Winners announced for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020

Pictured: Producers Katie Posner, Ellie Keel & Charlotte Bennett

The winners of the inaugural The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020 were announced in a digital ceremony last night.

Due to the exceptionally high standard of the entries, the judges selected two first prize winners: Amy Trigg for Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me and Ahlam for You Bury Me. Both will now receive £12,000 in respect of an exclusive option for the co-producers of the prize to produce their play.

The award has been created by Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough, with 45North and in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, to celebrate and support exceptional UK and Ireland-based playwrights who identify as female.

Amy Trigg said:“Winning The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is such an honour. It’s a bit of a shock, but a lovely one! It’s been so joyful to be a part of this process and connect with such wonderful writers along the way. Thank you to everyone who made this award happen - the industry is lucky to have you.

“My play is about a disabled woman but at its heart it is a universal story about love, growing up and feeling unfinished. I hope the audience finds the play relatable in lovely but sometimes heart-breaking ways. 

“A year ago I was worried about sending my play out to be read by strangers. Would it be good enough? Would I feel exposed? Would I regret it? Fortunately, I had some mates who told me to ‘just do it’. If you are reading this and haven’t yet had that encouragement, then I’ll tell you now: ‘just do it;. I’ll be cheering you on!”

Ahlam added:“I am completely stunned and honoured to have won the inaugural Women’s Prize for Playwriting. 

“I hope You Bury Me offers a glimpse into the painful and beautiful paradox that is Cairo, and her stories that are full of love and tenderness, as well as rage and violence. 

“I want to thank everyone involved at The Women’s Prize for Playwriting for believing that this is a story worth telling, I cannot describe what this means to me.”  

Ellie Keel said: “I'm honoured and delighted that the inaugural year of The Women's Prize for Playwriting yielded such a strong field of longlisted, shortlisted and finalist plays. I'm also proud that our judges took the bold step of tearing up the rulebook and awarded two first prizes to these two exceptional plays which bookend the breadth of female writing for the stage so beautifully. I am so proud of the writers we have worked with and all that we have achieved with this Prize in its first year, and cannot wait to produce these winning plays.”

The winners were picked from a shortlist of 35 plays from 1,169 entries by judges: by senior literary agent Mel Kenyon, actor and director Adjoa Andoh; actress and playwright Monica Dolan; Sarah Frankcom, Director of LAMDA; playwright Ella Hickson; Kate Packenham, producer; actress and playwright Maxine Peake; and Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham.

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