The Playwrights ’73 Awards has announced its 2026 cohort of writers, with four playwrights selected to take part in the prestigious 18-month development programme.
Funded primarily by The Peggy Ramsay Foundation, with additional support from The Maria Björnson Memorial Fund, the scheme places playwrights with theatres across the UK and provides financial support to create a new play.
For the 2026 awards, Cordelia Lynn will work with Orange Tree Theatre, Carley Magee with Kabosh Theatre, Tolu Okanlawon with Arcola Theatre, and AJ Yi with Bush Theatre.
Each writer will receive a £15,000 bursary during the course of the programme.
Cordelia Lynn said: “I’m thrilled to be working with the Orange Tree. It’s a gorgeous, intimate space and I can’t wait to get stuck into writing a new play for it. With this bursary, Playwrights 73 have given us real freedom and support to develop the work and the relationship, and I’m grateful for their belief in our collaboration.”
Tom Littler, Artistic Director of Orange Tree Theatre, added: “We’ve been looking for an excuse to work with Cordelia for some time, so we’re delighted that Playwrights ’73 has finally given us one. She is one of the most exciting voices out there: a writer of enormous talent, curiosity and originality, whose work we have long admired. We are thrilled to support her as she develops new work during her attachment to our theatre over the next eighteen months.”
Carley Magee said the award represents a vital next step in her career and praised the opportunity to continue working with Kabosh on socially engaged storytelling and underrepresented narratives.
Paula McFetridge, Artistic Director of Kabosh, described Magee as “a gifted, exciting Belfast playwright” and said the programme would provide invaluable time, space and professional development.
Tolu Okanlawon said: “I’m so honoured to be selected for the Playwrights ’73 award. The scheme has supported many writers that I greatly admire, so I’m deeply grateful to the Peggy Ramsay Foundation for this opportunity.”
He added: “Opportunities that provide writers with time, trust and practical support are increasingly rare, so this award means a great deal. It’s made even more special by the fact that I’ll have the full support of The Arcola, my local theatre. I really look forward to working closely with the team and spending the next eighteen months focused on writing a shiny new play.”
Mehmet Ergen, Executive Artistic Director of Arcola Theatre, praised Okanlawon as “one of the most exciting voices emerging in theatre today” and said the partnership would help establish an enduring creative relationship.
AJ Yi will continue their relationship with Bush Theatre through the scheme, developing a new play they describe as “more vulnerable, theatrically experimental, and thematically ambitious” than their previous work.
A spokesperson for Bush Theatre said: “We are so delighted to be collaborating with AJ Yi and meaningfully continue a relationship that started with the Bush several years ago. AJ is a brilliant playwright, and we feel that their approach to theatrical storytelling really aligns with our commitment to seeking out and nurturing complex and expansive work.”
The Playwrights ’73 Awards was established to provide playwrights with the time, financial support and artistic collaboration needed to develop ambitious new work, with previous beneficiaries of Peggy Ramsay Foundation support including Alecky Blyth, Ryan Calais Cameron, Alexander Zeldin and Ella Hickson.
