Polka Theatre’s Artistic Director and Joint CEO Helen Matravers, Executive Director and Joint CEO Lynette Shanbury, and the whole team are delighted to announce that Roberta Wilkinson has been named the winner of the 2026 Polka Playwriting Award with her new play Doors.
Selected from more than 140 submissions, Doors will be developed with Polka ahead of its world premiere in the theatre’s Adventure Theatre in Autumn 2027, with the script also set to be published by award partner Methuen Drama.
Now in its second year, the Polka Playwriting Award is the only award of its kind dedicated to championing original theatre for young audiences aged 7–13, an age group often overlooked by the wider theatre sector. Delivered in association with The Garek Trust, the award provides the winning playwright with a full commission, professional staging and publication of their work.
Its inaugural winner, Sarah Middleton’s Dweeb-A-Mania, which premiered at Polka in Autumn 2025, went on to receive multiple award nominations, including WhatsOnStage and Fringe Theatre Awards, winning ‘Best new writing’ at the 2026 Fringe Theatre Awards. The award has seen submissions rise from more than 80 in its first year to in excess of 140 in 2026.
Doors is a charming and witty new play about big ideas, resilience and family connections, following twelve-year-old puzzle enthusiast ‘Bella’. Bella’s family life is about to be turned upside down as her parent’s separate, but she has a master plan, which may – or may not – involve Rubix-cubing her block of flats to ensure her Dad is always living next door. Exploring sibling relationships, the family your community create around you, and celebrating familial makeups of all kinds, ‘Doors’ is a perfect new story for young audiences.
The winning play was selected through a detailed judging process that placed young people’s voices at its heart. Twelve members of Polka’s GRADS programme reviewed the shortlisted scripts, before judges Matthew Xia, Nina Segal and Daniel Bailey joined Polka’s Artistic Director and Joint CEO Helen Matravers to select ‘Doors’ as the overall winner.
Roberta Wilkinson is a Mancunian writer now based in Oxford. She co-founded Geologise Theatre, which creates theatre for young audiences, and co-wrote the musical Chrissie and the Skiddle Witch, which toured schools across England and Wales in 2025. ‘Doors’ is her first solo play.
Roberta Wilkinson said: “I am delighted to have won the Polka Playwriting Award. I’m so excited to develop ‘Doors’ with Polka and bring the story of twelve-year-old puzzle enthusiast Bella to life! A huge thank you to Polka, the judging panel and Polka Young GRADS for selecting my play and supporting new writing for this age group who are so often under-served by theatre.”
Helen Matravers, Artistic Director and Joint CEO of Polka Theatre, said: “It’s so exciting to be working with Roberta on ‘Doors’, a play which so brilliantly marries sometimes difficult subject matter for young audiences with playful, colourful worlds. The Polka Playwriting Award is designed to find bold new stories, with the same rigour and attention to detail as any adult writing and highlights that investment in this work is so hugely important for the whole ecosystem of the theatre world to be successful. I can’t wait to work with Roberta on bringing her play to life and for Polka’s audiences to discover something brand new.”
Methuen Drama, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, will publish ‘Doors’ in 2027 as part of its Plays for Young People series, continuing its partnership with Polka following the publication of Sarah Middleton’s Dweeb-A-Mania.
Sian Carter, commissioning editor from Methuen Drama said: “Methuen Drama are delighted to be partnering with Polka Theatre on the Polka Playwriting Award. Following the publication of 2025’s prize-winning script, Dweeb-A-Mania by Sarah Middleton – a sparkling and adventurous play for young people on friendship and the power of believing in yourself – we’re delighted to be publishing the 2026 Polka Playwriting Award winning play ‘Doors’ by Roberta Wilkinson.
“’Doors’ is a charming and witty drama about big ideas and resilience with family and connection at its heart. In 2027, alongside the Polka Theatre production, ‘Doors’ will publish into our Plays for Young People series which features high-quality, engaging narratives for young readers, teachers and school audiences. Polka Theatre’s commitment to creating exciting and meaningful work with young people at its centre is an ethos we are proud to platform in our Methuen Drama Plays for Young People series.”
Further details of ‘Doors’, including performance dates and the creative team, will be announced in due course.
