The British Youth Music Theatre, in partnership with the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, have announced Lewis Cornay as the winner of the 2023 BYMT New Music Theatre Award.
Cornay’s new musical Harry & Greta, a dark re-telling of the story of Hansel and Gretel set against the backdrop of climate change, earned its creator the top prize which will involve the development of the musical into a full production performed by the young people of the BYMT company.
Award winner Cornay commented: “I am over the moon to be writing a brand-new musical for BYMT. As a previous young member it feels incredibly full circle to be welcomed back. I know how formative and inspiring the experience can be and I look forward to being able to create in such a nurturing environment. My piece – Harry & Greta – is a dystopian, retelling of the classic tale of Hansel & Gretel. Basically, what happens after our protagonists escape from the witch? Set in the future, the children must unite to find new ways to evolve in a world ravaged by climate change. I can’t wait to work with the young people and collaborate on innovative approaches to climate justice!”
Cornay’s work was one of four final shows (chosen from a shortlist of 10) pitched to the judging panel made up of New Wolsey artistic director and chief executive Douglas Rintoul, consultant Rachel Victor-Sampson, BYMT Young Company members Amelie Lloyd and Cherry Kwan, BYMT alumnus Luke Bayer and BYMT staff members.
Commenting on the quality of the applications, Rintoul said: “The calibre of the applications for this award and the level of creativity shown was deeply inspiring. This award is vital in supporting new music theatre voices and giving a platform to the concerns and investigations of a new music theatre making generation. We can’t wait to host this incredibly exciting, energising and unique project here at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich.”
BYMT creative director and chief executive Emily Gray added: “We are delighted to be working with a young writer so in tune with BYMT’s collaborative process and developing a new show that will have space for our young company members to explore and influence the highly pertinent subject matter, whilst also having a lot of fun with Lewis’ playful and contemporary composition style.”
Developed as part of the BYMT’s commitment to nurturing new young, musical theatre talent, the New Music Theatre Award finds and supports exciting new writers, lyricists, composers, music producers and creators under the age of 30 and based in the UK or Ireland, giving them a platform to develop a brand-new piece to full production with the young people of the BYMT company.
The last NMTA winners, Jack Godfrey and Martha Geelan (2021 winners for Babies), said at the time: “The idea of being able to hand this piece to a large ensemble cast of young people is a rare opportunity. And the idea of that is really exciting.”
The first full production of Babies was mounted at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. Following this initial production, Babies has been licensed and developed by a commercial company, which gave the writers the opportunity to develop the work further and have produced professional quality recordings of the songs.
Angela Thomas
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