May Sumbwanyambe

May Sumbwanyambe is a librettist, radio dramatist, academic and playwright from Edinburgh. For National Theatre of Scotland: Ghost Light (Edinburgh International Festival and National Theatre of Scotland); Joseph Knight(BBC Scotland, National Theatre of Scotland).
Other work includes: After Independence (Arcola Theatre, Papatango Theatre); The Parrot House (Guildhall School of Music and Drama); After Independence and The Trial of Joseph Knight (BBC Radio 4). He is currently writing new stage plays for the National Theatre of Scotland, the Citizens Theatre and Grid Iron Theatre Company/ National Trust for Scotland, all are about the historical visibility of Black peoples in Scotland. He is also developing a new TV series for Two Rivers Media/the BBC and a new radio play for BBC Radio 4. In 2016 May’s debut play was the winner of the Alfred Fagon Audience Award. He was the inaugural Papatango Resident Playwright and winner of the £10k BBC Performing Arts Opera Fellowship. Other award recognition includes being shortlisted for the Channel 4/Oran Mor Comedy Drama Award (2012), the Papatango New Writing Prize (2012), the Alfred Fagon Award (2011, 2012, 2015), the BBC’s Alfred Bradley Award (2011) and OffWestEnd’s Adopt a Playwright Award (2010 and 2009), the Old Vic 12 award (2016), Perfect Pitch £12k musical award (2016), IASH/Traverse Fellowship (2017, 2018), Live Theatre/Northumbria University Writer in Residence (2018) and the DrGavin Wallace Fellowship (2018). He also reached the final round of Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award (2011) and won the BBC’s inaugural Scriptroom competition (2012).