UEA graduate wins prestigious playwriting prize for original script
By: Communications
A graduate from the University of East Anglia (UEA) has won a major playwriting prize for her original script, which explores the complexities of family and community.
Martha Loader, who graduated from the MA in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) in 2024, has been awarded the highly coveted George Devine Award, one of the most prestigious honours in the world of theatre playwriting.
This award recognises emerging playwrights whose works have demonstrated exceptional skill, creativity and promise, along with a prize of £15,000 to support her future work.
Martha, who is 34 and from Ipswich, received the award for her play The Town, which was developed as part of her final-year dissertation project. The play explores the complexities and fragile bonds of family and community, and exposes how swiftly we turn to blame.
“Winning the George Devine Award is a real honour,” says Martha. “This feels like a big step change in my career and I’m really grateful to the people and organisations who have helped me and my writing over the years. Their support has played a huge part in paving the way to this award.
“I wrote an early draft of The Town as my MA dissertation in 2024, with Ben Musgrave as my supervisor. Having Ben’s support, as well as the time and resources of the UEA MA, was hugely impactful as it pushed me to write my biggest play yet.”
Before embarking on the degree at UEA, Martha worked as a producer for an art festival and as a freelance playwright:
“The play was a commission from the Almeida Theatre as part of the Genesis Foundation's New Playwrights, Big Plays programme, so it was a great opportunity to be able to write my dissertation with a real commission in mind. I came to the MA later, having been working part time as a writer for about eight years before I started the course.
“I had never officially studied Creative Writing before and the training I received under Steve Waters and Ben [Musgrave] particularly was second to none. Learning from playwrights whose work I so admire taught me so much about the craft of writing but also about the ‘job’ of being a playwright.”
Ben Musgrave, Lecturer in Scriptwriting at UEA, said: “It was such a privilege to see Martha's astonishing play come into being. The Town is a special piece of work, sophisticated, richly imagined in its dramatic world and devastatingly powerful.
“We're really proud of Martha and her achievement, and proud that she wrote the play on our programme.”
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