The Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST) has officially opened entries for the 2025 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, in partnership with Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Rose Theatre, Kingston, and Storyhouse, Chester.
Now in its ninth year, the prestigious Award honours the legacy of RTST co-founder Sir Peter Hall and offers a career-transforming opportunity for an emerging director to helm a mid-scale production and take it on tour.
The winning director will stage a new production on the main stage at Mercury Theatre in September 2026, as part of its autumn season. The production will then tour to Rose Theatre and Storyhouse.
A grant of £60,000 from the RTST will support the production costs.
The Award is designed to promote diversity and support rising talent in British regional theatre, both onstage and offstage.
The judging panel includes Natasha Rickman (Chair), Roger Allam, Robin Belfield, Christopher Haydon, Simon Kenny, Anne Odeke, Helen Redcliffe, and Ian Rickson.
Sir Geoffrey Cass, RTST Chairman, said:
“We’re thrilled to be running the 2025 Award with Mercury Theatre in Colchester, and delighted they’ll be working with Rose Theatre in Kingston and Storyhouse in Chester to co-produce the winner’s production for the benefit of their local audiences. The Award – this is our ninth – continues to serve our allied objectives of promoting the country’s finest rising directing talent and supporting excellent British regional theatres.”
Mark Hawes, Director of the RTST, commented:
“We’re proud that, once again, our unique Award and associated grant will be the catalyst for a regional touring production directed by the winner who will be making their mid-scale directing debut. The opportunity conferred on the winner is truly career-transformative. But the Award is not ‘all about the winner’. For those who reach an advanced stage in the selection process, the Award gives valuable professional experience, recognition and connections – many directors have reported that this has opened doors for them. Our last winner won on her sixth attempt, yet she reported that, even in the ‘unsuccessful years’, the connections that the RTST enabled her to make helped her grow and brought her work.”
Natasha Rickman, Artistic Director of Mercury Theatre, added:
“The RTST is a rare and career-changing opportunity for a director, and we are incredibly proud to be hosting the 2025 award here in Colchester. The award encompasses everything we love here at the Mercury – exciting, high quality theatre, artists making strides in the next stages of their career, and the opportunity to collaborate with our friends in Kingston and Chester, as well as the fantastic team at the RTST. I hope that any director who is eligible, sends in an application, and I can’t wait to meet the incredible cohort of artists that apply.”
The 2024 winner, Tanuja Amarasuriya, will direct Private Lives by Noël Coward in September 2025, touring to several regional theatres including Mercury Theatre and Rose Theatre.
Entries for the 2025 Award are open to UK permanent residents aged 18 and over, with a professional directing track record. Applicants must submit a proposal for a play and participate in workshops and interviews if shortlisted.
The deadline for entries is 6.00pm on Monday, 1 September 2025.
More information can be found here
