Jingan Young

The bursary helped Jingan to take the time she needed to complete her new play about Chris Patten – The Last Governor of Hong Kong as well as to produce a rehearsed reading in 2017 with London and Hong Kong based theatre company Pokfulam Rd Productions. She didn’t see her first play until she was 19 and arrived in the UK to start her undergraduate degree. She immediately fell in love with theatre and started writing.

Since receiving the bursary…

Her play Life and Death of a Journalist ran to critical acclaim at the VAULT Festival 2020. The Guardian called it ‘intensely smart…prickling with intelligence and anger.’ Her plays have been produced at numerous London theatres including the Soho Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Old Red Lion, New Wimbledon and the Pleasance Theatre. In 2021, she completed the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course (1/12 writers chosen from over 3000 scripts). She was named as ‘one to watch’ by the BBC and Idris Elba on the BBC Talent Hotlist and chosen as a fellow on the BEATS and BFI talent scheme. She has been in writers rooms with Bad Wolf, Channel 4 and CBBC. She is a BAFTA Connect member.

She is currently writing on the ITVx thriller Red Eye, produced by Bad Wolf, starring Richard Armitage and Jing Lusi. The series airs in 2024. She was also a story consultant for the show. Her feature film, a British East Asian romantic comedy Number Two Daughter is currently in development with Greenacre Films. She was recently chosen for the inaugural Sky Comedy and Birmingham Rep scheme for upcoming comedy talent and was mentored by Meera Syal. Her play Hong Kong Tragedy was shortlisted for the Jermyn Street Theatre’s Woven Voices Prize 2023.