John Whiting Award

Between 1965 and 2010, the John Whiting Award (from 2007 renamed the Peter Wolff Trust Supports the John Whiting Award) was awarded annually to a British or Commonwealth playwright who, in the opinion of a consortium of UK theatres, showed a new and distinctive development in dramatic writing with particular relevance to contemporary society. The award was established in 1965 to commemorate John Whiting and his distinctive contribution to post-war British theatre. Until 2006, the selection was made by the drama panel of Arts Council England, and the play did not need to have been staged, which allowed plays produced on radio to be considered.

From 2007, only plays which had been performed in the subsidised sector were eligible. The award was initially worth £1000, but grew to £6000 per year. From 2007, the award was supplied by the Peter Wolff Theatre Trust and was administered by a consortium of UK theatres which specialise in new writing.

The theatres involved were:

Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Bush Theatre, London
Cleanbreak, London
Hampstead Theatre, London
Liverpool Everyman
Liverpool Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton
Paines Plough, London (touring)
Royal Court Theatre, London
Sgript Cymru, Cardiff
Soho Theatre, London
Tamasha Theatre Company, London
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

**Winners of the John Whiting Award**
Year	Playwright	Play

1967	Tom Stoppard	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
1967	Wole Soyinka	The Interpreters
1967	Peter Nichols	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1968	Peter Barnes	The Ruling Class
1968	Edward Bond	Narrow Road to the Deep North
1969	Howard Brenton	Christie in Love
1970	Freehold Company and Peter Hulton (joint)	Freehold on Antigone
1971	Mustapha Matura	As Time Goes By
1972	Heathcote Williams	AC/DC
1973	John Arden
1974	David Rudkin
1975
1976	David Edgar	Destiny
1977	David Lan	The Winter Dancers
1978	David Halliwell
1978	Snoo Wilson	The Glad Hand
1979	Stephen Bill	The Old Order
1980	Vince Foxall	Gestures
1981	David Pownall	Beef
1982	Karim Alrawi	Migrations
1983	Peter Flannery	Our Friends in the North
1984	Ron Hutchinson	The Rat in the Skull
1985	Guy Hibbert	On the Edge
1985	Heidi Thomas	Shamrocks & Crocodiles
1986	Nick Dear	The Art of Success
1987
1988	Iain Heggie	American Bagpipes
1989	Billy Roche	A Handful of Stars
1990
1990	Lucy Gannon	Keeping Tom Nice
1991	Terry Johnson	Imagine Drowning
1992	Rod Wooden	Your Home in the West
1993	Martin Crimp	The Treatment
1993	Helen Edmundson	The Clearing
1994	Jonathan Harvey	Beautiful Thing
1995	Joe Penhall	Some Voices
1996	Ayub Khan-Din	East is East
1997	Ann Coburn	Get Up and Tie Your Fingers
1998/9	Roy Williams	Starstruck
1999
2000	David Greig	The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union
2000	Tanika Gupta	The Waiting Room
2001	Zinnie Harris	Further than the Furthest Thing
2002	Peter Rumney	Jumping on my Shadow
2003	Rona Munro	Iron
2004	Owen McCafferty	Scenes from the Big Picture
2005	Fin Kennedy	How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
2006	James Phillips	The Rubenstein Kiss
2006	Fraser Grace	Breakfast with Mugabe
2007	Dennis Kelly	Taking Care of Baby
2008	Bryony Lavery	Stockholm
2009	Alexi Kaye Campbell	The Pride
2010	Tim Crouch	The Author
2010	Lucy Kirkwood	it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now

v t John Whiting Award
1967–1969	Tom Stoppard for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Wole Soyinka for The Interpreters (shared) (1967) Peter Nichols for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967) Peter Barnes for The Ruling Class and Edward Bond for Narrow Road to the Deep North (shared) (1968) Howard Brenton for Christie in Love (1969)
1970–1979	Freehold Company and Peter Hulton (joint) for Freehold on Antigone (1970) Mustapha Matura for As Time Goes By (1971) Heathcote Williams for AC/DC (1972) John Arden (1973) David Rudkin (1974) David Edgar for Destiny (1975) David Lan for The Winter Dancers (1976) David Halliwell and Snoo Wilson for The Glad Hand (shared) (1978) Stephen Bill (1979)
1980–1989	David Pownall for Beef (1981) Karim Alrawi for Migrations (1982) Peter Flannery for Our Friends in the North (1983) Ron Hutchinson for The Rat in the Skull (1984) Guy Hibbert for On the Edge and Heidi Thomas for Shamrocks & Crocodiles (shared) (1985) Nick Dear for The Art of Success (1986) Iain Heggie for American Bagpipes (1988) Billy Roche for A Handful of Stars (1989)
1990–1999	Lucy Gannon for Keeping Tom Nice (1990) Terry Johnson for Imagine Drowning (1991) Rod Wooden for Your Home in the West (1992) Martin Crimp for The Treatment and Helen Edmundson for The Clearing (shared) (1993) Jonathan Harvey for Beautiful Thing (1994) Joe Penhall for Some Voices (1995) Ayub Khan-Din for East is East (1996) Ann Coburn for Get Up and Tie Your Fingers (1997) Roy Williams for Starstruck (1998/9)
2000–2009	David Greig for The Cosmonaut's Last Message ... and Tanika Gupta for The Waiting Room (shared) (2000) Zinnie Harris for Further than the Furthest Thing (2001) Peter Rumney for Jumping on my Shadow (2002) Rona Munro for Iron (2003) Owen McCafferty for Scenes from the Big Picture (2004) Fin Kennedy for How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found (2005) James Philips for The Rubenstein Kiss and Fraser Grace for Breakfast with Mugabe (shared) (2006) Dennis Kelly for Taking Care of Baby (2007) Bryony Lavery for Stockholm (2008) Alexi Kaye Campbell for The Pride (2009)
2010–9999	Tim Crouch for The Author and Lucy Kirkwood for It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First but It Is Alright Now (shared) (2010)

John Whiting Award

External links[]