Soho Theatre today announces the winner of the 2024 Tony Craze Award – Zahra Dalilah. The highly commended award goes to both Yasmin Twomey and Jaisal.
The Tony Craze Award (formerly Soho Young Writers’ Award) is named in honour of Soho Theatre’s former Artistic Director and first ever Verity Bargate Award winner who passed away in 2016. Applications are open each year to writers on Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Lab – an entry-level course supporting new writers to create a play over nine months.
The Tony Craze Award ceremony will take place on 21 March 2025 at Soho Theatre, with a showcase of script extracts.
Jessica Draper, Head of Creative Engagement at Soho Theatre said:
“We are delighted to congratulate Zahra Dalilah, winner of this year’s Tony Craze Award for her powerful play Anatomy of a Black Rebellion, alongside highly commended writers Yasmin Twomey for Nestings and Jaisal for West Country Oriental Gentleman. Developed and created on Writers’ Lab, these plays showcase an exceptional spectrum of stories and voices, united by their bold theatrical vision.”
“Zahra’s Anatomy of a Black Rebellion is a poignant exploration of land, love, and liberation, set on the night of a rebellion and steeped in historical and emotional resonance. Yasmin’s Nestings is a raw, poetic tragedy delving into generational trauma and suppressed rage, while Jaisal’s West Country Oriental Gentleman is a sharp, dark comedy interrogating colonialism and identity with wit and insight.”
“It’s a privilege to support such dynamic talents and the Tony Craze Award continues to champion early-career writers, providing a vital platform for their growth and recognition. We look forward to seeing these writers remarkable contributions shape the future of theatre.”
2024 TONY CRAZE AWARD SHORTLIST:
WINNER: Anatomy of a Black Rebellion by Zahra Dalilah
Bhaijaan by Abir Mohammad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Nestings by Yasmin Twomey
Plewds by Kathrine Payne
The Undying by Rea Dennhardt Patel
HIGHLY COMMENDED: West Country Oriental Gentleman by Jaisal
Anatomy of a Black Rebellion by Zahra Dalilah follows four enslaved Africans the night of a rebellion, set in the plantation’s main vegetable garden which has nurtured and healed their community. Inspired by Ancient Greek theatre and lyrical surrealism, Nestings by Yasmin Twomey is a raw and poetic tragedy about ritual, suppressed female rage, and generational trauma. West Country Oriental Gentleman by Jaisal is a dark comedy about the end of Empire, exploring racism, identity and the horrors of Britain’s imperial past.
Also longlisted this year were Amita Kotecha with One Day Off/Splash Me, Ash Davies with The Hollow, Cameron Spain with Phone a Friend, Felix Orlo with Hotter Dogs, GUUA with 3ndak Snap?, Ilayda McIntosh with Hummingbird, Khai Shaw with Aromatherapy, Maymuna Abdi with Haram Police, Molly Tompsett with Plan B, Penny Rutterford with Flat, Ray Malone with Local Hags, and Yael Elisheva with This is the Story of Ayal and Noah’s Trip to Elk Neck.
Previous winners include Laith Elzubaidi with Insane Asylum Seekers, Maryam Garad with Reparations, Somebody Jones with All My Friends Are Dead, Louis Emmitt-Stern with Slippery, Fran Bushe with A Gig for Ghosts, Farah Najib with Dirty Dogs, Adam Narat for Birthright (renamed New Pacific), Phoebe Eclair-Powell with Fury, Charlie Josephine with Bitch Boxer, and Patrick Russell with Antlers.
ABOUT THE SHORTLISTED PLAYS / WRITER BIOGS
ANATOMY OF A BLACK REBELLION by ZAHRA DALILAH
Anatomy of a Black Rebellion follows four enslaved Africans the night of a rebellion. Set in the plantation’s main vegetable garden which has nurtured and healed their community, our protagonists grapple with what it means to take action against impossible odds. If the whole plantation must burn, must the garden be set alight too?
