Theatre Book Prize


The Theatre Book Prize is a prize given by the Society for Theatre Research annually.

History

It was established to celebrate the Jubilee of the Society for Theatre Research, and to encourage writing and publication of books on theatre history and practice—both those that present the theatre of the past and those that record contemporary theatre for the future. It was first awarded in 1998 for the best new theatre title published in English during 1997. It is now presented annually for a book on British or British related theatre that an independent panel of judges considers the best published in the preceding year.

The judges

There are three judges, who are different each year. They are drawn from the ranks of people working in theatre: performers, directors, theatre critics, senior academics concerned with theatre, and theatre archivists.

Criteria

All new works of original research first published in English are eligible, except for play texts and studies of drama as literature. The Prize embraces all aspects and genres of theatre from opera and ballet to circus and music hall, mime and puppetry as well as 'legitimate' forms and, as the list of previous winners shows, entries are drawn from right across the publishing spectrum.

Prize winners

By year of publication