New Earth Theatre awards student bursary to Esther Ming Li

Esther Ming Li has been awarded New Earth Theatre’s annual student bursary. 

Artistic director Ailin Conant said that Li won the award for her ‘lucidity, depth and playfulness’, adding that all of those who applied for the competition were ‘winners, in the sense that they are all brilliant artists who are poised to bring vital energy to our sector.’

Esther Ming Li is a final-year student at LAMDA, and is currently rehearsing to play Roxane in her school’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac. 

Entering its 12th year, the award will provide Li with a £1,000 bursary, a year’s subscription to Spotlight, a casting workshop with audition techniques trainer Mixing Networks, and a headshot session with photographer David Yiu. 

This year, the judging panel consisted of Chloe Blake (casting director, National Theatre), John Cannon (head of casting, BBC), Ailin Conant (artistic director of New Earth Theatre), Matthew Dewsbury (casting director, Royal Shakespeare Company) and Orion Lee (actor and sponsor of the Bursary).

‘God, I feel proud to be Asian right now,’ said Li after receiving the award. 

‘I am grateful that the Constellation Creatives bursary exists because it means we have Asian peeps in numbers stampin’ our way into the industry each year.’

Conant said: ‘It was such an honour to participate in my first Constellation Creatives bursary panel as incoming artistic director and to get a small taste of the enormous legacy that Orion, New Earth, and the brilliant panellists have created with this programme over the past decade.’

‘This year’s applicants were an incredibly strong pool and all of the finalists were a joy to meet and work with.’