- Pearson Playwrights' Scheme
In 1973,
Howard Thomas , then managing director ofThames Television , launched the Thames Television Theatre Writers Scheme to support and celebrate new writing in the theatre. He believed that television owed much to the theatre for its supply of creative talent. In 1993Pearson PLC took over the sponsorship of the scheme and it became the Pearson Playwrights' Scheme.Over the past 30 years, the scheme has helped launch some of the finest British play-writing talent. Each years bursaries are awarded to new writers and an additional award is offered to the writer of the best play. These are selected by the scheme's panel, chaired by Sir
John Mortimer CBE QC.Panel
The panel has included Michael Billington,
Thelma Holt CBE,Sue Summers ,Catherine Johnson ,Beryl Bainbridge DBE andJohn Tydeman .Patrons
Patrons include Sir
Alan Ayckbourn CBE,Alan Bleasdale ,Stephen Daldry , DameJudi Dench , SirRichard Eyre , Sir Peter Hall CBE, SirJeremy Isaacs ,Joan Plowright CBE, SirTom Stoppard andSue Townsend .The scheme is administrated by Jack Andrews MBE, and is supported by The Peggy Ramsay Foundation and The Olivier Foundation.
Winners
The winners of the overall
Pearson Award for Best New Play have been:* 1982
Borderline byHanif Kureshi (Royal Court Theatre )
* 1983True Dare Kiss byDebbie Horsefield (Liverpool Playhouse )
* 1984 No award given
* 1985Particular Friendships byMartin Allen (Hampstead Theatre )
* 1986The Boys from Hibernia byMark Power (Belgrave Theatre , Coventry)
* 1987Dreams of San Francisco byJacqueline Holborough (Bush Theatre )
* 1988 No award given
* 1989Poor Beast in the Rain byBilly Roache (Bush Theatre )
* 1990The Pool of Bethesda byAllan Cubitt (Guildhall School )
* 1991Talking in Tongues byWinsome Pinnock (Royal Court Theatre ) &Dead Sheep byCatherine Johnson (Bush Theatre )
* 1992Worlds Apart byPaul Sirrett (Theatre Royal, Stratford )
* 1993 No award givenScheme taken over from Thames by Pearson.
* 1994
Uganda byJudith Johnson (Royal National Theatre )
* 1995Pale Horse byJoe Penhall (Royal National Theatre )
* 1996The Cripple of Inishmaan byMartin McDonagh (Royal National Theatre )
* 1997Nabokov's Gloves byPeter Moffat (Warehouse Theatre )
* 1998Martha, Josie & the Chinese Elvis byCharlotte Jones (Octagon Theatre, Bolton )
* 1999 Trust byGary Mitchell (Royal National Theatre )
* 2000 Normal byHelen Blakeman (Bush Theatre )
* 2001Port bySimon Stephens (Royal Exchange Theatre , Manchester)
* 2002Drowned World byGary Owen (Paines Plough ) &Honeymoon Suite byRichard Bean (Royal National Theatre )
* 2003The Straits byGregory Burke (Royal National Theatre )
* 2004All the Ordinary Angels byNick Leather (Royal Exchange Theatre , Manchester)
* 2005Breathing Corpses byLaura Wade (Finborough Theatre ). Play produced at theRoyal Court Theatre .
* 2006Whipping It Up bySteve Thompson (Bush Theatre )External links
* [http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=4432 The Royal National Theatre website on thirty years of the scheme]
* [http://www.thestage.co.uk/newsblog/2006/02/pearson_playwrights_and_the_menier.php Mark Shenton in "The Stage"]
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