The Stewart Parker Trust Award or Stewart Parker Prize was a set of Irish theatre awards. The Stewart Parker Trust was founded in 1988, named in honour of Northern Irish playwright Stewart Parker. The last set of awards were given in 2022, for playwrights shortlisted in 2019. Funding for up to three awards was provided by the An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the BBC, while guidance on the selection process was provided by the Irish Theatre Institute.
History The Stewart Parker Trust was founded in 1988 in honour of Northern Irish playwright Stewart Parker, after he died of cancer aged 47 in November 1988. John Fairleigh, who was for many years the honorary director of the Trust, was largely responsible for the administration of the awards from the start.
The trust first established the New Playwright Bursary. In 1997/8 two further awards were added: the BBC Stewart Parker Irish Language Award, for a new playwright working in the Irish language, and another one, "for a playwright whose work has contributed to the betterment of cross community understanding within Northern Ireland". Later, with the collaboration of BBC Northern Ireland (BBC NI), the BBC NI Radio Drama Award was created.
At the tenth anniversary of the awards, they were presented by the Irish President, Mary McAleese, at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. She again presented the awards at the Abbey in 2009 (for 2008).
After Fairleigh had to leave the role, the workload became too large to be managed by volunteers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a pause was put on the awards. In 2022, it was announced that the awards would be ended, with one last round made to the 2019 shortlisted candidates. The Irish Theatre Institute and BBC Northern Ireland (BBC NI) co-hosted the final ceremony in October 2022.
Description There was a cash bursary as part of the award, as well as a mentoring scheme. At the final ceremony, there were three award categories: the New Playwright Bursary, the BBC NI Radio Drama Award, and the BBC NI Irish Language Drama Award. Funding was provided by the An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the BBC, while guidance on the selection process was provided by the Irish Theatre Institute.
The winners were announced annually at the Lyric Theatre in Dublin.
Previous winners Previous winners of the award include: 1988: Sebastian Barry, for Boss Grady’s Boys 1993: Vincent Woods, for At the Black Pig's Dyke 1996: Gina Moxley, for Danti-Dan 1997?: Daragh Carville, for Language Roulette 2002: Tim Loane, for Caught Red Handed 2003: Micheál Ó Conghaile, for Cúigear Chonamara 2008: Abbie Spallen, New Playwright Bursary 2008: Elaine Murphy, BBC Northern Ireland Radio Drama Award 2008: Seán Ó Morónaigh, BBC Northern Ireland Irish Language Drama Award 2012: Nancy Harris, New Playwright Bursary for No Romance 2012: Stacey Gregg, BBC Radio Drama Award, for Perve 2012: Paul Mercier, BBC Northern Irish Language Award for Sétanta 2019: Meghan Tyler, New Playwright Bursary, for Crocodile Fever 2019: Seanan McDonnell, BBC NI Radio Drama Award, for So, Where Do We Begin? 2019: BBC Stewart Parker Irish Language Award jointly awarded to Philip Doherty, for Fiach, and Hilary Bowen-Walsh and Mumbo Top for Cara sa Chúirt
Other winners include: Jimmy McAleavey, Deirdre Kinahan, Conor McPherson, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Philip Davison, and Michael Harding.
Footnotes
References
External links Stewart Parker Trust articles on Irish Theatre Institute website