A play about Bradley Manning, the American soldier convicted* of releasing U.S. state secrets to WikiLeaks, has won the new theater category of Britain’s oldest literary awards.

    The “Radicalization of Bradley Manning” by Tim Price is the first play to win the James Tait Black Prize for drama.

    Manning was arrested in May 2010 and locked up for three years before his trial, which ended last week when he was convicted of most of the charges against him.

    He faces a lifetime in prison when he is sentenced for leaking the documents to anti-secrecy* organization WikiLeaks, which he claimed he did to spark a debate on U.S. foreign policy.

    The play was originally performed in schools across Wales in April 2012, and opened at Tasker Milward School, Haverfordwest, which Manning attended in his teens.

    Price’s script charts the story of Manning’s life, from his teenage years growing up in Wales to his incarceration in the United States.

    The James Tait Black judging panel said that the contemporary nature of the play, its important subject matter, its unique theatrical voice and inventive use of structure made Price’s work a clear winner.

    Neil Murray, executive producer at the National Theater of Scotland, who had a role in judging the awards, said: “His play is emotionally resonant on many levels, challenges thinking and teaches us things we did not know with a truly unique voice — exactly what this prize sets out to recognize.”

    The James Tait Black Prizes for fiction and non-fiction will be announced at a ceremony at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on August 24. (SD-Agencies)