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Ambassador Cruise Line and their entertainment Partners, the PEEL Entertainment Group, are proud to launch the Ambassador Peel Playwriting Challenge 2025. We are looking for exciting unseen new work to produce on our ships, as part of our Theatre@Sea™ programme.
The competition will open for entries on 15th January 2025.
A special feature of this competition is that entries which make the shortlist will be eligible for a scripted reading onboard the Ambassador Ambition in regions around the UK. Bristol, Newcastle, Dundee, Belfast, Liverpool and Tilbury (for London).
The winning entrant will be awarded £6000.
A Free Cruise for 2 people is gifted to the winner to take themselves or gift to someone else (t’s and c’s apply).
A video journey of the winning play will be made from first reading to first performances.
The winning play will be produced by PEEL (PEEL Entertainment Group Ltd) on the Ambassador ship The Ambition in 2026 for a season (usually performed once a week for 6 months).
The winner/s will also be invited on a cruise, during which they will take part in a ‘In Conversation With’ event, where they will be interviewed about the play, their inspiration and creative process, how it feels to win and what it’s like to see their finished work on stage.
The shortlisted playwrights will be invited to one of the regional scripted readings of their play.
The competition opens for entries.
The competition closes for entries at 6pm.
Shortlisted entrants will be advised.
The winner of the competition will be announced!
No topics are out of bounds; however, entrants must bear in mind the play is to be performed on a cruise ship and will be viewed as part of a holiday. Our audiences are excited to watch new plays, and we regularly attract an onboard audience of between 200-500 per week, enjoying many subjects and styles of performance including thrillers, comedy and drama. We would encourage entrants to think of challenge and interest in the development of their story or narrative – or in non-narrative, a development of understanding that an audience can follow.
Entrants are advised that our audiences can be varied in demographic and cultural backgrounds and that they have not selected to attend the play as they would on land. Theatre@Sea is available among a suite of other activities but is one of the most popular offerings for PEEL/Ambassador entertainment programme – which is why we are using the Theatre@Sea programme to launch the competition.
While the stage is large – (dimensions will be provided on the webpage), scene change opportunities are relatively limited. Scenery storage is also limited so keep stage sets compact and simple.
We encourage the use of the large LED screens as much as possible to change scenery backdrops.
Please think carefully about the feasibility of using practical props. For example unusual or specific food and drink items may be difficult to refresh, given the ships itinerary.
The Readers will be responsible for the first and second round readings of all plays submitted.
The Readers will work collaboratively to ensure fairness and equity for all scripts. In the first reading they will ensure the play meets the competition criteria, if it doesn’t, they will reject the script.
Depending on the number of scripts submitted the Readers may be limited to reading only 10/15 mins of the script in round one. Those plays that meet the criteria (as outlined above) and the Readers feel show promise will be passed to round two.
In round two the readers will grade all the scripts ready for shortlisted consideration. The Readers may nominate up to 12 scripts for the shortlist but are not required to have 12.
One or more of the Readers will be present at the shortlisted rehearsed readings. They may also be part of the directing team for the shortlisted plays.
Criteria for Judging:
The Readers are looking for a shortlist of scripts that demonstrate:
Or
We regret that we will be unable to provide any feedback until the shortlisted stage.
If you are shortlisted, readings will take place onboard the Ambassador Ambition Cruise Ship
Our team of onboard actors will do a reading of up to 2 shortlisted scripts per region. The shortlisted writers will be invited to join the ship for the day to see their work in a rehearsed reading, as guided by one of PEEL’s experienced cruise theatre director’s. One or more of our competition Readers or Judges may be present. (These readings do not form part of the judging process but are in order to share the shortlisted plays with our Ambassador audience).
BRISTOL – Sunday 29th June 2025
NEWCASTLE – Wednesday 30th July 2025
DUNDEE – Thursday 31st July 2025
BELFAST – Monday 15th September 2025
LIVERPOOOL – Tuesday 16th September 2025
TILBURY (for LONDON) – WINNER CHOSEN Friday 5th December 2025 (reading with Actors and Writer present if possible)
WINNERS & SHORTLIST JOURNEY
Shortlisted entrants announced
Week beginning 15th December – Meet the Production Team to discuss the Rehearsal schedule and production.
REHREASALS – selected days in Jan/Feb/March 2026
INSTALL PLAY – March/April 2026
PLAY GO LIVE/OPENING NIGHT AND PRESS INVITE DATE TBC
Questions can be sent to info@theatreatsea.com.
