Sussex drama graduate wins young director award
A Sussex drama graduate has won a prestigious award for young theatre directors.
Alex Brown, who graduated in Drama Studies and English from Sussex in 2009, is the 16th winner of the James Menzies-Kitchin (JMK) Young Directors Award.
Alex, who has been assistant director on The River by contemporary playwright Jez Butterworth at the Royal Court Theatre and an adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida Theatre, was selected from a shortlist of seven young directors.
He will receive a bursary of £25,000 to stage a production at the Young Vic in London this autumn.
The award, which was presented to Alex on Thursday (25 April) at the Young Vic, has been increased from £18,000 to £25,000 to assist young directors with the costs of staging their productions and to allow them to pay their creative team agreed minimum rates (Equity rates).
Stephen Fewell, chair of the JMK Trust, said: “Alex really stood out, someone remarkable amid a field of young talent with notable skills and acumen.
“Alex, through the JMK Award and a space at the Young Vic, gets a big opportunity to learn through making theatre, rather than by assisting or studying."
The JMK Trust was set up to commemorate young director James Menzies-Kitchin, whose career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28.
The JMK Young Director’s Award has been presented annually since 1998. Applicants must be under 30, must have directed no more than two professional productions and must apply to direct a ‘classic text’.