New Earth Theatre has announced Sunny Chung as the recipient of the 2025 Constellation Creatives Drama Student Bursary.
Now in its thirteenth year, the bursary supports British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) actors transitioning from drama school to professional careers.
Chung, who uses they/them pronouns, is in their final year at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where they are completing a BA (Hons) in Professional Acting.
They recently appeared in The Watsons by Laura Wade and The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood, and will next perform in Twelfth Night with Trans What You Will Theatre on 25 July—a rehearsed reading directed by and cast with trans and nonbinary performers, with Sir Ian McKellen opening the evening.
As part of the bursary, Chung will receive £1000, a year’s Spotlight subscription, casting workshops with The Acting Habit, and a headshot session with Jeremy Ang Jones.
Chung said, “Never have I felt pride quite like this. For the first time in my training as an actor, I actually feel seen. It makes me feel so proud to call myself Asian. My gratitude to New Earth Theatre for creating this space for the BESEA community to shine is endless. The future for Asian creatives feels bright and beautiful.”
Ailin Conant, Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre, commented, “I cannot underline enough how exceptional and rare this opportunity is for graduating actors, to be able to perform for–and dialogue candidly with–such a powerhouse casting panel. We all came away from the day having built new relationships and learned new perspectives, and in that sense all of the performers and panellists were winners.
The applicant pool this year blew us away and it was a very difficult task to pick a single stand-out performer. Our bursary recipient Sunny Chung impressed us with their intelligence, their understanding of dramatic architecture, and their brilliant comic timing. Best of luck to Sunny, and to all of our applicants and finalists, for the bright careers ahead of them.”
Actor and bursary sponsor Orion Lee added, “Very proud to continue my association with the brilliant New Earth Theatre. Thanks to the amazing panel for their time, Ailin Conant, Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre; John Cannon, Casting Director, BBC; Alastair Coomer, Director of Casting, National Theatre; Matthew Dewsbury, Casting Director, Royal Shakespeare Company. All the best to Sunny Chung for a long career going forward.”
The judging panel for 2025 included John Cannon (BBC), Alastair Coomer (National Theatre), Ailin Conant (New Earth Theatre), and Matthew Dewsbury (Royal Shakespeare Company).
The bursary is provided by Orion Lee and supported by Spotlight, The Acting Habit, and Jeremy Ang Photography.
More information can be found here.
