Write chance for North Yorkshire's Charley Miles

CHARLEY Miles, a talented young playwright from Kilburn, North Yorkshire, has won a bursary to become West Yorkshire Playhouse’s new Writer In Residence next year.

She is one of five theatre writers to win a Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme Bursary which celebrates and supports emerging British writing talent. Charley’s first play, Blackthorn, was performed in the Playhouse’s Autumn/Winter season this September. She has been supported as an artist by the Leeds-based Playhouse since 2015, successfully applying to its writer development programme, Playwrights 1, which gave rise to the creation of her first play.

James Brining, artistic director at West Yorkshire Playhouse says: “Charley Miles will be embedded into our vibrant, diverse and dynamic team of directors, trainee directors and associate artists, adding to our creative community of artists at different stages of development. This will include working closely with our literary associate Jacqui Honess-Martin, who directed Charley's beautifully poetic debut play, Blackthorn, which enjoyed a tremendous reception here in September. Charley is a unique voice from the North and ensuring that local artists like her have well-supported opportunities to develop their craft is absolutely integral to our mission as a theatre.”

Charley Miles says: “West Yorkshire Playhouse really drives to develop stories that speak to the local community which thrills me as an artist and an audience member. I’m excited to be a part of that hub, to engage with some of the fantastic, forward-thinking projects they’re part of and to learn to write for a bigger stage."

Playwrights were nominated by UK theatre artistic directors, with the five winners selected by a panel chaired by Sir Richard Eyre and including Film4’s creative executive Polly Stokes and Channel 4’s head of development for drama Matthew Wilson.

Viv Hardwick