Nick Hern Books playwrights scooped both of the playwriting awards at this year's Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, announced yesterday (25 March 2024) at a ceremony at the new West End venue @sohoplace.

The Best New Play award went to The Motive and the Cue, Jack Thorne's backstage drama about John Gielgud and Richard Burton rehearsing Hamlet in 1964. Thorne's play was premiered at the National Theatre in 2023, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Johnny Flynn as Burton. It picked up the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play, and transferred to the West End's Noel Coward theatre in December 2023, where its run has just come to an end.

The coveted Most Promising Playwright award went to Marcelo Dos Santos for his play Backstairs Billy, which premiered in the West End in a production directed by Michael Grandage and starring Penelope Wilton and Luke Evans. The play is a rip-roaring comedy about the Queen's Mother's fifty-year relationship with her loyal servant Billy Tallon. The award was given jointly to Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini for her play Sleepova at the Bush Theatre.

The Critics' Circle Awards are voted for by the body of UK theatre critics, recognising performances from across the previous calendar year.

Congratulations to all of the award winners!