Fifth Word

The Theatre Committee of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain presented its annual awards for the encouragement of new writing at a ceremony at the Royal Court Theatre at the end of 2009 and Fifth Word Theatre Company was there to receive the award.

We are absolutely delighted to have received this award, especially alongside the likes of The Globe’s Artistic director Dominic Dromgoole. It is easy to get caught up in talking about the system and funding in the arts, however this award really allowed us to celebrate the work and collaborations between writers, directors and producers, which ultimately, is what it is all about.

 Fifth Word was nominated for the award by playwright Paul Buie for the work undertaken when the company produced his play ‘Painkillers. The awards, the brainchild of former committee member, playwright Mark Ravenhill, were set up to give members the opportunity to publicly thank those who had given them a particularly positive experience in new writing over the previous year.

Speaking about the awards, Ravenhill said: “The reason the awards came up originally is because at the Writers’ Guild, inevitably, we spend a lot of time telling theatres and TV companies what they are doing wrong and trying to improve conditions for writers. I thought it would be nice to also say thanks and reward positive things, and to recognise good practice. You get better results if you reward as well as criticise.”

 The five other winners of the Encouragement Award 2009 include: Dominic Dromgoole -Artistic Director The Globe Theatre, Sarah Brigham- Associate Director Dundee Rep, Kevin Dyer- Writer Bill Hopkinson, Director/ Dramaturg Arnaud Mugglestone, Director.

 

Back row, left to right: Frank Bramwell, Arnaud Mugglestone, David James, Neil Duffield and Bill Hopkinson

Middle row: Sarah Brigham Angharad Jones  Kevin Dyer and Bernie Corbett

Front row: Jane McNulty, Mark Ravenhill and Laura Ford