Meet our new Resident Playwright - Karis Kelly!
We are delighted to announce a new Resident Playwright at the Lyric, Karis Kelly, who has won The Peggy Ramsay / Film4 Award 2021.
Having been nominated by the Lyric for her play Consumed, Karis is one of six people selected for the prestigious writing bursary, previously won by drama heavyweights Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson. As well as each receiving £10,000 to support them in their work, the playwrights will spend a year on attachment with their nominating theatre.
Also today, Karis has just been informed that after reaching the longlist along with just 61 others, she has now been shortlisted for the esteemed “Women’s Prize for Playwriting!”
Karis has said: “I am so delighted to have been awarded the Bursary, and to have the opportunity to create with the Lyric during 2022. The Lyric has always been so supportive of my work and career, and feels like a really natural creative home for my writing. I can't wait to get stuck in!”
Karis will work closely with our Literary Manager, Rebecca Mairs, who has said:
“We’re totally thrilled to have Karis join us as Resident Playwright for 2022, and to yet again be partnering with Film4 and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation on this prestigious scheme. Karis is an incredibly talented writer for stage and screen, who’s particularly interested in exploring modern Northern Irish identities and untold stories. Over the course of the year she’ll be writing an exciting, original new piece of gig theatre based on the little-known story of the Satanic Panic in Ulster at the height of the Troubles and the role of “psy-ops” (state sanctioned “psychological operations”) in fuelling this. As well as being a fantastic writer in her own right, Karis is also a brilliant facilitator and champion of new writers – as seen through her work with Fighting Words, including our Young Playwrights Programme – and she’s keen to contribute to the work of our New Writing department through workshops for older writers.”