Nancy Medina is the winner of the 2018 Sir Peter Hall director award, presented by the Royal Theatrical Support Trust to an up-and-coming director demonstrating “exceptional” directing skills.
This is the third year that the award has been given and the second year bearing the name of the RTST co-founder Sir Peter Hall.
Medina will now get the opportunity to direct a full-scale, fully funded production to open in 2019 on the Royal Stage in a co-production between Northampton's Royal and Derngate and English Touring Theatre. It will then tour to theatres across the UK. The RTST will make a grant of £50,000 to Royal and Derngate towards the cost of the production.
Medina said, “I feel privileged and ecstatic to have been named the winner. To get to the next step in my career, through the generous help of RTST, Royal and Derngate and English Touring Theatre is truly a dream come true. I can’t thank the RTST panel enough for making the process feel supportive and nurturing.”
Medina and runner-up Josh Seymour were selected from 70 candidates by a panel comprising chair James Dacre, Royal and Derngate’s artistic director; Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, artistic director of the Young Vic; Sir Trevor Nunn; Olivier Award nominees Tanya Moodie and Samantha Bond; Olivier Award winner Paule Constable; and Richard Twyman, artistic director of English Touring Theatre.
Chairman of the RTST Sir Geoffrey Cass said, “the 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall director award had eight finalists of the very highest quality. Directing workshops—held over two full days in which the finalists had to direct actors, observed by our immensely experienced panel of judges, and then be interviewed by the panel—constituted a thorough and exacting test of their directing skills.”
Dacre and Twyman commented, “it’s been inspiring to watch how Nancy and Josh showcased their industrious and sophisticated approach to conceiving and rehearsing a production and their magnetic ability to bring those around them in a rehearsal room closer to the material, throughout this competitive process.
“The panel were deeply impressed by both candidates’ innate understanding of narrative and the demands of producing on the mid-scale. We'd like to thank all the shortlisted candidates who took so much pleasure and pride in their work during a demanding weekend of workshops and interviews, and we’re thrilled to have met so many exceptional artists. We look forward to collaborating with Nancy to enable her work to be seen on the mid-scale and on tour for the first time.”