Neurodiverse Anglo-Polish playwright Sarah Grochala has been awarded The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2023 for her play Intelligence.
Grochala’s previous credits include Amnesty award-winning play S-27 and, although she usually writes female-led dramas, her work also encompasses audio episodes of Doctor Who.
Intelligence was selected from more than 1,000 entries by a panel of judges chaired by Indhu Rubasingham. Grochala will receive £12,000 in respect of an option for Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough to co-produce the winning play.
Ellie Keel, founder director of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting, today said, “Sarah Grochala's Intelligence is one of the plays I've been dreaming of finding since the idea for this prize first came to me. It is powerful, original, expansive, ambitious—all the things that audiences hope for and deserve when they book to see a new play.
"Sarah's writing is witty and luminescent, vividly bringing to life her detailed research into the story of a fascinating and overlooked scientist and computing pioneer, Ada Lovelace, whose struggle to be recognised and fulfil her full potential sadly is, or has been, shared by so many women throughout history.”
The Women’s Prize For Playwriting was founded in 2019 and is produced by Ellie Keel and Paines Plough to celebrate outstanding playwrights who identify as female or non-binary. Plays eligible for the Prize will be full-length / over 60 minutes in length and written in English. Previous winners are Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me by Amy Trigg, You Bury Me by Ahlam, and Consumed by Karis Kelly.