John Whiting Award


Between 1965 and 2010, 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:
YearPlaywrightPlay
1967Tom StoppardRosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
1967Wole SoyinkaThe Interpreters
1967Peter NicholsA Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1968Peter BarnesThe Ruling Class
1968Edward BondNarrow Road to the Deep North
1969Howard BrentonChristie in Love
1970Freehold Company and Peter Hulton Freehold on Antigone
1971Mustapha MaturaAs Time Goes By
1972Heathcote WilliamsAC/DC
1973John Arden
1974David Rudkin
1975
1976David EdgarDestiny
1977David LanThe Winter Dancers
1978David Halliwell
1978Snoo WilsonThe Glad Hand
1979Stephen BillThe Old Order
1980Vince FoxallGestures
1981David PownallBeef
1982Karim AlrawiMigrations
1983Peter FlanneryOur Friends in the North
1984Ron HutchinsonThe Rat in the Skull
1985Guy HibbertOn the Edge
1985Heidi ThomasShamrocks & Crocodiles
1986Nick DearThe Art of Success
1987
1988Iain HeggieAmerican Bagpipes
1989Billy RocheA Handful of Stars
1990--
1990Lucy GannonKeeping Tom Nice
1991Terry JohnsonImagine Drowning
1992Rod WoodenYour Home in the West
1993Martin CrimpThe Treatment
1993Helen EdmundsonThe Clearing
1994Jonathan HarveyBeautiful Thing
1995Joe PenhallSome Voices
1996Ayub Khan-DinEast is East
1997Ann CoburnGet Up and Tie Your Fingers
1998/9Roy WilliamsStarstruck
1999
2000David GreigThe Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union
2000Tanika GuptaThe Waiting Room
2001Zinnie HarrisFurther than the Furthest Thing
2002Peter RumneyJumping on my Shadow
2003Rona MunroIron
2004Owen McCaffertyScenes from the Big Picture
2005Fin KennedyHow to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
2006James PhillipsThe Rubenstein Kiss
2006Fraser GraceBreakfast with Mugabe
2007Dennis KellyTaking Care of Baby
2008Bryony LaveryStockholm
2009Alexi Kaye CampbellThe Pride
2010Tim CrouchThe Author
2010Lucy Kirkwoodit felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now