Diana Nneka Atunoa Announced as Recipient of the 50th George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright

Diana Nneka Atuona has received the 50th George Devine Award for most promising playwright for her play The Boy From Tiger Bay. She was awarded the £15,000 prize at an event at the Royal Court Theatre.

Richard Bean, Charlene James, Hanif Kureishi, Mike Leigh, Lucy Prebble and Laura Wade are past winners of the award, which was set up in 1966 in memory of George Devine, the Royal Court’s first Artistic Director.

Diana Nneka Atuona most recently collaborated with the Royal Court Theatre with her play Liberian Girl which was produced in 2015.

Commenting on receiving the award playwright Diana Nneka Atuona said;

“Writing this play has been a difficult journey, it has taken many forms; I’ve had knock backs and at times felt I couldn’t complete a draft but I didn’t give up.

Winning the George Devine award has been the validation I needed to persevere with the play I truly love. A big thank you to the judges on the panel.”

Read the full press release here.