SHORTLIST FOR THE 9TH PHELIM DONLON PLAYWRIGHT’S BURSARY AND RESIDENCY

Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) in association with Tyrone Guthrie Centre Annaghmakerrig are delighted to announce the Shortlist for the 9th Phelim Donlon Playwright’s Bursary and Residency.   

The shortlisted writers are Clare Monnelly, Meghan Tyler, and the duo of Micheal Patrick and Oisin Kearney.

ABOUT THE AWARD  

This award is named in honour of Phelim Donlon, former Drama Officer at the Arts Council and a dedicated member of ITI’s first PLAYOGRAPHYIreland Advisory Panel, in acknowledgement of his valued contribution to Irish theatre.  

The award provides a professional playwright with time, physical resources and mentoring towards writing a new play.  

The recipient of the 2024 award will receive an ITI writers’ bursary of €2,000 and a 2 weeks’ fully resourced residency in Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig. The awardee will be announced on 14th March.  

The shortlisted artists will each receive €500.  

SELECTION PANEL 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our selection panel artists Fionn Foley and Oonagh Murphy, who were assisted in the process by ITI’s Artist Supports and Playography Manager, Katherine Murphy and ITI’s Interim Programme Manager, Lisa Nally.  

All open calls with Irish Theatre Institute are read and selected by a peer panel of artists. These artists are chosen through a random selection process from ITI’s artist community.  

PREVIOUS AWARDEES 

Previous playwrights awarded this bursary and residency include Caitríona Daly (2023)  John O’Donovan (2022) Stephen Jones (2021) Sonya Kelly (2020), Karen Cogan (2019), Amy Conroy (2018), Carys D. Coburn (2017) and Fiona Doyle (2016). Further information on the award and previous recipients is available here.   

SHORTLISTED WRITERS  

Please find biographies for the shortlisted writers and artist panel below.  

Clare Monnelly is a writer and actor. Her first play Charlie’s a Clepto was nominated for two Irish Times Theatre Awards and the Stewart Parker New Playwright Bursary. minefield premiered at Dublin Fringe Festival 2019 and was nominated for three Dublin Fringe Awards. The Hare (co-written with Bob Kelly) premiered as part of Cairde Sligo Arts Festival 2023 and is currently undertaking a 10-venue national tour. The Local (co-written with Medb Lambert and Emma O’Grady) produced by Asylum Productions and Once Off Productions premiered as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2023. Livin’ Dred premiered Super-Bogger, a one man show for actor Aaron Monaghan in November 2023. She is an alumnus of Irish Theatre Institute’s Six in the Attic program.  

Meghan Tyler (“Irrepressible Irish theatre minx”) is an award-winning playwright and actor from Newry. Their play Crocodile Fever stormed the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Traverse Theatre in 2019, and recently won the prestigious Stewart Parker Award. They have won the Channel 4 Playwrights Bursary, the New Playwrights Award with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, and they were a member of the New Playwrights Programme at the Lyric Theatre. Their first play Nothing to be Done went to many international festivals, and received the MARTA Award for Best Script, “representing artistic hope for the future”.  

Michael Patrick (writer/actor) and Oisín Kearney (writer/director) are a creative partnership working across Theatre, Radio, TV & Film, that make original work that is bursting with humour and heart, whilst having something important to say about life now. Their plays My Left Nut (now a BBC Three series), The Alternative (nominated Best New Play, Irish Times Theatre Awards), The Border Game have toured Ireland. They are alumni of ITI’s Virtual Attic, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre ‘Percolate’ New Writing group, Prime Cut’s REVEAL programme, BBC Writers’ Room Belfast Voices, The MAC’s Hatch & Scratch, and recipients of an Abbey Theatre Commemoration Bursary and the IASH/Traverse Creative Fellowship. They are represented by Curtis Brown.  

ABOUT PHELIM DONLON (1936 – 2014)  

Phelim began work at the Arts Council in 1983, and served as Film, Drama and Opera Officer, retiring in 2001. He was also Director of the Auditoria review of the built infrastructure for the performing arts throughout Ireland. In retirement, his commitment remained undiminished, and he served on the boards of many performing arts organisations. Learn more about Phelim and his impact here.