Tife Kusoro has won the 54th George Devine Award 2023 for new playwriting.

Kusoro won for her debut full length play G, and has been awarded the £15,000 prize.

Tife is a Nigerian-British writer and performer. Her work has previously been shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon award, Verity Bargate award and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting.

The shortlist for the award was announced last month. Other nominees were Georgia Bruce for Time, Like the Sea; Sami Ibrahim for NGO; Shahid Iqbal Khan for Djinnity; Somebody Jones for How I Learned to Swim; Cordelia Lynn for Witch Play; Ava Pickett for 1536; Bea Roberts for Those Who (Are/Were) Left; and Sam Ward for Everything I’m Thinking All of the Time.

Essex playwright Ava Pickett was also recognised with a special commendation for her play 1536, about three working women set against the backdrop of the execution of Anne Boleyn.

G is the story of three black boys trying to avoid trouble and get through school amidst the looming threat of Baitface the Gullyman. Urban legend has it that Baitface steals the faces and lives of Black Boys. When the spirit is triggered and their lives, identities and friendships begin to disintegrate, the boys must question what it really means to be seen.

This year’s judging panel of the award consisted of Justin Audibert, Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre; musician, playwright, composer and actor Johnny Flynn; theatre director Nimmo Ismail, actor and director Rebekah Murrell, playwright and screenwriter Nick Payne and Roxana Silbert, Artistic Associate at Theatre Royal Stratford East and former Artistic Director of Hampstead Theatre.

The George Devine Awards were established in 1966 in memory of the Royal Court’s founding Artistic Director George Devine, to shine a light on playwrights of promise.

Former winners include Tyrell Williams in 2022 for Red Pitch, and Emily White in 2021 for Atlantis, plus Alice Birch, Lucy Prebble, Daniel Ward and Diana Nneka Atuona.

Director Roxana Silbert said in a statement: “All the writers on this year’s shortlist inspired us with their imagination, theatricality and skill. They encompassed an extraordinary range of genres and interests and what they shared was an outstanding command of language, a brilliant theatrical ambition and deep passion for their stories. This year’s winner of the 2023 George Devine Award, G, captivated every member of the panel. Tife Kusoro is a genuinely unique voice. Simultaneously epic and personal, G is a bold, visceral play which tackles a difficult story in a theatrical style that is enthralling and inhabited with beguiling characters. The panel is also delighted to award a special commendation to 1536 by Ava Pickett for its inventiveness, playfulness and savage undercurrent. It was a privilege to spend time with all the plays and it has invigorated our excitement for the future of new work in the UK.”

Writer Tife Kusoro said: “I’m so grateful to be receiving the George Devine Award. I’ve put so much work and love into this play over the past few years and it means so much to win this award at this time in my life. I feel honoured to have been shortlisted alongside such great writers and the award has given me a much-needed boost of hope and self-belief that will help me to keep writing.”

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Main photo: Tife Kusoro. Photo by Andy McCredie

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