Martha Loader, the award-winning playwright from Ipswich and Associate Artist of the New Wolsey Theatre, is celebrating after being nominated for The Stage Debut Awards 2024, in the Best Writer category, for her play Bindweed.
Produced by the New Wolsey Theatre, Mercury Theatre and HighTide in association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Bindweed was first written by Martha Loader as part of the Mercury Playwrights scheme and it won the Judges Award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022. Set in Colchester, Bindweed is a shattering and darkly funny new play about responsibility and rehabilitation, which looks at what can be done to tackle abuse at its root. The play recently had its critically acclaimed world premiere, playing to over 500 people at the New Wolsey Theatre, alongside equally successful runs in Colchester and London.
Martha Loader is currently working on commissions from Menagerie Theatre Company and the Almeida Theatre as part of the ‘Genesis New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme’, and she has had her work presented by HighTide, Mercury Theatre, Cambridge Junction and INK.
Martha Loader said:“I am hugely honoured to have been nominated as a writer as part of The Stage Debut Awards for Bindweed. This play is very special to me for so many reasons, but particularly because it was made with the support and guidance of so many fantastic East-based creatives and organisations. My huge thanks go to the teams at the Mercury Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre, HighTide, Royal Exchange Theatre and Bruntwood Prize, as well as Iceni Ipswich and Suffolk Police. And to Director Jennifer Tang, Dramaturg Clare Slater, Producer Dilek Latif and our wonderful cast and creative team. All of whom helped shape Bindweed with such care, generosity and good humour.”
Douglas Rintoul, Chief Executive/Artistic Director of the New Wolsey Theatre said:“To see Martha Loader, a talent nurtured right here in Ipswich, gain recognition on a national stage is a testament to the incredible creativity flourishing in our community. Her nomination for The Stage Debut Award highlights not only her exceptional skill but also the vibrant ecosystem of support we have in place to develop and showcase homegrown talent. At the New Wolsey Theatre, we are immensely proud to play a role in fostering the careers of emerging artists like Martha, who continue to elevate the profile of Ipswich’s artistic landscape on a national level.”
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