Nick Payne Wins Harold Pinter Playwright's Award For CONSTELLATIONS

Nick Payne, writer of acclaimed play Constellations, is the second recipient of the Harold Pinter Playwright's Award, introduced last year to support a new commission at The Royal Court Theatre.

The Harold Pinter Playwright's Award was awarded for the first time in 2011 to Anders Lustgarten and is now awarded annually by Harold Pinter's widow, Lady Antonia Fraser, to support a new commission at the Royal Court. There are no restrictions on the award and can be given to any playwright, from a first-time, unpublished writer to one already established.

Nick Payne was a member of the Young Writers Programme at the Royal Court and made his debut at the Court in September 2010 with Wanderlust.  His second play Constellations, starring Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall, opened to critical acclaim in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in January this year and will transfer to the Duke of York's theatre, as part of the Royal Court's West End season.

He won the prestigious George Devine Award in 2009 with his play If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet. This was produced at the Bush Theatre in October 2009, directed by Josie Rourke and will be produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York in Autumn 2012 starring Jake Gyllenhaal.  He is currently under commission at the Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Court and Manhattan Theatre Club.

Nick Payne said: "To be the recipient of this year's award is both thrilling and humbling.  I am deeply grateful to Dominic Cooke and Lady Antonia Fraser for their support; it means a great deal to me."  

Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of the Royal Court, said: "Nick is a writer who is becoming increasingly interested in form. His play Constellations, staged in our tiny 90-seater studio in January and now opening as part of our West End season was a hugely successful step forward for him.

"I'm delighted that we are able to present Nick with the Harold Pinter Playwright's Award, given very generously by Harold's widow Antonia Fraser, at this pivotal stage in his career and very excited to see what he does next. "

Lady Antonia Fraser said: "I believe that the Harold Pinter Playwright Award's brief to commission a new play is exactly what Harold would have wanted.  Because he had experienced the devastating rejection of his early work, he knew the true value of encouragement. New writing was always intensely important to Harold, and Nick Payne, already the author of a wonderful play, is the ideal recipient of the 2012 Award."

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