Rory Kinnear Presents The 2018 Theatre Book Prize Today

Actor and playwright, Rory Kinnear (National Theatre, RSC, James Bond franchise) will present the 2018 Society for Theatre Research Theatre Book Prize at a ceremony at the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Thursday 21st June. Currently playing the role of Macbeth at the National Theatre, Kinnear has won and been nominated for multiple awards including an Olivier, two Evening Standard Awards and a British Independent Film Award.

Chosen from an entry of 60 titles submitted by publishers, the 2018 shortlist is Balancing Acts by Nicholas Hytner (Jonathan Cape), Black British Drama - A Transnational Story by Michael Pearce (Routledge), Child Actors on the London Stage, c 1600 by Julie Ackroyd (Sussex Academic Press), Costume in Performance by Donatella Barbieri (Bloomsbury) London Theatres by Michael Coveney and Peter Dazeley (Frances Lincoln), and Shakespeare on Stage: Vol 2 - Twelve Leading Actors on Twelve Key Roles by Julian Curry (Nick Hern Books).

This year's judges are Paul Miller, Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Sam Marlowe, highly regarded theatre critic, and Professor Jeffery Richards chaired by Howard Loxton representing the Society for Theatre Research.

Howard Loxton commented; "This year's shortlist is a collection of well researched and highly engaging books that represent a wide range of theatre study. We are delighted that an actor with the caliber of Rory Kinnear can join us on the day to present the prize to our worthy winner."

Paul Miller became Artistic Director at the in-the-round Orange Tree Theatre in 2014 after being Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres. He had directed plays for the National Theatre, the Royal Court, in the West End, and among others Hampstead Theatre, the Bush, the Arcola and the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Theatre critic, Sam Marlowe trained as an actor and began her writing career as a critic and features writer for What's On In London magazine. She later became that magazine's theatre editor, before going on to work at The Independent, where she regularly contributed arts features. She is now a freelance arts journalist and regular theatre critic for The Times, Metro and The Chicago Tribune, and a judge for Theatre Awards UK.

Jeffery Richards is Emeritus Professor of Cultural History at Lancaster University. His numerous publications include Sir Henry Irving: a Victorian Actor and his World, which was short-listed for the STR Theatre Book Prize in 2005.

The Theatre Book Prize was established to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Society for Theatre Research (which was founded in 1948) and to encourage the writing and publication of books on all aspects of theatre history and practice, both those that present the theatre of the past and those that record contemporary theatre for the future. First awarded for books published in 1997, it is presented annually for a new book on British or British related theatre which an independent panel of judges considers to be the best published during the year. Play texts and studies of drama as literature are not eligible. The judges are drawn from theatre professionals, theatre critics, theatre academics and archivists, with a chairperson from the committee of the Society for Theatre Research.

Now celebrating its 70th year the Society for Theatre Research was formed at a public meeting in the bomb-damaged Old Vic on 15 June 1948 to advance research into British-related theatre. It runs lectures and conferences, publishes books and a journal, offers funding and prizes, promotes excellent scholarship and supports the continuing development of practice. It has been involved in successful campaigning across the theatrical spectrum from the establishment of the Theatre Museum to the abolition of stage censorship and the creation of the Theatres Trust.