Winner of Second Jill Fraser Award Aannounced

The internationally-renowned, award-winning Propeller Theatre Company today announced actor Lewis Hart as the winner of the second Jill Fraser Award.

The Jill Fraser Award was established by Propeller in 2013 to reward an outstanding theatre practitioner - in any field - under the age of 30. The winner receives a £5,000 prize, and a contract to work with Propeller on their next tour. The award was established in memory of the late Jill Fraser MBE, former artistic director of the Watermill, Newbury, and the award fund was donated by the Mackintosh Foundation.

Lewis Hart currently plays Snout in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Balthazar in The Comedy of Errors, and his first tour for Propeller was Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013/13. His previous work includes 24 Hour Plays 2012 (Old Vic), Cornelius (Finborough Theatre), The Enlightenment Cafe (Old Vic Tunnels), Turning to the Camera (Siege Perilous), Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), Dunsinane (National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Shakespeare Company), Life Support (York Theatre Royal Studio), Miller (Etcetera Theatre), The Cage (Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh) and Spotlight Showcase 2010 (Bloomsbury Ballroom)

Lewis Hart received the award from Edward Hall (Artistic Director of Propeller), Caro MacKay (Executive Producer) and Jill Fraser's widower James Sargant, who is also Chair of the Trustees of Propeller.

The award was made at a presentation on stage at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of Propeller's production of The Comedy of Errors, which is currently touring internationally with A Midsummer Night's Dream, both directed by Edward Hall. A video of the presentation ceremony is available here.

Edward Hall said: "It was under Jill Fraser's visionary direction of the Watermill Theatre that Propeller was born, and it could not have happened without her. We hope she would be proud of the company that Propeller has become, and that this award can be a fitting tribute to the generosity she showed to us then."

Lewis Hart said: "The only feeling that supersedes the surprise of becoming the recipient of an award in the name of someone who has been so influential upon the company that has influenced my career so profoundly over the last two years, is the sense of pride in the work that I've been part of in this and last seasons ensemble.

I think that I will be looking to create and fund some of my own work with the award, making my experience of being with Propeller ever more integral to my personal development"

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