Finalist 2019-20

Zoe Cooper

Play: Out of Water

 Zoe Cooper

Synopsis: Claire and her wife Kit have moved from the confines of London to the wide open coasts of South Shields in the north east of England. To be nearer family, to be nearer the sea, to put down roots. To have a baby. Claire’s new job at the local school is a step up, and she wants to make a real difference, but she soon discovers that she has as much to learn from her students as they have from her.

Cast Breakdown: 2 women, 1 non-binary character (who was assigned female at birth)

Website: http://theagency.co.uk/the-clients/zoe-cooper/

Agent: Jonathan Kinnersley, The Agency. jkinnersley@theagency.co.uk and Jonathan's assistant, Eliza Frayn: efrayn@theagency.co.uk

Play service: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/out-of-water-9781350129481/

Bio: Zoe Cooper is a playwright living and working in the UK. Recent work includes Out of Water, which is nominated for this award was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Orange Tree Theatre in London. It was also shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Evening Standard Award for most Promising Playwright. It opened in April 2019 at the Orange Tree. 

Jess and Joe Forever, which played at the Orange Tree in London in 2016 before touring. It then had a second run at the Traverse Theatre in 2017. It received a new production at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. It has since enjoyed productions in Australia and the Czech Republic. 

The Snow Queen, a new theatrical version of the short story by Hans Christian Andersen, with songs by the award winning singer and song writer Josienne Clarke. The play was commissioned by the National Theatre's 'Let's Play' scheme in 2018. The 'Let's Play' scheme commissions new plays for primary school children to perform. The Snow Queen has since enjoyed many many school productions all over the country. 

Zoe has been shortlisted for the Rod Hall Memorial Award and the Adrienne Benham Award. She won the Off West End Most Promising Playwright Award and the inaugural ScreenSkills New Writers Award. She has undertaken residencies at the Macdowell Colony and Yaddo. She has been awarded a TS Eliot Commission. Four of her plays are published by Bloomsbury/Methuen. She is currently working on new plays for Northern Stage and the National Theatre. 

Lucy-Briggs-Owen, Tilda Wickham, and Zoe West

Zoe West and Lucy Briggs-Owen


Lucy Briggs-Owen

Out of Water at Orange Tree Theatre, U.K. Photos by The Other Richard