The PJ O'Connor Radio Drama Awards 2024 - Winners Announced
The judges of the 2024 PJ O’Connor Awards have made their final decision. The winners are as follows:
Joint First Prize (€5000 to each)
Chalk & Cheese by Isolde Fenton
Clarity At Last by Charlie McGuinness
Third Prize (€3000)
The Last Room by JP McMahon.
The Drama On One team would like to congratulate the winners and shortlisted writers, and also to say a special thank you to our jury and all of this year’s participating writers.
This year’s judges were dramaturg Jesper Bergmann, director Jessica Dromgoole, and writer Siobhán Mannion.
Jury Commentary
The jury was very impressed with the quality of the shortlisted entries, the variety of styles and subject matter. Below is a short summary of its praise for the winning entries.
Chalk and Cheese by Isolde Fenton
A fearless, emotionally tense depiction of a young girl and her complicated love for her autistic younger brother. The writing is visceral, powerful and poetic – and through it we become privy to the inner world of a young person dealing with confusion, loneliness, yearning, empathy and transgression.
Clarity At Last by Charlie McGuinness
A moving portrayal of the hours before death, in which an elderly man is revisited by past events and confirmed in the love of his family. In this vivid, atmospheric play, clarity permeates not only the man’s thoughts but those of his loved ones. The three different points of view add layers of emotional complexity, as well as great flashes of humour.
The Last Room by JP McMahon
Two men meet after travelling through a series of interconnecting rooms, unsure of where they are and what they are supposed to do next. In a dynamic back and forth, new pieces of information are gradually revealed, and the tension between them increases. This is an intriguing drama with menacing undertones, in which the writer skillfully plays with the idea of the story within a story.