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The Winners have been announced for the Popcorn writing awards at Edinburgh Fringe.
Amongst the thousands of acts at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, VL and Weather Girl jointly win this
year’s Popcorn Writing Award, with The Book of Mountain and Seas and Knock on the Roof
coming in second and third, sharing the prize fund of £6,500.
Written by Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, VL explores the challenges and comedic absurdity of
coming of age in a small-town school when you’re a VL (Virgin Lips). Kieran and Gary comment,
We’re absolutely buzzing to have been awarded the Popcorn Award for VL. When we’re writing
these characters together our first aim is just to make each other laugh, and discovering that Max
and Stevie’s trials and travails resonate with others is a great reward. This award is testament to
the work of Scott, Gav, Orla, Eve and the whole team, who put so much faith in us and elevate
everything we write.
Weather Girl by Brian Watkins is a blistering satire on climate change and the strange, dark heart
of America. Brian comments, I am honoured to receive this storied award and to be recognized
alongside so many other brilliant playwrights. This play is a love letter to where I’m from, for all
its strangeness and dysfunction and dark enchanted corners, and I’m immensely grateful to the
incredible team and audiences that embraced it wholeheartedly. Chief among those collaborators
are my partner in crime actress Julia McDermott, whose brilliance willed the play into existence,
director Tyne Rafaeli and producer Francesca Moody. I could not have done this without them. My
deepest thanks to the award committee for this incredible honour, and for doing God’s work in
supporting new writing.
The runners-up taking second and third place are The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu,
a bittersweet journey exploring grief, cultural clashes, and the unlikeliest of friendships; and
Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem, a poignant yet comedic narrative portraying one mother’s
resilience and instinct for survival in war-torn Gaza.
A special mention was given to Pop Off, Michelangelo! by Dylan MarcAurele, a sharp and
irreverent musical comedy that hilariously reimagines the legendary rivalry between
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, skillfully blending historical inaccuracies with contemporary
humour.
The winner and finalists were announced at the award ceremony held at the Pleasance Courtyard
Cabaret Bar on Thursday 22nd August at 11am, with winners and finalists in attendance. The
winners were presented with their prize of £5000 from the Popcorn Group. They will also receive
career development support from the Popcorn Group and BBC Writers.
Popcorn Group, a film, television, and theatre production company founded by filmmaker and
artist Charlotte Colbert, has once again joined forces with nine renowned Edinburgh theatre
venues to spotlight the best new writing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Popcorn
Writing Award celebrates bold, innovative, and exciting writing and spotlights writers with unique
perspectives on important conversations. All shortlisted writers are offered valuable one-to-one
meetings with both the Popcorn Group and BBC Writers.
Popcorn Group’s founder, filmmaker and artist Charlotte Colbert comments, This year again it’s
been so inspiring to see the breadth and quality of the submissions. This year’s incredible
selection of plays tackled societal, cultural and philosophical issues in such original and engaging
ways and it has been such a joy to see them leap from page to stage while we’ve been up at the
Edinburgh Fringe. In the age of corporate monopolies, the Fringe stands as a bastion of
individual voices, vision and freedom. Each shortlisted play is a testament to this spirit and we
are delighted to congratulate the joint winners and brilliant finalists of this year’s award.
Edinburgh Fringe-goers have been thoroughly entertained by this year’s shortlisted shows, with
the award having showcased twenty entertaining and compelling plays, each a testament to the
power of storytelling. These plays explored themes ranging from societal struggles to dark
comedies and heartwarming tales of resilience.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the go-to place for discovering fresh talent, having launched the
careers of stars like Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson, Jude Law, and Rachel Weisz. The Popcorn
Writing Award is now an integral part of this tradition, championing new voices from around the
world, with the Fringe remaining the perfect partner in discovering and promoting these
remarkable stories.
Past winners include Bryony Kimmings, who penned Last Christmas with Emma Thompson, Karim
Khan, now in writers’ rooms with Riz Ahmed, and Sabrina Ali, whose play Dugsi Dayz completed
a successful run at the Royal Court earlier this year. Past winners and finalists have been
commissioned by major broadcasters, joined BBC Writers’ programmes, and enjoyed transfers of
their work to London and New York.
The nine partnering venues this year are Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Summerhall,
theSpaceUK, Traverse, Underbelly, Greenside, and ZOO Venues, joining for the first time this
year.
The winner and finalists for this year’s award are as follows:
Joint winners: VL – Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair
Weather Girl – Brian Watkins
Runners-up: The Book of Mountains and Seas – Yilong Liu
Knock on the Roof – Khawla Ibraheem
Special mention: Pop Off, Michaelangelo! – Dylan Marcaurele
The Popcorn Award 2024 shortlisted plays are:
THIRD PLACE – A Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem
BLUBBER by Katie Greenall
Count to Five by ZAMALISA MDODA
Dear Annie I Hate You by Sam Ipema
Diary of a Gay Disaster by Rachael Mailer
Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again) by Zoë Bullock and Louise Oliver
HOW I LEARNED TO SWIM by Somebody Jones
HYPER by Ois O’Donoghue
In the Lady Garden by Babs Horton
My English Persian Kitchen by Hannah Khalil
POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! by Dylan MarcAurele
Really Good Exposure by Megan Prescott
REVENGE: After the Levoyah by Nick Cassenbaum
So Young by Douglas Maxwell
Squidge by Tiggy Bayley
SECOND PLACE – The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu
The Last Incel by Jamie Sykes
Trawled – when adventure becomes survival by Eoin Ryan
WINNER – VL by Kieran Hurley & Gary McNair
WINNER – Weather Girl by Brian Watkins
