New Earth Theatre Announces Winner of 2025 Constellation Creatives Drama Student Bursary

New Earth Theatre has announced that it has awarded the 2025 Constellation Creatives Drama Student Bursary to Sunny Chung from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Now in its thirteenth year, the bursary aims to encourage and promote greater participation and representation of British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) actors on stage and screen. Chung will receive £1000, a year’s subscription to Spotlight, a series of casting workshops with The Acting Habit, and a headshot session with Jeremy Ang Jones.

Sunny Chung (they/ them) is in their final year at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and will graduate with a BA (Hons) Professional Acting. They most recently performed in The Watsons by Laura Wade, and The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood. Chung is set to perform in Trans What You Will Theatre’s rehearsed reading of Twelfth Night on 25 July, which is directed by and cast with trans and nonbinary performers, with Sir Ian McKellen opening the evening.

Sunny Chung comments, “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.”

Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre, Ailin Conant today said, "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 Sponsor of the Bursary, 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.

This year, the judging panel included John Cannon (Casting Director, BBC), Ailin Conant (Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre), Alastair Coomer (Director of Casting, National Theatre), and Matthew Dewsbury (Casting Director, Royal Shakespeare Company). The Bursary is awarded by New Earth Theatre, provided by Orion Lee and sponsored by Spotlight, The Acting Habit, and Jeremy Ang Photography.