David Edgar, our most premiered playwright, has been honoured with an Outstanding Contribution Award at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards.
David is an RSC Honorary Associate Artist. His adaptation of A Christmas Carol recently finished a sold-out run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
His other work for the RSC includes Destiny, The Jail of Albie Sachs, Nicholas Nickleby, Maydays, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Pentecost, The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Written on the Heart and Trying It On.
The award honours David's outstanding contribution to British playwriting, four decades of service to playwrights, and the instrumental role he played in the Writers' Guild's crisis response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A passionate supporter and champion of new writing, David served as president of the Guild from 2007 to 2013. He was architect of the Writers' Guild's New Play Commission Scheme, which launched last year in response to the decline in new play commissions resulting from the pandemic, and enabled 18 playwrights to be commissioned to write new plays.
Receiving the Outstanding Contribution award, David said: "I believe that every professional writer should be a member of the Writers' Guild, and I've been one for 40 years. It's a huge privilege to be honoured by my union for my work as an activist and as a playwright."