A Powys man has won a new award celebrating the outstanding work of playwrights.

Jacob Hodgkinson from Machynlleth has been chosen as one of three winners of the inaugural Ilfeld Prize.

Each winner will receive £5,000, industry mentorship, and the opportunity to publish their play.

Jacob’s play is called ‘How a Sting Tracks, Post-Show Talk’, and it was selected from over 700 submissions alongside ‘Three Glorious Days’ by Vanessa Ackerman, and ‘Global Majority’ by Chris Fung.

Beyond the award itself, the Ilfeld Prize will also actively work to support all three winning playwrights into production, enabling the writers to see their work on stage.

The organisers of prize say the winners were chosen from a shortlist of 30 exceptional plays, selected from a longlist of 100.

The judging panel praised the breadth and ambition of submissions received.

Etan Ilfeld, founder of the prize, said: "The quality of writing we received was extraordinary. From over 700

plays, these three works stood out for their originality, theatrical vision, and strength of storytelling. We're

thrilled to celebrate them."

Commenting on winning the award, Jacob said: "I am absolutely over the moon to be one of the winners of the Ilfeld Prize.

“My play has been on a long journey up to this point, but through the prize already opening a number of doors for me, I am now feeling incredibly hopeful that it may finally make it to production.

“I can't thank Etan enough for creating this prize and for supporting new writing in a time where it feels harder than ever to get new work on stage.”

Details of the award ceremony will be announced at a later date.

The Ilfeld Prize was established to support and champion new voices in theatre.

Further details about the prize and the winning plays can be found at www.ilfeldprize.com.