Bryan Murray and Deirdre Kinahan win inaugural Pratchett Prize

Posted on: 04 March 2024

Actor Bryan Murray and playwright Deirdre Kinahan have been named as the winners of the inaugural Pratchett Prize for challenging the stigma of Alzheimer’s Disease in their play An Old Song, Half Forgotten. 

The 2023 Abbey Theatre production was written for and performed by one of Ireland’s most celebrated actors, Bryan Murray, who himself is living with Alzheimer’s. The “adjudicating wizards” were impressed with the new paradigm of theatrical production in which actor Bryan was supported to take on the lead role – from understudy and co-star to staging and script.  

James Hadley, Una Crawford, Dee Kinahan, Bryan Murray and Rob Wilkins

Inspired by the life and work of author Terry Pratchett the new award, administered by the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, acknowledges the contribution of a scientist, artist, activist, or person living with the condition who collaboratively or individually works to reduce the impact of Alzheimer's Disease.  

Bryan Murray and Deirdre Kinahan were presented with the symbolic prize, a bust of Terry Pratchett, by the late author’s assistant, Rob Wilkins, at an awards ceremony in Trinity College Dublin on Mon, March 4th. The event was the centrepiece of the opening session of Creative Brain Week – a series of free public events celebrating the brain and creativity, hosted by the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin this week (March 4th – 9th). 

Rob Wilkins congratulated the winners, saying: “I am so pleased to be back at Trinity, a university that was very close to Terry’s heart, to award this inaugural Pratchett Prize. We are here to recognise the outstanding work by the team behind the ground-breaking production An Old Song, Half Forgotten for its profound commitment to challenging the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, and enhancing the lives of those living with it.

“At its core, An Old Song, Half Forgotten is a testament to resilience and creativity in the face of adversity. Bryan Murray's moving portrayal, supported by a ground-breaking production approach and a powerful script by Deirdre Kinahan, exemplifies the power of compassion to facilitate the production of art. Terry’s openness about his diagnosis has made him an example of what can be achieved when the stigma associated with brain diseases is challenged. An Old Song, Half Forgotten takes up that mantle and runs with it.” 

The prize cements the strong and growing importance of neuroscience and brain health to the Pratchett Project, a Trinity research initiative drawing together experts from the fields of literary studies, digital humanities, translation studies, library studies, theatre studies, neuroscience and psychiatry, who are undertaking research on Pratchett’s life and work. 

Responding to winning the award Bryan Murray commented: “I was very honoured that Dee Kinahan wrote An Old Song, Half Forgotten especially for me, which gave me the opportunity to perform once more on the Peacock stage. And then to receive the Pratchett Prize is a further acknowledgment of the importance of highlighting Dementia in our society today.” 

Deirdre Kinahan added: “Writing An Old Song, Half Forgotten was one of the most thrilling, unique and humbling experiences of my 25-year theatre career to date. We wanted to celebrate the extraordinary resilience of human beings, the exquisite joy of artistic craft and the truth of Alzheimer’s by creating a piece of theatre elevated rather than compromised by that condition. I hope that through this prize we can share our experience and present a blueprint for other artists, other theatres, other communities around the world - a great actor is a great actor with or without Alzheimer’s.” 

Terry Pratchett had a deep association with Trinity over his long and celebrated career. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his services to literature and was subsequently appointed Adjunct Lecturer in Creative Writing at Trinity’s School of English. The Library of Trinity College is home to one of only three comprehensive collections of Pratchett’s work in the world, incorporating well over 2,000 publications in over 40 languages.  

James Hadley, Director of the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, added: “The power for us of An Old Song, Half Forgotten is not only that it depicts a character living with Alzheimer’s Disease, but that the team did nothing short of creating a new paradigm of production to support Bryan in continuing the work that is so dear to him. In both respects, the play challenges the stigma associated with brain diseases, showing that a little empathy goes a really long way. 

“This work echoes the work of Pratchett himself who became one of the most vocal advocates for supporting research into Alzheimer’s Disease after being diagnosed in 2007. He continued this advocacy until his death in 2015. He was determined to demonstrate the everyday complications associated with living with the disease, as well as his determination not to let it rule his life. The Pratchett Project is keen to make sure those who have taken up his mantel in this respect continue to receive the recognition they deserve.” 

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