Award for Our Windermere
North West playwright Becky Prestwich has been awarded a 2026 Peter Shaffer Commission for Our Windermere, a new play commissioned by Keswick's Theatre By The Lake.
The National Theatre, with the Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation, awards seven commissions a year to support playwrights across the UK to develop ambitious, larger-scale original plays. The scheme continues playwright Peter Shaffer’s desire to support playwrights and new writing.
Our Windermere was one of the successful projects this year, recognised for its “scale, story, reach and heart”.
Becky writes for stage, screen and radio. Her television credits include multiple episodes of Casualty, Holby City and Doctors, as well as Is This Sexual Harassment? for BBC Three. She has written six Afternoon Dramas for BBC Radio 4.
As a playwright, she specialises in work with community casts for non-traditional theatre spaces. Her previous work includes Under the Market Roof for Junction 8 Theatre, Chip Shop Chips for Box of Tricks Theatre Company and One Night in Bolton for Bolton Octagon. Before becoming a full-time writer, Becky worked in participatory arts, and she was Young People’s Programme Leader at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre from 2005-2014.
She said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have been awarded a Peter Shaffer commission. Our Windermere is a story about survival, acceptance and the transformative power of a place. There is no more fitting place for this story to be told than at the Theatre by the Lake.”
Theatre by the Lake artistic director Liz Stevenson said: “We’re really pleased Becky has been awarded a Peter Shaffer Commission. It’s a great opportunity for her to develop the play, and we’re very grateful to the foundation and the National Theatre for their support.
"Supporting writers to develop ambitious new work and making space for stories that have a real connection to Cumbria is an important part of what we do. Becky is a brilliant North West writer and Our Windermere has such exciting potential – we’re really looking forward to working with her as the play develops.”
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