Kenneth Tynan Award
KENNETH TYNAN AWARD FOR DRAMATURGY
The Dramaturgs’ Network is proud to launch the first award in the United Kingdom recognising excellence in the field of dramaturgy, named after the first British literary manager/ dramaturg, Kenneth Tynan.
This annual award is to be given to one outstanding theatre professional working in the field of dramaturgy, residing in the UK.
Nominations for the award can be made by Dramaturgs’ Network members only. The recipient will be chosen from the received nominations by the Award Panel (the panel includes Tracy Tynan, costume designer and Kenneth Tynan’s daughter).
The inaugural award ceremony was held as part of the DN10 Anniversary celebrations on Sunday 16th October 2011, at Southwark Playhouse, London.
The Kenneth Tynan Award recognises excellence in the field of dramaturgy. This annual award, recognises those professionals whose dramaturgical work has led to great achievements in theatre and/or dance. This includes, but is not limited to people who have:
· Discovered new talent or noteworthy writing.
· Helped a director to develop, fine tune and realise his/her concept.
· Helped a company to shape a new production.
· Matched the right play with the right translator.
· Curated a notable festival.
· Helped raise the standard of theatre and/or dance in the United Kingdom.
The Kenneth Tynan Award celebrates their work, and acknowledges the contribution these unheralded professionals have made. Every year the award will be presented to one theatre (or dance) professional in the United Kingdom, who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of dramaturgy (regardless of his/her job title). Applicants for the award are nominated by Dramaturgs’ Network members, and the winner will be chosen by the Kenneth Tynan Award Panel.
The winner of the award receives a certificate and a sum of £250.
(Photography: Julian Lloyd)
Posted by David S at 02:00 in Kenneth Tynan Award
The Dramaturgy Papers
In this section you can find the speeches made by the presenter(s) and the winner(s) of the Kenneth Tynan Award. With this we want to establish the tradition of the “dramaturgy papers”.
Michael Billington’s Speech on Kenneth Tynan
Posted by David S at 11:27 in Kenneth Tynan Award, Dramaturgy papers
Kenneth Tynan Award 2011 Winner
LLOYD TROTT WINS THE INAUGURAL KENNETH TYNAN AWARD.
The Kenneth Tynan Award is the first award for dramaturgy in the United Kingdom. The award has been established to recognise the achievements of a profession that has been instrumental to the success of British theatre: that of the dramaturg, or literary manager.
The award was presented on Sunday, 16th October at 6pm at Southwark Playhouse as part of DN10, the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Dramaturgs’ Network. Michael Billington, theatre critic for The Guardian, presented the inaugural Kenneth Tynan award.
Acknowledging the excellence of their work in the field of dramaturgy the nominees for the inaugural award were: Ruth Little, Lloyd Trott and Katalin Trencsényi.
Ruth Little was nominated as a dramaturg who is “an inspiration to all theatre practitioners” and whose “quality of her insight and work is something to aspire to”.
Lloyd Trott was nominated for his “lifetime achievement and service to dramaturgy”.
Katalin Trencsényi was nominated for her “dedicated and tenacious leadership of the Dramaturgs’ Network”.
The winner of the Kenneth Tynan Award in 2011 for his “lifetime achievement and service to dramaturgy” is Lloyd Trott.
Congratulations!
Posted by David S at 12:16 in Kenneth Tynan Award
Kenneth Tynan Award 2012 Nominations
Nominations can be made by Dramaturgs’ Network members only. Each member can nominate one person only (excluding himself or herself).
Nominees can be theatre professionals working and residing in the United Kingdom (regardless of their job title).
Nominations can only be made in a written (typed) format, showing the name and contact details of the nominator, the name of the nominee and a brief description (max. one A4 size page) describing the nominee’s work, his/her contribution to the field of dramaturgy, and an explanation as to why the nominee deserves this award.
Please send your nominations to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The deadline for nominations for the 2012 Kenneth Tynan Award is Friday, 28th September 2012, 6pm BST.
Do you find a colleague’s work inspiring? Did you hear about somebody’s great project in the field of dramaturgy? Nominate him/her now!
We look forward to receiving of your nominations!
Posted by Hanna S at 20:31 in Kenneth Tynan Award
About Kenneth Tynan
The award is named after Kenneth Tynan (1927 – 1980), who was the first literary manager/dramaturg in the United Kingdom.
In 1963, giving up his role as a critic for The Observer, Kenneth Tynan joined Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, as the theatre’s first literary manager. With this move the profession of the dramaturg was born in the United Kingdom.
“His appointment challenged traditional British management structures assigning artistic and managerial responsibility to actor-managers, and in post Tynan provided a model of literary management that continues to be appropriated and refashioned by theatre companies throughout the United Kingdom. (…) his impact on the theatre industry itself has been extraordinary.”
(Mary Luckhurst: Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Tynan worked as a literary manager for the National Theatre for a decade (1963 – 1974). Following the dictum that a national theatre should deliver “a spectrum of world theatre” Tynan focused on “‘reviving classical drama, introducing foreign plays, presenting new plays, looking after recent plays of merit which otherwise might rust in oblivion” (Tom Stoppard) Also Tynan was not afraid to put “his own taste on the line, matchmaking between text and director and between author and muse.” (Tom Stoppard) He worked tirelessly in the rehearsal room, advised on programming, contributed to the development of new plays (Stoppard’s Jumpers for instance). He pushed Olivier into more adventurous selections, and persuaded him to play the title role in Shakespeare’s Othello (something the actor had always been reluctant to do, yet the role later earned him a great success). His work was central to the hight reputation of the National Theatre.
“The variety of the repertoire and the experimentation in its playing in these early years at the National owed a great deal to Tynan’s catholic tastes and his influence on Olivier: amongst many other achievements Tynan commissioned Robert Graves’ brilliant adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing for Franco Zeffirelli’s 1965 production and brought Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from the fringe of the 1966 Edinburgh Festival to the stage of the National Theatre.”
(Source: the National Theatre’s website:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/8843/history-of-the-nt/kenneth-tynan.html)
Tynan recognized the importance of clearly communicating the theatre’s artistic vision to the outside world. He played a huge role in “destroying the old system of censorship, formal and informal” as well as breaking down linguistic inhibitions on the stage and in print”. (Source: Paul Johnson: Intellectuals, 1988)
Clearly Tynan’s commitment and passion paid off. During his 10-year tenure at the National Theatre of the 79 plays that were staged, more than half were undisputed critical and box office hits. Thirty two of these were Tynan’s ideas; 20 were chosen with his collaboration.
Tynan’s work as a dramaturg was invaluable, and as such, he made an immeasurable contribution to British theatre.
Posted by Hanna S at 20:29 in Kenneth Tynan Award
Donate to the Kenneth Tynan Award
If you would like to support the Kenneth Tynan Award with a donation, please follow the link below which will take you to our PayPal account where you can either pay via a PayPal account or a credit card.
Thank you!
Posted by Hanna S at 21:04 in Kenneth Tynan Award
