Stewart Parker Trust Awards 2019
Stewart Parker Trust Awards 2019
The Stewart Parker Trust, founded in 1988 to honour the work of the great Northern Irish playwright following his early death, has for over thirty years offered an independent bursary and mentoring scheme to some of Ireland’s most talented emerging playwrights. The moving force behind this vital initiative was John Fairleigh, for many years the Trust’s Honorary Director, who worked tirelessly to support new writing and young writers.
When John was obliged to step away from this immense workload, it became increasingly difficult to run the Trust, as it had been, on a voluntary basis. With the work of the Trust paused over the Covid period, we would like to make one final round of awards, outstanding from 2019, with the help of our partners in the Irish Theatre Institute and BBC Northern Ireland. The remaining activity is the mentored workshop week in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, which will be offered to short-listed candidates from 2019.
The plays short-listed for the 2019 Stewart Parker New Playwrights Bursary and the BBC Radio Award are In One Eye, Out the Other by Tadhg Hickey, The Harvest by Jane McCarthy, So, Where Do We Begin? by Seanan McDonnell and Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler. There are three award categories: the New Playwright Bursary, the BBC NI Radio Drama Award and the BBC NI Irish Language Drama Award.
We are delighted to announce the winners today, 20th October, the 81st anniversary of Stewart Parker’s birth.
The winner of this year’s Bursary is Meghan Tyler, for Crocodile Fever, produced by the Lyric Theatre and the Traverse Theatre.
The winner of the BBC NI Radio Drama Award is Seanan McDonnell, for So, Where Do We Begin? produced by Sugarcoat Theatre at Smock Alley.
First established in 1997, the BBC Stewart Parker Irish Language Award is being made as a split award to recognise and encourage writers with potential in writing drama in the Irish language. The recipients are Philip Doherty and his team at Fíbín for the play Fiach and also Hilary Bowen-Walsh and Mumbo Top for their play Cara sa Chúirt. This prize acknowledges these individuals’ ongoing commitment to drama on stage and in the Irish language and recognises the collaborative work in producing Irish language theatre.
The two runners-up, Jane McCarthy and Tadgh Hickey will also receive a small bursary, and all shortlisted writers will be invited to participate in the workshop early next year.
We would like to thank BBC Northern Ireland, in many ways Stewart Parker’s creative home, for its steadfast support since the Trust’s foundation; and are most grateful to the Arts Council of Ireland for its ongoing support. We look forward to engaging with both in finding a new identity and structure for this crucial endeavour.
For more information on the short listed playwrights please click here.
The Stewart Parker Trust, founded in 1988 to honour the work of the great Northern Irish playwright following his early death, has for over thirty years offered an independent bursary and mentoring scheme to some of Ireland’s most talented emerging playwrights. The moving force behind this vital initiative was John Fairleigh, for many years the Trust’s Honorary Director, who worked tirelessly to support new writing and young writers.
When John was obliged to step away from this immense workload, it became increasingly difficult to run the Trust, as it had been, on a voluntary basis. With the work of the Trust paused over the Covid period, we would like to make one final round of awards, outstanding from 2019, with the help of our partners in the Irish Theatre Institute and BBC Northern Ireland. The remaining activity is the mentored workshop week in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, which will be offered to short-listed candidates from 2019.
The plays short-listed for the 2019 Stewart Parker New Playwrights Bursary and the BBC Radio Award are In One Eye, Out the Other by Tadhg Hickey, The Harvest by Jane McCarthy, So, Where Do We Begin? by Seanan McDonnell and Crocodile Fever by Meghan Tyler. There are three award categories: the New Playwright Bursary, the BBC NI Radio Drama Award and the BBC NI Irish Language Drama Award.
We are delighted to announce the winners today, 20th October, the 81st anniversary of Stewart Parker’s birth.
The winner of this year’s Bursary is Meghan Tyler, for Crocodile Fever, produced by the Lyric Theatre and the Traverse Theatre.
The winner of the BBC NI Radio Drama Award is Seanan McDonnell, for So, Where Do We Begin? produced by Sugarcoat Theatre at Smock Alley.
First established in 1997, the BBC Stewart Parker Irish Language Award is being made as a split award to recognise and encourage writers with potential in writing drama in the Irish language. The recipients are Philip Doherty and his team at Fíbín for the play Fiach and also Hilary Bowen-Walsh and Mumbo Top for their play Cara sa Chúirt. This prize acknowledges these individuals’ ongoing commitment to drama on stage and in the Irish language and recognises the collaborative work in producing Irish language theatre.
The two runners-up, Jane McCarthy and Tadgh Hickey will also receive a small bursary, and all shortlisted writers will be invited to participate in the workshop early next year.
We would like to thank BBC Northern Ireland, in many ways Stewart Parker’s creative home, for its steadfast support since the Trust’s foundation; and are most grateful to the Arts Council of Ireland for its ongoing support. We look forward to engaging with both in finding a new identity and structure for this crucial endeavour.
For more information on the short listed playwrights please click here.
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Set up in honour of the late Belfast playwright, Stewart Parker (1941-1988), the Stewart Parker Trust seeks to encourage new writers for theatre in Ireland, North and South. The main award is the New Playwright Bursary, awarded annually to an emerging playwright. Two BBC Northern Ireland awards have also been established in Stewart Parker's memory and form part of this annual initiative.
For information on who is eligible for the awards and how the selection process works please click here. |
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Lesley Bruce, Marina Carr, John Fairleigh (Chair), Jennifer Johnston, Lynne Parker, Stephen Rea and Enda Walsh. Read more about the history of the trust here.
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