Caryl Churchill and Katie Mitchell honoured at Tonic Awards to mark achievements by women in theatre

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Playwright Caryl Churchill was amongst the recipients at this evening’s Tonic Theatre Awards, set up to recognising game-changing women in theatre and performing arts.

Churchill, 79, was honoured with an award for a lengthy career that showed her “consistent daring to defy form” as well as leading the way for other female playwrights. Her plays include Top Girls, Cloud Nine, Serious Money, A Number and Escaped Alone.

Other recipients included Clean Break Theatre for its work with women in the criminal justice system, director Katie Mitchell for “proactive support of younger female theatre artists” and her “dedication to foregrounding feminism on stage”, and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester for its “enlightened...nuanced programming”.

Royal Court boss Vicky Featherstone presented Steffi Holtz and Gina Abolins with an award for “their brave decision to speak up about inappropriate behaviour in the workplace”.

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Guests at the awards, hosted by Jenni Murray at the May Fair Theatre, included Kwame Kwei-Armah, Gemma Arterton and Maxine Peake.

Tonic Theatre was set up in 2011 by director Lucy Kerbel to support the theatre industry in achieving greater gender equality and ensure female talent rises to the top.

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