New rights for UK Theatre playwrights

Playwrights commissioned by theatres under the UK Theatre umbrella have won new rights, thanks to the renegotiation of WGGB’s national agreement with the organisation.

Playwrights will now receive additional fees if their work is performed abroad in English-language productions in non-English speaking countries. The new national agreement, which is backdated to May 2014, also includes provisions to protect textual integrity, and introduced a rates rise of 6% on fees.

Assistant General Secretary Ellie Peers said: “The revised agreement has been four years in the making, to a backdrop of savage Coalition cuts to theatre funding at a national and local level. Yet we have still managed to improve not just pay but also the conditions under which playwrights engage with theatres.”

UK Theatre is a membership organisation for theatre and the performing arts. Member organisations include a large number of regional and touring theatres.