Ambassador Cruise Line has been pleased to invite The PEEL Entertainment Group to bring its Theatre@Sea™ programme to its ships, Ambience and Ambition. Our onboard acting troupes are among the few existing repertory companies operating out of the UK.
Over the past three years we have staged a wide range of plays onboard both ships, to a great reception from our cruise passengers. Our theatre productions have ranged from new thrillers, dramas and comedies, to fresh adaptations of classics.
We engage a range of experienced, specialist writers and directors, who have created outstanding new work and made our Theatre@Sea programme a unique and popular element of the cruise experience. Alongside our onstage productions we also produce ‘live interpretation’ pop-up vignettes, which provide informative and entertaining theatrical pieces throughout the whole ship.
Jessica Lazar is a freelance director and part of multi-award-winning theatre company Atticist. She works on new writing, revivals, and adaptations, and is particularly drawn to stories that explore the tension between social facade and human passion.
Bringing theatre to the cruise industry has been a very big passion for Susannah who is proud of the amazing programme the company has been able to showcase and the work we have been able to give to writers, directors, actors, and production staff.
Bob is an accomplished and experienced cruise expert and specialist in innovation for guest experiences. He has played a pivotal role in shaping the Ambassador Cruise Line guest experience with an enviable track record of enhancing satisfaction scores and reputation.
Martin has been leading the Theatre@Sea product for the last 3 years, covering all aspects of recruitment, training and producing most of the company’s wide range of theatrical and actor-based offerings.
Kerry is the creative brains behind the majority of the much-acclaimed PEEL production shows which have won acclaim from thousands of passengers and industry bodies.
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Susannah started her journey with playwriting and producing at a very early age. A winner of the BBC Young Playwright of the Year she was also joint BBC Young Filmmaker two years later. She started and performed and write for the much applauded innovate theatre company ‘Action Replay’ at the National Media Museum and organised the first European Conference and Festival of Theatre-in Museum – Go Live.
Action Replay performed stories and theatre pieces in a wide range of theatrical styles to tell the stories of the science, history and art of photography, film & television. Susannah became Head of Theatre and Special Events, commissioning new theatre and innovations for Action Replay and organising ‘Script to Screen’ programmes with writers and filmmakers, including a then newly discovered Danny Boyle.
Since founding PEEL, (the PEEL Entertainment Group Ltd), Susannah has commissioned and produced many plays and touring theatre including an adaption of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty and an outdoor promenade reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Bringing theatre to the cruise industry has been a very big passion for Susannah who is proud of the amazing programme the company has been able to showcase and the work we have been able to give to writers, directors, actors, and production staff. Susannah is also a TEDx speaker.
Bob joined Ambassador as Head of Guest Experience in April 2021 and was promoted to the role of Head of Operations in 2023 with responsibility for all aspects of ship operations including overseeing the delivery of the Ambassador product. With the guest service and experience at the heart of the Ambassador business, he was promoted to the position of Chief Experience Officer in 2024, bringing a renewed focus to the experience guests enjoy when onboard, hotel operations, onboard guest services and turnarounds.
Bob has worked in the hospitality and travel industry for over 18 years, originally training in hospitality management. He started his career overseas in 2000 before moving onto a cruise ship, working his way up to Cruise Director. He has played a pivotal role in shaping the Ambassador Cruise Line guest experience with an enviable track record of enhancing satisfaction scores and reputation.
Having started out as an entertainer and presenter onboard ships, to then an Entertainment Director, Bob is very familiar with the requirements of performing to an onboard audience from all perspectives.
Bob has been a huge advocate for the Theatre@Sea programme and the innovation it has brought to the line. He continues to look for innovation in guest experiences and to this end is delighted to be Ambassador’s powerhouse championing the Ambassador/PEEL Playwriting Challenge.
Writer and Director of PEEL’s Theatre@Sea Programme and Interpretative Theatre. Founder of Platform 4 Theatre.
Writer and Director of PEEL’s Theatre@Sea Programme and Interpretative Theatre
James has over three decades experience as a successful writer and director for theatre and film. His original stage play, Paradise Road, and his adaptation of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, both won critical acclaim, as did his direction of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at London’s Hope Theatre.
He has recently written and directed ground-breaking Virtual Reality and theatre pieces focussed on protecting Britain’s teenagers against organised crime groups. In addition, he has written and directed many short plays, murder mysteries and vignettes for performance on cruise ships.
Producer of Theatre@Sea
Creative Director of PEEL
