Playwright Ryan Enniss has been announced as the winner of the 2022–23 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. Enniss was named as a finalist by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier this year, alongside Phoebe Grainer for her work Sugar Cane and Anthony Mullins for The Norman Mailer Anecdote. Enniss’s work Drizzle Boy, a heartwarming story of an autistic young man’s navigation through a world of miscommunications and misunderstandings, will hit the stage as part of Queensland Theatre’s 2023 season.

Ryan Enniss, the winner of the 2022–23 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. Photo supplied

“Since 2002, the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award has proudly showcased the outstanding diversity of creative voices in Australian theatre,” the Premier said, congratulating Enniss.

“Drawing on his own journey after being diagnosed as autistic at age 19, Ryan’s play asks us to see, and think, differently. Stories about neurodiverse people and experiences have great value, especially when they’re done with humour and heart.”

Inspired by Enniss’s own experiences, Drizzle Boy explores life as a neurodiverse Australian in touching, comedic ways, and encourages audiences to consider their own biases and perspectives.

“Drizzle Boy is a hopeful play,” Queensland Theatre Artistic Director Lee Lewis said.

“Ryan’s...