The 2012 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright has been won by Tom Wells for his play The Kitchen Sink, it was announced today (29 May) at the Royal Court Theatre.

The play, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in November 2011, has already won its author the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. The Kitchen Sink was described by Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph as 'one of the best new plays I have seen anywhere this year, and I cannot recommend it too highly.'

The George Devine award is an annual award for new writing in theatre. Coming with a prize of £10,000, it is open to any playwright in the UK for an original stage play, which need not have been produced. It was set up in 1966 as a memorial to the life and talent of the founding Artistic Director of the Royal Court, George Devine.

Previous winners of the George Devine Award include Edward Bond, Mike Leigh, Hanif Kureishi, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Enda Walsh, Gary Mitchell, Richard Bean, Mark O’Rowe, Lucy Prebble, Alexandra Wood and Vivenne Franzmann.