke Thompson will join the judging panel, alongside Olivier Award winning producer Francesca Moody MBE, portrait artist Jonathan Yeo, comedian Jack Rooke, stage and screen star Lydia Leonard, Ivor Novello nominated composer Nainita Desai and director Charlotte Colbert. 

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an important launch pad for up and coming talent in the arts and with the festival returning this year after 2 years of cancellations and set backs, the Popcorn Writing Award plays a huge part in championing new talent. 

The longlisted plays up for this year’s award includes Greg Wilkinson’s Assisted, Davinia Hamilton and Marta Vella’s Blanket Ban, Laura Horton’s Breathless, Karim Khan’s Brown Boys Swim, Nicole Acquah’s Caste-ing, Alex Howarth’s Cassie and the Lights, Anna Krauze’s Daddy Issues, Silent Faces’ Godot is a Woman, Tabby Lamb’s Happy Meal, Isabella Waldron’s How to Build a Wax Figure, Rash Dash’s Look at Me, Don’t Look at Me, Maimuna Memon’s Manic Street Creature, Amelia Pitcher’s Poles: The Science of Magnetic Attraction, Jenna Fincken’s Ruckus, Erin Hunter’s Surfing the Holyland, Eve Nicol’s Svengali, Rachel O’Regan’s The Beatles Were a Boyband, Michael Mears’ The Mistake, Roann Hassani McCloskey’s Who Murdered My Cat, and David Finnigan’s You’re Safe until 2024: Deep History.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony held at the The Gilded Balloon Library on 25 August.