A queer feminist redaction of historical fiction, the piece couches itself at the intersection of land, love and liberation. A story inspired by almost a decade of navigating the paradoxical uncertainty of working to forge new futures, whilst living in a present that, while deeply imperfect, is home. To make the change that we want to see – what do we have to lose, what can we not afford to lose and who do we have to be?
Zahra Dalilah is a Black feminist activist, facilitator and playwright from Lewisham, South East London. Her writing, facilitation and activism are all pathways towards manifesting futures rooted in laughter, play and collective liberation. This more or less shapes her life’s purpose. In 2024, she was under mentorship with social change and interactive theatre charity Coney HQ during which she worked on the concept design and script development of the Watching The House project at Marble HIll, which interrogated the colonial histories of the stately home. Her debut play, Anatomy of a Black Rebellion, was supported by Nouveau Riche through its SEEN Festival, a partnership with the Broadway Theatre, Catford in June 2024. She developed this, alongside her second play Eternity at the Extension of a Rubber Band (which she also began writing on the programme), during her time on Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab.
BHAIJAAN by ABIR MOHAMMAD
As fifteen year-olds, best friends Khafi and Zain strive to live their professional wrestling dreams and escape the conservative norms of Ilford, their hopes of freedom come to a halt as the consequences of patriarchy, abuse and toxic masculinity within their culture reach a boiling point. While Zain is happy to make a joke in any situation, Khafi leans more towards sensitivity and understanding, regardless, both boys know they can lean on each other – until they can’t.
Bhaijaan explores the impact of toxic masculinity on young South Asian boys clouded by violence, religion and the need to be a man.
Based in East London, Abir Mohammad (he/him) is a Drama and Comedy-Drama Writer that writes about the experiences surrounding the queer, brown, Muslim and working class communities within this area. His writing places unconventional characters at the forefront of stories whilst shining a light on topics that are either taboo or underrepresented, such as toxic and positive masculinity, queerness within religion, and more, whilst being able to simultaneously tell truthful stories in a light-hearted and hard-hitting tone. His pilot script Chosen Family was nominated for an All3Media New Drama Script Award in 2022, whilst the short play version of Bhaijaan was positively received as “a difficult play to watch” that provoked “the evening’s strongest emotional response” when performed at scratch nights. With his professional experience in development and casting, on top of a desire for writing stories that come from an honest place, he has a well-rounded knowledge of the film, theatre and television industries, and an ability to portray unique and specific stories with a universal appeal.
Instagram: abirmohammad / Twitter: abirmohxmmad / Website: abirmohammad.com
NESTINGS by YASMIN TWOMEY
Grandfather is dead. Grandmother is back. Mother is losing Daughter. And Daughter is about to become Mother.
Three generations of women are drawn together to determine the fate of their family home, held in a sealed envelope and buried deep in the garden. As they wait three days and three nights for the outcome to be unearthed, lifelong secrets sprout from the same ground that raised them, and the roots of their family tree begin to rot forever.
Inspired by Ancient Greek theatre and lyrical surrealism, Nestings is a raw and poetic tragedy about ritual, suppressed female rage, and generational trauma. It asks whether love is ever truly unconditional and, if so, whether it can triumph over our innate animal need for survival.
Yasmin Twomey (she/her) is an actress and playwright from East London with Scottish, Irish and Berber-Moroccan heritage. She graduated from Rose Bruford’s BA Acting degree in 2023. Yasmin is currently developing a 6-part comedy-drama TV series and a short film. Nestings is her debut play.
PLEWDS by KATHRINE PAYNE
A cocky gay clown in therapy.
A clueless detective.
An X-Factor sob story.
Pop culture and queer drama drama drama collide against a rainbow backdrop. A surreal, fast-paced and darkly funny exploration of a queer relationship gone bad. Blending clowning, drag and a subversive take on the trauma-parading solo show, plewds is about the lengths we’ll go to avoid what’s right in front of us, in a story where the villains don’t look like villains.
Being queer is the best, right?
