Chosen from an international group of over 160 nominated plays, Zoe Cooper’s play OUT WATER has been named as a finalist in the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Originally co-commissioned by the RSC, it’s debut production was at the Orange Tree Theatre on 27th April 2019.
ZOE COOPER (U.K.) – Out of Water
Submitted by Orange Tree Theatre (London)
Out of Water was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Orange Tree Theatre in London, where it premiered in April,2019. It was shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Evening Standard Award for most Promising Playwright. Cooper’s Jess and Joe Forever, premiered at the Orange Tree in 2016 before touring. It has since enjoyed productions in the U.K., Australia and the Czech Republic. Cooper’s the Snow Queen with songs by singer-songwriter Josienne Clarke, was commissioned by the National Theatre’s ‘Let’s Play’ scheme in 2018. The ‘Let’s Play’ scheme commissions new plays for primary school children to perform. The Snow Queen has since enjoyed many school productions all over the U.K. Zoe has been shortlisted for the Rod Hall Memorial Award and the Adrienne Benham Award. She won the Off West End Most Promising Playwright Award and the inaugural ScreenSkills New Writers Award. She has enjoyed residencies at the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. She has been awarded a TS Eliot Commission. Four of her plays are published by Bloomsbury/Methuen. She is currently working on new plays for Northern Stage and the National Theatre.
# # # #