The Exchange aims to discover and champion new writers. It operates the Writers Exchange programme in partnership with WarnerMedia, since 2005 it’s been home to the bi-annual international Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, modelled on similar lines to the earlier Mobil Playwriting Competition which ran from 1984-97.
Today, the Royal Exchange remains keenly aware of its past. The foyer cafe and bar is named THE RIVALS, in honour of the Sheridan comedy that launched the company back in 1976, and it’s adorned with photos and posters from productions gone by. For almost two years, the Great Hall itself has been adorned with an installation by DISRVPT entitled Holding Space, complete with a poem by Contact CEO Keisha Thompson, displayed on huge drapes, tackling often thorny aspects of the building’s long and varied history.
