Judith Thompson's Iraq play wins Amnesty award

Judith Thompson has picked up another prestigious award for her play Palace of the End - the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. The award is given annually by the advocacy organization to the best play at the Edinburgh Fringe festival that deals with human rights. The Canadian playwright's play about the Iraq war, seen from three different perspectives, was described as "a truly formidable piece of work" that "never falls into the trap of being worthy or preachy" by Amnesty International. Palace of the End was produced at the Edinburgh Festival by the Royal Exchange Theatre Company (Manchester) at the Traverse Theatre and earned rave reviews. The Daily Telegraph proclaimed: "It's staggering that the work of Canadian playwright, Judith Thompson, isn't better known in Britain, particularly when she has achieved the virtually impossible with this devastating triptych about the Iraq war." Last year, Thompson won the $20,000 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in the United States for the play.