Chris Urch

Land of Our Fathers Urch’s first full-length play Land of Our Fathers, set in a Welsh coalmine on the eve of the 1979 general election, received wide critical acclaim when it opened at Theatre503 in 2013. The play then transferred to Trafalgar Theatre in the West End in 2014, followed by a Wales tour in 2015, and an England tour in 2016.

The Rolling Stone Urch's next major play, The Rolling Stone, deals with the topic of violent homophobia in Uganda. It received its premiere at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2015 , followed by performances at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds (2015) and the Orange Tree Theatre in London (2016). The play won a Judges' award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2013, the 2016 Manchester Theatre Award for Best New Play, and the 2017 Offie for Best New Play.

Internationally, The Rolling Stone was staged in Sydney at the Seymour Centre in 2018 and in New York at the off-broadway Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 2019. To date, the film has yet to be released.

In 2023, Chris Urch was awarded a grant from the British Film Institute's Short Film Fund for a short film entitled Blackout, which he would also direct in addition to writing. The film, which explores the theme of domestic violence, starred Mawaan Rizwan and was released in 2024. Blackout won the 2025 Iris Prize in the Best British Short Film category, winning Urch £40,000 to create a new LGBTQ-themed film.

Personal life Urch is openly gay.

Filmography

Films

Awards and nominations