At a ceremony in New York earlier on this week, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize announced the 2025 award has been given to U.S. playwright a.k. payne for their play Furlough’s Paradise. Awarded annually since 1978, the prestigious international Prize is the largest and oldest award recognizing women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre.
On March 10, the Prize hosted theatre artists and leaders at NYC’s Playwrights Horizons to honor and celebrate payne and a cohort of 8 Finalists. Payne received a cash prize of $25,000, and a signed print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
As we approach 2 years this July of our commitment to integrating and exploring what it means to look after our wellbeing, we just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the journey so far! Thank you to Megan Mattravers who has been at the forefront of guiding us all on what it means to observe the present moment in our fast paced world and to Francesca Mepham who has been vital in helping spread the word with her vital PR campaigns and belief in what we’re looking to achieve!
Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals and Jamie Lloyd for The Jamie Lloyd Company today announce that Rachel Zegler will make her West End debut as Eva Perón in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, with full cast and creatives to be announced. The production, directed by Jamie Lloyd, opens at The London Palladium on Tuesday 1 July, with previews from 14 June, and runs until 6 September 2025.
Punchdrunk Enrichment has today announced that Peter Higgin will step down as Artistic Director and Joint CEO after 17 years leading the independent charity. Punchdrunk Enrichment was co-founded by Peter in 2008 to take the innovative practice of Punchdrunk into communities and schools, becoming the pioneer of immersive learning internationally.
The Bush Theatre trustees have appointed Taio Lawson as the theatre’s new Artistic Director and Co-CEO. Taio joins the company in Summer 2025 and will oversee the final season of plays programmed by Lynette Linton, who leaves in March 2025. Taio’s first season of work will launch in early 2026. He will lead the Bush in partnership with Executive Director and Co-CEO Mimi Findlay.
Under the direction of Managing Director Andrew Flatt, Executive Producer Anne Quart, and Chief Creative Officer Thomas Schumacher – today announces that the new stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman, based on the 2017 smash-hit film, will première at ATG Entertainment’s Bristol Hippodrome in Spring 2026.
The UK Pantomime Association is delighted to announce the nominees for The Pantomime Awards 2025, which will take place 
Today, seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette is thrilled to announce that she will be headlining London’s The O2 
2017 witnessed theatre company Crying in the Wilderness perform their work Invisible Man at Certain Blacks’ Harlem Festival, a pertinent production about marginalisation initially performed at the Decibel Performing Arts Festival at the Manchester Royal National College of Music back in 2011. Eight years on, Certain Blacks’ and Crying in the Wilderness reunite as the latter present work-in-progress Best Friends – a work following two successful businessmen who check in to a retreat centre to celebrate their last 24hrs as friends, only to bring to the fore revelations about their pasts at this year’s Afro Futures Festival taking place at Rich Mix from 6th to 9th March. Ahead of the festival, Creative Director Paul Morris tells us more about how the company have approached creating the work-in-progress, what’s been learned from creating it and future plans for the show.