Be the first to witness a showcase of exciting new pieces, written, directed and performed by professional and emerging talent.

Performed as script-in-hand readings, each excerpt has been selected from submissions over the past year to our literary department. The readings will be followed by a Q&A with all the writers.

Fifty Years by James McDermott
Leaving by Karla Marie Sweet
Tranquillity by Paul Spencer
Sleeper by Janice Okoh
To Be Undone by Wendy Pratt
Figures by Sarah Gordon
With Bells On by Chris Chilton

Fifty Years by James McDermott

Shaun – Daniel Wallace
Guy – Marcus Christopherson

James's plays include 'Rubber Ring' (UK Tour), 'Street Life' (Norwich Theatre Royal) and 'CAMP! (Norwich Arts Centre). James is published by Samuel French and is currently writing new plays for HighTide, Hampstead Theatre and Norwich Playhouse. An excerpt of his play ‘Time and Tide’ was read at last year’s Second Stage.


Leaving by Karla Marie Sweet

A – Paul Kynman          
B – Marcus Christopherson

Whilst a Production Trainee at the BBC, Karla worked in the script department of Casualty. Her first play won the Grin Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights Competition. In 2017, her play Rupture previewed at theatre503 before completing a full run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Underbelly), where it was longlisted for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.


Tranquillity by Paul Spencer

Astronaut – Paul Kynman         
Ellen  – Andrea Crewe

Paul enjoys writing stage plays, short stories and audio dramas. His production 'The Haunting of the Vaults' with Beach Hut Theatre Company took place in Scarborough Market Vaults last year, and his scripts have been adapted as podcasts such as 'The Lightkeeper'.


Sleeper by Janice Okoh

Sam – Andrea Crewe                 
Jed – Daniel Wallace

Janice is an award-winning playwright,  her first play, Egusi Soup, won a Channel 4 playwriting award and her second play, Three Birds, was the winner of the 2011 Bruntwood Prize, which was then produced in 2013 at The Bush Theatre. She is also an established radio dramatist and has written numerous plays including adaptations of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Maya Angelou’s biography The Heart of A Woman.
 

To Be Undone by Wendy Pratt

Anne Bronte - Oghenkevwe Emefe

Wendy is an award winning poet, playwright and freelance writer living on the North Yorkshire coast. Her latest collection, Gifts the Mole Gave Me is available from Scarborough publisher Valley Press. Wendy is the coastal columnist for Yorkshire Life and editor of York based literature and arts magazine, Dream Catcher. Follow her on twitter: @wondykitten to find out more.
 

Figures by Sarah Gordon

Ruth – Jacky Naylor      
Niki - Oghenkevwe Emefe        
Hannah – Andrea Crewe

Sarah is a Screenwriting graduate of the National Film and Television School. She is currently developing her show ‘Disappearing Act’ with Big Talk Productions for BBC3. ‘Figures’ was a Theatre Fest West finalist in 2017 and was subsequently workshopped for a week at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her play ‘The Edit’ is currently on tour with Folio Theatre.


Leaving by Karla Marie Sweet

Jacky Naylor

Whilst a Production Trainee at the BBC, Karla worked in the script department of Casualty. Her first play won the Grin Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights Competition. In 2017, her play Rupture previewed at theatre503 before completing a full run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Underbelly), where it was longlisted for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.


With Bells On by Chris Chilton

Maurice – Paul Kynman     
Keith – Daniel Wallace        
Michaela – Jacky Naylor
Cath – Oghenkevwe Emefe      
Bob – Marcus Christopherson

Chris trained as an actor at LAMDA. Recent work includes projects at the RSC, Shakespeare’s Rose, ETT, Manchester Royal Exchange, Leeds Playhouse, Sheffield Crucible, and many more. With Bells On is his third play. His first, Lords of the Ring, enjoyed a sell-out run at Edinburgh’s Gilded Balloon. His second is hidden in a drawer.