Kathrine Payne (they/them) is a writer, actor and deviser from Stockport. Since graduating from LAMDA in 2022, they have performed with the National Theatre, St Martin’s Theatre and New Diorama Theatre. Kathrine is a founding member of Sweet Beef Theatre, an award winning queer theatre collective making original devised work that tours the UK. Kathrine has been commissioned to make solo and ensemble work for Camden People’s Theatre, Stanley Arts and Tramshed Theatre. Kathrine’s debut play, plewds, was the winner of Summerhall’s Mary Dick Award at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe and was shortlisted for the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence. Kathrine makes work that is funny, camp, political and usually involves a lot of wigs.
@kathrine__payne on insta
THE UNDYING by REA DENNHARDT PATEL
When Amba buys a pill called TwiceLifeTM that reduces human age each time it’s taken, her husband refuses to swallow. Until newer, younger Amba’s quest for personal fulfilment sets off a chain reaction…
Should they go bigger, better, higher the next time around? Or simply avoid old mistakes? Their marriage falters when they can’t agree on how to deal with their most personal past. Is their solution the ultimate declaration of eternal love?
The Undying is a play about losing and finding yourself again … About how we make ourselves and each other…
What would you do if you could do it all again?
Rea Dennhardt Patel (she/her) is a British/Indian/German writer and director. Playwriting credits include Everything That’s The Case (Barbican Labs/Arcola 2023) and A Carnival of Errors (RSC/Norwich Theatre Royal 2021). She has been shortlisted for the Retzhofer Drama Prize 2025 (Germany) and Tara Nova 2024 (UK) and been in the Intro Writers Group at the Royal Court. There will be performances of The Undying at The Old Red Lion in February and as part of an R&D at The Bush Theatre in April 2025. Rea has previously assistant directed at The Haus der Berliner Festspiele and The Barbican.
Twitter: @readntel
Bluesky: readntel.bsky.social
Instagram: Rea Dennhardt
WEST COUNTRY ORIENTAL GENTLEMAN by JAISAL
Sanjay is young, and like most young adults, facing a lot of the familiar difficult questions that confront people at that sensitive age – “Who am I?” “Where do I belong?” “Should I kill Queen Victoria?”
The year is 1899. Indian nationalist, Sanjay, has returned to Bristol, the city he grew up in, just as the Empire’s ageing Queen is arriving for a parade in her honour. Over the course of her long reign, Victoria has survived no fewer than eight assassination attempts, but Sanjay is certain this ninth and final attempt will end the Queen’s lucky streak and change the course of history. Or at least he would be certain if all his plans weren’t already falling apart. West Country Oriental Gentleman is a dark comedy about the end of Empire, exploring racism, identity and the horrors of Britain’s imperial past.
Jaisal (he/him) is a writer and performer from South London, interested in exploring issues around identity, multiculturalism and racism, and telling stories related to the Indian and Irish diasporas. He studied at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, was part of BOLD Theatre’s Playwrights scheme, has been a Rifco Associate and Jermyn Street Creative Associate and was shortlisted for the Painkiller Prize. His first play Boy In Da Korma premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre as part of Footprints Festival and then transferred to The Pleasance for Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024.
Insta – @jaisthepoet
Twitter – @jaisalmarmion
For further information, interviews, images: press@sohotheatre.com
Augustin Wecxsteen / Communications Manager: Press & PR / augustin@sohotheatre.com
SOHO THEATRE is London’s most vibrant producer for new theatre, comedy and cabaret. Our central London venue is established as one of UK’s busiest with a buzzing bar, lively audiences and diverse year-round festival programme with a queer, punk, counter-culture flavour. In 2025 our second venue Soho Theatre Walthamstow opens. Work extends beyond our venues with a full touring programme and strong international connections with New York, Melbourne and Mumbai. Edinburgh Fringe is a huge part of our year, we present many shows and scout hundreds more and we are UK’s leading presenter of Indian comedians. Our filmed comedy specials can be seen on international airlines and Soho Theatre Player. And our artist development and participation programmes are as important as the work on our stages. Soho Theatre is a charity and social enterprise.