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.
