The Samuel Beckett Award was a British award set up in 1983 and, over the next decade, awarded to writers, who in the opinion of a committee of critics, producers and publishers, showed innovation and excellence in writing for the performing arts. The award was established in honour of Irish Nobel Laureate, novelist, playwright and poet Samuel Beckett and in recognition of his distinctive contribution to world theatre and literature.
Award-winning writers included:
Farrukh Dhondy
Nick Perry
Karim Alrawi
Anne Devlin
Shirley Gee
Jim Cartwright
Ronald Frame
Kevin Elyot
The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award was formed in 2003 to support the showcasing of new innovative theatre and is for a company or individual to create a production to be performed at Barbican's Pit Theatre in the City of London. 2003- Dan Hine and Kirsty Housley 2004- Lucy Ellinson, Wendy Hubbard, Mamoru Iriguchi, Sarah Levinsky and Ben Pacey 2005- Gareth Fry, Lu Kemp, Dominic Leclerc, Neil Laidlaw and Chris Dunkley 2006- The Work Theatre Collective 2007- Sophie Hunter, Megan Hefferman, Vanessa Faye-Stanley, Seiriol Cwyfan Davies, Kevin Albi Gravener 2008- Slung Low 2009- Levantes Dance Theatre 2010- You Me Bum Bum Train 2013- Kristin McGuire and Davy McGuire 2014- Dickie Beau 2015- Nigel Barett and Louise Mari 2016- Collectif and then... 2017- Mars.tarrab 2018- Alan Fielden with Sophie Grodin, Malachy Orozo and Jemima Young (JAMS) 2019- James Baldwin for "Meet the Meat", Ellie Dubois for "Nosedive", Louise Orwin for "CRYCRYKILLKILL" 2022- HighRise Entertainment for "The UK Drill Project", Zoo Co for "Perfect Show for Rachel"