ZOE COOPER AND STEWART PRINGLE APPOINTED RSC WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE
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The RSC has today announced the appointment of Zoe Cooper and Stewart Pringle as the company’s new Writers-in-Residence.
In their new roles, the playwrights will lead the New Works team at the RSC and develop their own writing. Their work with the team will include mentoring playwrights, developing new ideas and establishing new ways of supporting writers.
Both Zoe and Stewart will take up their new roles in November.
Co-Artistic Directors, Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans commented:
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Stewart and Zoe to the RSC as our Writers-in-Residence. To be working with not one but two playwrights of their calibre is a hugely exciting prospect and holds true to our commitment to place artists at the heart of everything we do. They will be key to forging meaningful and inclusive relationships with new and established artists, whilst unlocking innovative approaches to how we make work.”
Zoe Cooper said today:
“I am so thrilled to be coming to the RSC alongside the brilliant Stewart Pringle. To be given the opportunity to call somewhere home as a playwright is really rare. Rarer still in a theatre that has such a rich history and as it starts to write its next exciting chapter. I am greatly looking forward to being part of a team that I know will help lots of other writers feel like the Company can be a home for them too. Can’t wait!”
Stewart Pringle added:
“I'm over the moon to be joining the RSC at this incredible moment in its history, and to be working with Zoë Cooper, one of my favourite playwrights. The RSC has long been a powerhouse for new work, and it's going to be such a thrilling journey to become part of that team, supporting and nurturing writers, as well as developing our own work alongside. Dream job! Let's go!”
Zoe Cooper is a playwright. Brought up in London, she now lives in Newcastle with her wife and two-year-old daughter. Her plays include Northanger Abbey, inspired by the Austen novel, (Orange Tree Theatre, Bolton Octagon, TBTL and SJT), an adaptation of David Almond’s novel A Song for Ella Grey (Pilot/Northern Stage and touring), Out of Water (Orange Tree) and Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree, touring and Traverse).
Zoe has been shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award, the Women’s Playwriting Prize and was the winner of the Off West End Most Promising Playwright Award. Alongside her work as a playwright, she has a background in dramaturgy and literary management. Zoe will be seconded from her fractional role as a Senior Lecturer in Theatre Script at Newcastle University, where she has worked for the last 8 years after completing her PhD.
Stewart Pringle is a writer and dramaturg from the Northeast of England, currently based in London. His plays include The Bounds (Royal Court & Live Theatre), the Papatango New Writing Prize-winning Trestle (Southwark Playhouse) and The Ghost Hunter (Old Red Lion Theatre & Touring). Stewart was previously the Senior Dramaturg of the National Theatre, and before that the Associate Dramaturg of the Bush Theatre. Outside of this, he has worked for many years as a culture journalist, and has written extensively within the Whoniverse, usually with his wife Lauren Mooney.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Kate Evans (Head of Media Relations) at kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
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NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
New Work at the RSC is generously supported by Hawthornden Foundation and The Drue and H.J. Heinz II Charitable Trust.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)’s mission is to bring people together to experience stories that deepen our understanding of ourselves, each other and the world around us, and that bring joy. Shakespeare’s restless exploration of all of human nature is our inspiration and touchstone. The company’s roots lie in the bold vision of a local brewer, Edward Fordham Flower, who in 1879 established a theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon with his son Charles. The RSC as we know it today was formed by Sir Peter Hall, whose ambition was to produce new plays alongside those of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. We continue this today across our three permanent theatres in Stratford – the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan Theatre and The Other Place – and indeed online and around the globe. We believe everybody’s life can be enriched by culture and creativity. Our transformative Creative Learning and Engagement programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year. We have collaborated with generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future.
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
