BBC Cymru Wales, National Theatre Wales and the BBC Writersroom today announce the four finalists of the 2014 Wales Drama Award. The four finalists are Jeremy Davies (Newport), Alyn Farrow (Cardiff), Alan Harris (Cardiff) and Kelly Jones (Cardiff). They will all be invited to meet the Judges and discuss their ideas.
The finalists have been selected from over 170 other Wales-based drama writers by a panel of judges, including celebrated writers Andrew Davies and Lucy Gannon alongside John McGrath, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales, Kate Rowland, Creative Director, New Writing and Faith Penhale, BBC Cymru Wales Head of Drama.
The winner stands to receive £10,000 and the opportunity to develop their work with BBC Cymru Wales and National Theatre Wales. The selected writer will be announced at a special ceremony at the BBC Roath Lock drama studios on Monday 15th December.
The Wales Drama Award is a collaboration between two creative leaders in drama – BBC Cymru Wales and National Theatre Wales – in close partnership with BBC Writersroom. It is the first of its kind for writers based in Wales.
Speaking on behalf of the Judges, Kate Rowland, BBC Creative Director, New Writing, said:
“Our aim is to find bold, original writers based in Wales. This year we’re really excited by the four finalists who all bring fresh perspectives to their unique stories and contribute something new to the creative landscape in Wales.”
Faith Penhale, Head of Drama, BBC Cymru Wales and judge panel member said:
“This award is a celebration of the growth of original drama in Wales and recognition of new writing talent. It also gives two drama specialists, BBC Cymru Wales and National Theatre Wales the opportunity to showcase emerging playwrights and encourage new, fresh ideas from writers the length and breadth of Wales.”
John McGrath, Artistic Director, National Theatre Wales and judge panel member said:
"It’s been thrilling to read the shortlist of scripts for this year's Wales Drama Award. We’ve been excited by the range of voices, the breadth of subjects, and the variety of forms. I’m delighted that National Theatre Wales is collaborating with BBC Wales and BBC Writersroom on such a key initiative for Welsh drama."
Katherine Chandler was the winner of the inaugural Wales Drama Award in 2012 for her script Parallel Lines which was produced by Dirty Protest. Her original drama short Tag was subsequently produced on BBC iPlayer and she recently adapted Terry Jones’ Fairytales for National Theatre Wales.
Finalists’ biogs:
Jeremy Davies (Newport):
Jeremy was born in Newport and is from the village of Cwmfelinfach. He studied independent film production as a postgraduate at the University of Cardiff and the National Film and Television School, sponsored by S4C. First film 'Shadow' was selected for showing at the Welsh International Film Festival in 1995. That year his play 'In the Blinking of an Eye' was premiered at the Sherman Theatre and was later broadcast on HTV. It has since been performed worldwide. Subsequently, he wrote and directed the tv thriller 'Bridgeman' for HTV, starring Tony Osoba and Cliff Parisi. He began writing for the BBC1's 'Doctors' in 2002 and is now one of their lead writers, having created fifty episodes. This year, these have included the World War One commemorative episode, 'Foreign Fields' and an adaptation of the M R James ghost story, 'Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad.' Previous episodes include 'Impact', about a Welsh Guards veteran and survivor of the 'Sir Galahad', played by Sion Tudor Owen and 'Boyo', featuring Adrian Lewis Morgan, Hywel Morgan and Steve Speirs, in a Cardiff-inspired storyline.
Other work for the BBC includes the drama documentary 'Einstein's Unfinished Symphony', featuring the first television appearance by physicist Brian Cox and narrated by Bernard Hill, 'Einstein's Equation of Life and Death' and the BBC/Discovery USA production 'The Battle for Rome - Caesar', starring Sean Pertwee and Karl Johnson. As a script consultant, he has advised on many projects, including the recently released 'Starred Up.' Jeremy has just begun writing a trilogy of plays, set in the Welsh borderlands and is developing ideas for film and television.
Alyn Farrow (Cardiff):
Having worked in television development and production for nearly 3 years Alyn has recently secured his first writing commission; a short film for BBC Wales' "Made in Wales" showcase. Entitled "The Homing Bird”, the film was first broadcast November 4th and is scheduled to be repeated December 16th 2014. Alyn was born and raised in Cardiff and has worked in the Welsh TV and Film industry since graduating from the University of St Andrews in 2011. In that time he has taken up a range of roles including runner, production secretary, researcher and development researcher. His most recent television credit (other than The Homing Bird) was as a production secretary on the Dylan Thomas biopic A Poet in New York.
Alan Harris (Cardiff):
Plays and libretti include: Re: Set (Mess Up The Mess theatre), The Future For Beginners (liveartshow/Wales Millennium Centre), The Magic Toyshop (Invisible Ink/Theatr Iolo), The Opportunity of Efficiency (New National Theatre Tokyo/National Theatre Wales), Marsha (Capital Fringe, Washington DC), A Good Night Out in the Valleys (NTW), Rhinegold, Manga Sister (both liveartshow, The Yard, London), Wolf, The Lighthouse, A Certain Date (all BBC Radio 4), The Gold Farmer (BBC Radio 3), The Journey (Welsh National Opera MAX), The Hidden Valley (Birdsong Opera/WNO) Cardboard Dad (Sherman Cymru), Miss Brown To You (Hijinx Theatre), Brute (Operating Theatre Company), Orange (Sgript Cymru), Come To Where I’m From (Paines Plough). Alan has worked with a range of companies throughout the UK as a freelance new writing tutor and mentor. These include: Sherman Cymru, Welsh National Opera, Kitsch n Sync, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, The Atrium, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and HMP Prisons (Cardiff, Usk, Prescoed).
Kelly Jones (Cardiff):
Originally from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Kelly has been living and working in Wales since 2007. Her plays are rooted in real human stories and often take inspiration from personal experiences, her upbringing in Dagenham and rooting in Wales. Kelly trained as a performer at Swansea Metropolitan University and after graduating found her passion for writing. This led to her joining Sherman Cymru Young Writers Programme and various other writing initiatives to hone her craft and develop her voice. In April 2013 she made the choice to leave her full time job working in a betting shop and focus solely on her writing career. Since then she has worked with and for National Theatre Wales, Sherman Cymru and Dirty Protest as well as being mentored by award-winning playwrights Tim Price and most recently -Kath Chandler. Earlier this year Kelly was the recipient of Arts Council Wales Research and Development Funding for her play 1.4 for copy , about how her parents met on a CB radio in 1980, after following a successful Waleslab on the piece. Kelly is currently working on putting a tour together of her solo show ‘The Drowned Girl’ a piece she created whilst at National Theatre Wales’ Summercamp in 2013. In February 2014 ‘The Drowned Girl’ was invited to perform a week’s run at the Yard Theatre, Hackney Wick, as part of their N.O.W’14 program.
BBC Cymru Wales is a drama centre of excellence for drama. Home to a range of celebrated productions made both in-house and by the independent sector including Doctor Who, Casualty, Pobol Y Cwm, Sherlock, Merlin and Being Human. BBC Cymru Wales drama is a major producer of drama for BBC network across television and radio as well as for BBC Wales and S4C.
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