Five Year Commitment writers | At the start of Year 2
28 Apr 2026
Last week we were lucky to have all four of our 5 Year Commitment (5YC) writers attend a team meeting to share all the theatre's exciting plans for the next 12 months.
The 5 Year Commitment is a part of the Literary Department's commitment to supporting new writing in the UK - a scheme that was kick started in Year 1 with investment from the Genesis Foundation, and is at the heart of Nancy Medina’s strategy to develop new British writing at Bristol Old Vic.
Writers Hannah Khalil, Sam Parker and Muneera Pilgrim joined award-winning playwright Winsome Pinnock in the scheme. The writers will be on attachment to Bristol Old Vic until January 2030.
We thought it would be a perfect moment to ask a couple of them how their first year as part of the inaugural 5YC group is going.
Hannah Khalil
Now we’re in year two of our Bristol old Vic residency I am fearful that the time is going to fly by too fast! It’s such a privilege to be part of this cohort of writers and to be embedded in an organisation like Bristol Old Vic where there’s such a sense of purpose and creativity at the heart of everything they do.
There is truly nothing else like this initiative in the UK - there are very few writing residencies and those that do exist never last more than a year so to have the benefit of time not only to make work but also to get to know the stages, the building and the people feels really special and I think can only lead to really exciting work that is tailor made for Bristol.
I really hope other organisations look at what Nancy and the team are doing with regard to supporting writers and are inspired to emulate this level of trust and belief because when you have a company that believes in you as an artist it makes you more confident in yourself and enables you to make the work that you really want to make - it’s a win-win situation.
Hannah's new play "Love Omar" opens at Theatro Technis on 7 May
Sam Parker
My first year as a writer-in-residence has been beyond anything I could have hoped for.
It's no secret that the five year commitment is a radical approach to supporting artists, particularly given the challenges the UK new-work landscape is facing right now, and so I think it's pretty remarkable that the team at BOV have kept all of their promises made to us writers and then some.
Regular opportunities to get together with Muneera, Hannah, Winsome, Ben and Nancy, alongside linking up with exciting existing programmes like Made In Bristol, has made the building feel like home and the solitary craft of writing feel less lonely. It's a privilege to have so many brilliant people on your team and it's making me a better writer.
Sam's recently worked with BBC writersroom's 2025 voices programme where he wrote his first TV pilot.
He is also in R&D for a new show for young people with Theatre Alibi in Exeter.
