Join Masterclass this March for the return of Script Scratch in partnership with The Other Palace. Brace yourself for an evening celebrating new writing in the heart of the West End.

Script Scratch is an opportunity to celebrate new writing. Hear extracts of new scripts from four Masterclass members on The Other Palace stage, explore model boxes created by talented new designers, share your feedback to help develop the work, and network in the bar afterwards with programmers, directors, producers and the next generation of writers!

How It Works: Each writer has two minutes to introduce their script. Designers have two minutes to share the inspiration for their set, alongside the directors who will share their vision. A panel of actors read a ten-minute excerpt of the play. Then you, the audience, have a few minutes to feedback via an app before a quick discussion.

After the event we encourage you to stick around for a drink in the bar. Whether you are a writer seeking a producer, or a director looking to widen your pool of performers, your next collaboration could be one conversation away.

Book to attend as an audience member for £5 via The Other Palace's website. Are you a Masterclass member? Head to your dashboard for our exclusive member code to get a £3 ticket.

📅 Thursday 13 March ⏰ 6.30 - 9.00PM 📍 The Other Palace Theatre

Meet the Plays and their Writers:

This is Not a Gun Play by Caroline Lezny

Can you teach someone to stay alive? In an alternate-reality Britain where guns are carried legally, where school shootings and lockdown drills are a fact of life, sixth-form teacher Victoria revisits three days from her past in a desperate attempt to teach her students how to survive in an active-shooter situation. From schoolyard squabbles to an impending wedding to a not-so-peaceful protest, Victoria must face how these three days defined her relationship to gun violence—and what she is going to do about it now.

Caroline is an American playwright and director based in London, UK. She completed her MFA at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is a member of the Royal Court Theatre’s 2025 Introduction to Playwriting Group. Caroline’s work for stage, screen, and digital production is inspired by her passion for feminist retellings and boldly theatrical, challenging stories. Her debut play Scarlet Underground shortlisted for the Theatre503 International Playwriting Prize (2023) and longlisted for the Jermyn Street Theatre’s Woven Voices prize (2023). Other work has longlisted for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Playwriting and Watersprite Short Screenplay Competition. Caroline currently lectures on Shakespeare and British cinema at the University of Notre Dame (USA) in England.

Shoreditch Muse by Emma Zadow

1860 London. Jamaican laundry girl Fanny Eaton needs money and the ‘bad boys’ of British Art, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, need new models. Fanny begins posing for the beguiling Dante Gabriel Rossetti. But what do they see in each other? Who is in control as the paintings emerge? Inspired by the real life of Jamaican muse Fanny Eaton.

Emma is a Rose Bruford trained award-winning actor and writer. She is an ITV Creative Access Mentee, BBC New Creative and an alumni of the Mercury, Criterion and Soho Theatre Writers Labs. Nominated for Tony Craze, ETPEP and Offies Awards. Her BBC Arts & Screen South short film JIGGING in which she stars, won Best Short and Best Actress in its festival run and is on the BBCiPlayer. She won the Fringe Encore Award for her performance in MENGELE at the Soho Playhouse, New York. Emma stars in the upcoming feature ONCE UPON A TIME IN SUFFOLK (Film Suffolk). Her coming of age horror screenplay FRIDGE, was second in Best Unproduced Screenplay at the British Independent Film Festival 2025. Her plays are published with Renard Press, available in Samuel French at the Royal Court.

The Good Device by Elby Rue

The play follows Charlie, a man battling depression, who participates in a clinical trial testing a deep brain stimulation device that promises to ‘fix’ him—but as the device alters his emotions, he begins to question the true meaning of normality.

Elby Rue is a playwright originally from China. She graduated with a degree in Psychology. After graduation, she began exploring storytelling through filmmaking and theatre. Elby is an alumna of New Earth Theatre’s Writers' Group and Victoria & Albert Museum’s Inwrds. Her plays explore the essence of humanity, reflect on current social and political structures, and reconsider the complexities of our existence.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Jack Elverstone

A linguistic archaeologist, whom cannot visualise, has trouble expressing herself. So she must overcome her fear of being vulnerable and be seen by those she holds dear.

Jack recently graduated from the University of Suffolk with a BA Screenwriting degree. He is extremely passionate about his craft and works at it every day. Jack is very grateful to be a part of Script Scratch.