The JMK Trust recently celebrated 10 years of nurturing and discovering our finest new theatre directors. Each year we facilitate young theatre directors in developing and staging their work. We provide professional support and mentorship throughout the pre-production stages of each project.

We present the annual The James Menzies-Kitchin Young Director Award (The JMK Award) to one outstanding candidate. It is currently supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, which finances the full costs of a London production, including theatre space for a 4-week run at Battersea Arts Centre.

The JMK Award is the single most sought-after prize for outstanding young theatre directors. It is given to directors by directors and it is this that makes it unique. Great directors acknowledge that you learn to direct by directing – but opportunities to do so are extremely scarce. The JMK Award allows participants to do exactly that. For many, winning this award is the breakthrough moment in their directing career. Increasingly, simply taking part in the Trust’s unique selection process has itself given a powerful impetus to the best theatre practitioners of the future.

A second award, supported by The Ian Ritchie Foundation, provides a smaller cash sum to be used to fund either a production or to enable further research to a selection of runner-up candidates.

Since 1998 the JMK Trust has discovered and nurtured a new generation of exciting, visionary young directors whose work and influence can be seen throughout the British theatre industry.

JMK Development Week 2008
Supported by Step Change
Step Change offers a programme of professional development to talented individuals working in the arts who show great promise. It is a collaborative project developed by the Young Vic, BAC, National Theatre and the Royal Opera House and is funded by the Cultural Leadership Programme.
Later in 2008 Step Change will offer many JMK finalists a week of development opportunities.
Check back for more details soon.

It is extremely hard for brilliant young directors to make the career leap into actually directing plays, and you only really learn your craft by directing. Twenty years ago, Simon McBurney, Declan Donnellan, Mark Rylance, Deborah Warner, Stephen Daldry and Neil Bartlett all learnt their craft on the fringe when it was possible to blag a space for next to nothing and create the work while signing on the dole. Neither of these things are possible anymore. The next Stephen Daldry may well emerge through receiving a lucky opportunity – based on instinct rather than track record – such as that offered by the JMK Award. The JMK Trust remains a vital flag-bearer for this emerging generation of directors
- Tom Morris, Chair of the JMK Trust and Associate Director, National Theatre

Latest news:
- Michael Oakley has won the 2008 JMK Award with his proposal to direct Marlowe's Edward II.
His winning production opens at BAC on 18th July.
For more information contact Marwood Productions or visit the Edward II website
- Nicholas Hytner selected the 25 texts for our 2008 Award.
- The Ian Ritchie Foundation to provide a runner-up prize for a further four years