Zoe Bullock and Louise Oliver Receive 2024 ART Award

Assembly Theatre has announced the winner of the 2024 ART Award as Zoë Bullock and Louise Oliver for their production Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again). Written and performed by Zoë Bullock, ‘Gracie’ is an absurd tragi-comic monologue about an immortal jellyfish who causes the extinction of life on earth after the love of her life is killed as fishing by-catch. An extinction level comedy about looking for love after the end of the world.

Established in 2017 to recognise new Scottish writing and support creativity at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the ART (Assembly Roxy Theatre) Award is awarded to a Scotland-based theatre company or performance practitioner to debut new work at the Fringe. The award provides access to rehearsal and development space at Assembly Roxy, and support and resources from the Assembly Festival team in preparation for a run as part of the festival’s Fringe season. Previous winners includeHeaven Burns (2018) by Jen McGregor, Ane City (2019) by Taylor Dyson for Elfie Picket Theatre, and She Wolf (2022) by Isla Cowan.

Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again) will be presented at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe in association with Assembly Festival by a female-led Scotland based creative team.

Zoë Bullock (writer-performer) is an award-winning writer and actor. Her recent theatre writing includes Shō and the Demons of the Deep (IAP in association with National Theatre of Scotland), and she has performed with companies including The Bone Ensemble, Lamphouse Theatre and Cumbernauld Theatre. Her work often subverts genre to interrogate the intersection between climate crisis, class warfare, and human survival.

Alice Langley (director-dramaturg) trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She’s worked extensively with new writing, most recently looking at how trauma manifests in the body. She uses magical realism to explore miscarriage and infertility, climate-anxiety, and grief, finding ways to emphasise human connections and present work which is ultimately hopeful about our future.

Louise Oliver (creative producer) is an interdisciplinary producer, writer and actor who makes theatre and film that’s queer, feminist and subverts form. Louise has made work with Edinburgh production company Civil Disobedience, is the co-founder of arts advocacy initiative Persistent & Nasty, and co-founder and producer for talent-led indie film company, Bar Italia Films.

Performances of Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again) will take place at Assembly Roxy in its new Outside venue, Wednesday 31 July – Monday 26 August.

On receiving the award, Zoë Bullock said: “We're absolutely thrilled to be bringing Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again) to the Edinburgh Fringe as the recipient of this year's ART Award. We couldn't do this without the support of Assembly, and we're delighted to be following in the footsteps of previous ART Award winners, platforming original work made in Scotland. Gracie is a story and a character for anyone who's ever felt anxious about impending apocalypse, and anyone who's ever been on a date with a stranger. We can't wait for audiences to meet her.”

William Burdett-Coutts, Artistic Director Assembly Festival said: “We’re delighted to announce the recipient of this year’s ART Award and are proud to support Zoë and Louise in bringing their work to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Fringe is renowned for being the world’s largest and best arts festival and we’re proud to support home-grown talent to appear alongside their international peers. With this award, Assembly supports Scottish artists with a run on one of the largest stages at the festival and ensures the creativity of Scotland’s arts industry for future generations.”

The ART Award is organised by Assembly Theatre in association with Assembly Festival.

Assembly Festival 2024 will begin on Wednesday 31 July and run through to Monday 26 August. Performances will take place across Edinburgh city centre, including Assembly Festival’s year-round home Assembly Roxy, Assembly Checkpoint, Assembly Hall, Assembly Rooms, and Assembly George Square Gardens.

For tickets and further information on ‘Gracie’ and the full Assembly Festival programme and to sign up to receive news about future shows at Assembly Festival 2024, visit www.assemblyfestival.com.

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