Among the thousands of acts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, VL And Weather Girl jointly win this year’s Popcorn Writing Award, with The Book of Mountain and Seas and Knock on the roof They finished second and third and shared the £6,500 prize money.
Written by Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, VL explores the challenges and comic absurdity of growing up in a small town school as VL (Virgin Lips). Kieran and Gary comment: We’re absolutely thrilled to have won the Popcorn Award for VL. When writing these characters together, our first goal is to make each other laugh, and discovering that Max and Stevie’s problems and struggles resonate with others is a huge reward. This award is a testament to the work of Scott, Gav, Orla, Eve and the whole team who put so much faith in us and add value to everything we write. Special thanks to Francesca and everyone at FMP for giving us another chance. Sharing this award with Brian and the Weather Girl team is an honour, and suggests that the FMP folks might know what they’re doing when it comes to supporting new work.
Weather Girl by Brian Watkins is a biting satire about climate change and the strange, dark heart of America. Brian comments: I am honoured to receive this historic award and to be recognised alongside so many other brilliant playwrights. This play is a love letter to my homeland, with all its strangeness and dysfunctionality and dark, enchanted corners, and I am eternally grateful to the incredible team and audiences who have embraced it wholeheartedly. Chief among these collaborators are my partner in crime, actor Julia McDermott, whose genius brought the play to life, director Tyne Rafaeli and producer Francesca Moody. I couldn’t have done it without them. My deepest thanks go to the awards committee for this incredible honour and for doing God’s work in supporting new works.
       
The second and third place winners are The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu, a bittersweet journey through grief, cultural conflicts and the most unlikely friendships; and Knock on the roof by Khawla Ibraheem, a poignant yet comedic tale that shows the resilience and survival instinct of a mother in war-torn Gaza.
A special mention was made Let’s go, Michelangelo! by Dylan MarcAurele, a sharp and irreverent musical comedy that hilariously reinterprets the legendary rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, skillfully mixing historical inaccuracies with contemporary humor.
The winner and finalists were announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday 22 August at 11am in the Pleasance Courtyard Cabaret Bar in the presence of the winners and finalists. The winners were presented with their £5,000 prize money by the Popcorn Group and will also receive professional development support from the Popcorn Group and BBC Writers.
Popcorn Group, a film, television and theatre production company founded by filmmaker and artist Charlotte Colbert, has once again teamed up with nine prestigious Edinburgh theatres to spotlight the best new writing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Popcorn Writing Award celebrates bold, innovative and engaging writing and shines a spotlight on writers with unique perspectives on important issues. All shortlisted writers will be offered valuable one-to-one interviews with both the Popcorn Group and BBC Writers.
Popcorn Group founder, filmmaker and artist Charlotte Colbert comments: This year, it was again very inspiring to see the breadth and quality of the submissions. This year’s incredible selection of plays tackled social, cultural and philosophical issues in such original and exciting ways and it was a great pleasure to bring them from the page to the stage during our performance at the Edinburgh Fringe. In an age of corporate monopolies, the Fringe is a bastion of individual voices, vision and freedom. Every play on the shortlist is a testament to that spirit and we are delighted to congratulate the joint winners and brilliant finalists of this year’s award.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival attendees were thoroughly entertained by this year’s shortlisted shows. The awards ceremony showcased twenty entertaining and engaging plays, all demonstrating the power of storytelling. The plays tackled topics ranging from social conflict to black comedy and heartwarming tales of resilience.
       
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the premier venue for discovering new talent, having launched the careers of stars such as Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. The Popcorn Writing Award has become an integral part of this tradition, promoting new voices from around the world. The Fringe is the perfect partner to discover and promote these remarkable stories.
Previous winners include Bryony Kimmings, who wrote Last Christmas with Emma Thompson, Karim Khan, who now works in a writers’ room with Riz Ahmed, and Sabrina Ali, whose play Dugsi Dayz was successfully performed at the Royal Court earlier this year. Previous winners and finalists have received commissions from major broadcasters, taken part in BBC Writers’ programmes and had their work transferred to London and New York.
The nine partner venues this year are Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Summerhall, theSpaceUK, Traverse, Underbelly, Greenside and ZOO Venues, which are participating for the first time this year.
The winners and finalists of this year’s award are as follows:
Joint winners: VL – Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair
Weather Girl – Brian Watkins
Runners up: The Book of Mountains and Seas – Yilong Liu
Knock on the roof – Khawla Ibraheem
Special mention: Pop off, Michelangelo! – Dylan Marcaurele
