ESCALATOR PLAYS | Shortlist Announced
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
HighTide Festival Theatre are delighted to announce the 12 playwrights who have made the Escalator Plays shortlist for 2012/13. From near 150 applications from the East of England and across the country, a strong shortlist has been compiled and is indicative of the passion, enthusiasm and breadth of imaginative zeal for new playwriting in 2012.
Escalator plays is for playwrights, based in or keen to develop their writing in the East of England and who define their practice as theatre, or writing for live performance. The scheme supports bespoke development based around the writing of a new play or performance text over a twelve month period and is designed for writers who are ready for focussed writing and collaborative support. Escalator Plays is designed for emerging writers as a way to artistically and / or practically support the writing of plays for live performance.
As part of a writers’ group, 6 writers will be offered a bespoke package of development which is a means to grow their own writing and capacity to see that work produced. Escalator Plays aims to improve the quality of each writers work and connect each of the group to the wider theatre industry within the region. This development will include access to one on one sessions, workshops, time with creatives and other writers and may lead to work being shared or fully produced in the future.
Escalator Plays is produced by HighTide Festival Theatre and is supported by Arts Council England, East. Applications from writers based in the East of England as well as writers nationally who are able to work in the region and are willing to see their work developed in the East will be considered.
The twelve playwrights shortlisted for Escalator Plays 2012/13 are:
Jon Barton
Mick meets Polly in a house at the edge of the sea, aching to piece together a past peopled by losers, loners and no-brainers.
Thomas Clancy
Len has just died, dancing in his bedroom to jazz. Nobody could remember how old he was.
Kenny Emson
A dark tale of capitalism, crisis and its effect on modern man.
Louise Gooding
Jacob and his daughter come together whilst the Suffolk coastline disappears into the sea.
Jacqui Honess-Martin
A river as life force, a mystic presence and a violent, malevolant threat.
Gareth Jandrell
'Rich kids do far better than poor, clever children when they arrive at school [and] the situation as they go through only gets worse.' (Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, July 2010)
Catriona Kerridge
We are all trying to get on the fast lane - trying to find ways to sort everything out.
Mufaro Makubika
Nathan has just finished school, he is not a bad kid, hasn't got much to show for himself and finds himself forever in the wrong crowd.
Waleed Marzouk
As a revolutionary tide sweeps through the nation a new hope emerges - activism and the possibility of effecting genuine positive change.
Vinay Patel
What does it mean to be a True Brit when you stick out like a sore thumb post London 7/7?
Hannah Rodger
It is raining, a family visit the Norfolk Broads, and a girl meets a boy. In a picturesque part of the UK a sense of innocence is lost.
Joseph Wilde
A bleak family comedy at Christmas.
The final 6 playwrights will be officially announced at the end of September and regular updates on their progress and their plays will be shared over the course of the next 12 months.