The third time’s a charm for The Musical Theatre Writing Challenge, which is returning once again to encourage writers to keep writing - come what may.

During the pandemic, a group of musical theatre writers met in an online writer’s room created by award-winning writer Gus Gowland (Mayflies, Pieces of String). The room was free and open to all, designed as a shared space to work, to meet other writers, and to combat freelancer isolation. What emerged from the Zoom room was something different entirely: the Musical Theatre Writing Challenge. 

The challenge has been a huge success over the past two years, with hundreds of people taking part from all over the world!

Every day throughout the month of May, participants of the Musical Theatre Writing Challenge receive prompts focused on generating new work and keeping creative juices flowing. Participants can be at any stage of their writing journey, and it’s completely free to take part. All you have to do is join in and keep writing - come what may! 

Gus Gowland said: “We’re so excited to bring the musical theatre writing challenge for a third time, and to have the support of York Theatre Royal this year is just wonderful. The challenge has been such a wonderful experience for us all and we’re so excited to get stuck in again, and build more connections with fabulous writers from across the globe.”

As musical theatre writers come in all varieties – writing book, music, lyric, or any combination – each prompt is either adaptable to your particular skill or provided with clear instructions on how to approach it without specialist knowledge. The goal of the challenge is not to complete the next Hamilton or Six, but to create and to develop, every day of the month, come what may.

Sign up to be part of the Musical Theatre Writing Challenge here and follow the journey via the hashtag #ComeWhatMay.