Playwrights working under WGGB’s UK Theatre and TNC agreements will see a significant uplift in their minimum fees following successful union negotiations.

Under WGGB’s UK Theatre Agreement, playwrights will see a 10% rise in minimum fees – 6% backdated to 1 May 2023 and a further 4% from 1 May 2024. The UK Theatre Agreement has a banding system which groups theatres into three categories known as Middle Range Salary Level (or MRSL) hence the three ranges on the rate card (which you can see here).

This follows an increase in minimum fees of 6% for writers working under the TNC agreement (covering the National Theatre, Royal Court and Royal Shakespeare Company) applied from April 2023. View the new rate card here.

Negotiations with the third theatre management body WGGB has national agreements with – the Independent Theatre Council – are ongoing.

WGGB’s agreements are known as minimum terms agreements because no contract can be less favourable to the playwright, though writers or their agents can negotiate better terms. They apply to all UK writers, not just WGGB members.

WGGB General Secretary Ellie Peers said: “Playwrights are at the heart of our world-renowned theatre sector. Their voices – and the stories they tell – are more important than they have ever been, as we face uncertainty and other challenges on a national and global scale.

“The theatre sector itself has been facing unprecedented arts funding cuts and the continued fall-out from the pandemic, yet it is vital that it continues to invest in playwrights, and to recognise their valuable economic and artistic worth.

“I am therefore delighted that our union negotiating teams – including working writers – have been able to achieve these significant uplifts in minimum fees which will apply to a large number of playwrights working in the UK.”

We have produced a Rights Card which explains the rights which UK playwrights are entitled to under our agreements.

You can view it here and a Welsh-language version here.

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