Theatre News

Clare Barron wins the James Tait Black Prize for Drama for Dance Nation

The award is given out annually in Edinburgh

Clare Barron
Clare Barron
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

The winner of this year's James Tait Black Prize has been revealed.

Clare Barron won the award for her play Dance Nation, which ran at the Almeida Theatre last year after an initial premiere at Playwrights Horizons in the US in May 2018.

Dance Nation was the seventh play to receive the award, beating out a shortlist also composed of Kaite O'Reilly and Phillip B Zarrilli's richard III redux [or] Sara Beer [is/not] Richard III and Jeremy O Harris' Slave Play. The news was revealed at the Traverse Theatre last night.

Any original play written in English, Scots or Gaelic is eligible for the award, with prize money of £10,000. Previous winners have included Tanika Gupta, David Ireland, Gary Owen and Gordon Dahlquist.

Barron's next piece, Dirty Crusty, will run at east London's Yard Theatre from 24 October to 23 November.