Applications open for Kevin Elyot Award 2025

Kevin Elyot

Press release issued: 23 April 2025

The University of Bristol’s Theatre Collection is welcoming applications for the Kevin Elyot Award 2025, created in memory of the acclaimed actor and writer.

The Kevin Elyot Award is an annual award of £3,000 given to support a writer-in-residence based at the Theatre Collection.

It is made in memory of Kevin Elyot (1951-2014) - an alumnus of the University Drama Department – and the influence he has had on writing and the Arts, the award is to enable a writer to be inspired by his work and help them develop their own practice.

The award holder will use the Kevin Elyot Archive (held at the Theatre Collection) to inspire a new dramatic work or other creative or academic outcome. Comprising scripts, correspondence, manuscripts and publicity material, the archive details Elyot’s working process from initial idea to finished product.

The award has been generously funded by an endowment given to the University by members of Kevin’s family and will support a promising writer, practitioner or scholar to begin the process of creating a new written work.

Last year’s winner Polly Tisdall, a Bristol based multi-talented writer, actor, and theatre maker, said: “Visiting the University of Bristol Theatre Collection each week to immerse myself in Elyot's writing process has given me the focus, time, and space I needed to take myself seriously as a playwright. Kevin's notebooks, doodles, drafts and meticulous re-writes have given me a window onto his world which feels precious.

“Understanding his writing process has challenged me to consider what my process is as a writer, emboldened me to take bigger risks with my writing and galvanised new connections with fellow playwrights and theatre makers in the south west. I would absolutely recommend applying for the 2025 award.”

The deadline for applications is Sunday 1st June. Further details of the award and the application process can be found here: Supporting Information Kevin Elyot Award 2025 (PDF, 110kB)

Further information

The Theatre Collection was founded in 1951 to support the establishment of Drama as an academic discipline in the UK and has grown to become one of the world’s leading collections relating to the history of British theatre and live art. The Theatre Collection comprises over 140 named collections and archives, including actors and collectors Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson.

It also holds artworks, audio visual material, costumes, designs, set models, playbills and programmes of this most ephemeral of art forms. The collections are particularly strong from the late 18th century onwards and document the onstage and offstage life of theatre. It provides a unique insight into theatre and live art, their creative processes and broader cultural contexts. The Theatre Collection’s holistic approach to collecting across archives and objects, and the interconnectedness between the collections, make it an outstanding research resource.

In 2020 it was awarded Designated status by Arts Council England in recognition of its national significance.