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The Woolwich Young Radio Playwrights' Competition 1996/97
This was the seventh year of the award winning scheme to discover and professionally produce Britain's most promising young playwrights. The competition is open to anyone aged 25 or under who lives, works or studies anywhere in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This includes the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, Isle of Wight and all the other islands around Britain. Entries are welcomed from nationals of other countries who are undertaking full-time study in Britain.
The sponsorship by the Woolwich combined with production by IRDP and broadcasting by LBC offers young writers the chance to have their work broadcast to a wide audience. With LBC now including live broadcast on their web site, the plays can be heard throughout the world. The awards ceremony for the Woolwich Young Radio Playwrights' Competition 1996 took place before an invited audience at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus, London on Friday 9th May 1997. It was hosted by LBC Presenter, Douglas Cameron, and the awards were presented by Aden Gillett - Competition Judge, William Yates - Deputy Chairman of the Woolwich, Anna Hashmi - Competition Judge and Winner of the Competition in 1992, and Charles Golding - LBC's Programme Director.
The Competition's Patron is Carla Lane, OBE, and supporters include Bill Ash, Jane Asher, Peter Barkworth, Melvyn Bragg, Leslie Grantham, Aden Gillett, Nerys Hughes, John Mortimer, Lady Ralph Richardson, Lord Thomson of Monifieth and Toyah Willcox.
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HERE FOR A SMALL PICTURE OF THE WINNING WRITERS (29.5KB)
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HERE FOR A LARGER PICTURE OF THE WINNING WRITERS (118KB)
The ten winning plays will all be produced for radio broadcast:
Elizabeth is 16 and lives in Sedgley in the West Midlands. This is the second time she has won the competition. Her play Freefall was one of the top two winning plays in the 1995 competition, and it was also performed in an adaptation for the stage during a three week run at the Battersea Arts Centre in September 1996.
The judges said And This Little Fishy Stayed At Home is a 'moving, beautifully observed play that is written with great empathy.....A hugely difficult subject matter to tackle, but the sensitivity of the approach demonstrates an understanding that many public figures would do well to copy.....A powerful piece of writing'.
Kevin is 24 and comes from Coatbridge near Glasgow. He says that his Catholic upbringing influenced the subject of this play, with its themes of persecution and martyrdom. The main character, Arnold, hears imaginary voices which confine him to a life of confusion and isolation.
The judges said this was 'an intriguing and powerful play with a disturbing twist.....Kevin displays an impressive understanding of the radio medium, with good use of music and sound cues'.
Jane is 25 and lives in Newmachar, Aberdeenshire. She has been writing for more than eight years and has had plays produced for television and theatre as well as being a winner in the Woolwich Young Radio Playwrights' Competition on four previous occasions.
Jane's mysterious introduction to the play is 'The play takes place at a hotel in contemporary Scotland.......or does it?' Three young people on their way to a Hogmanay celebration in a 'quaint wee farmhouse about ten miles north of Lochgilphead' stumble across a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Sinister events follow.....
The judges found this play both gripping and entertaining, with its 'combination of mystery, suspense and humour mixed with an authentic Scottish flavour'.
Lydia is 17 and goes to Bedwas Comprehensive School in Gwent, where she is studying for A levels in English, History and Drama. She is involved in local amateur dramatics and is the singer and guitarist in a rock band called 'Sulk'. Two previous winners of the competition have attended Bedwas, and every year there is a very strong entry from the school, inspired and encouraged by Head of English at the school, Roger Lane.
The judges were 'impressed by the imaginative subject matter of this play.....Fred, an unappreciated film director, retreats into a cupboard to lick his wounds following the failure of his most recent film. The play centres around the conversations he has with people who insist on coming to bother him from the other side of his locked door. We hear footsteps coming and going constantly and feel deeply for Fred who just wants to be alone. This play is ideally suited to the radio medium'.
Caroline is 16 and lives in Birmingham, where she is studying for her GCSE's at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls. She has always enjoyed writing, but this is the first time she has attempted a radio play.
As an only child, she has always been fascinated by the idea of having a twin, and Abigail's Room resulted from her interest in this subject. The play revolves around two elderly twin sisters, Abigail and Ada. The judges were impressed by the power of Caroline's writing, in a 'haunting portrayal which gradually reveals the claustrophobic nature of the relationship between the two sisters'.
Wendy is 24 and grew up in Liverpool. She studied English at University College, London, and is currently teaching English in Spain. She was inspired to write this play when she met a friend's mother, a widow who lives in Galicia, and she has incorporated into this her own initial impressions of Spain and feelings of loss and homesickness.
The judges said this was 'a meticulously constructed play that paints a vivid picture....the Spanish flavour of the setting pours through the prose....the writer has explored a range of possibilities in radio drama and applied them with confidence and precision'.
Vikki is 20 years old and comes from Redditch in Worcestershire. She is currently studying for a degree in Creative Writing and Drama at Derby University. One of the competition's winners in 1995 is also studying the same subjects at Derby.
Vikki's play centres around the physical and psychological deterioration of a young man who takes drugs. The judges were impressed by the way the story was woven together using dialogue between the main characters, and the 'voices' of the young man's internal organs as they struggle to keep up with the strain he imposes on them. There is a balance of comedy and tension in this play which is cleverly constructed to maintain the listener's attention.
Ben is 21 and has lived in Blackpool all his life. He has been interested in drama from an early age, and has been writing for many years. He is currently working on a novel and writes the pantomime for his local church.
Drama Queens is a comedy with three main characters - actresses from very different backgrounds who share a flat and all audition for the same part. Their individual ways of trying to impress the director are as varied as their personalities. The judges said 'Drama Queens takes a satirical look at the obstacles facing people in the acting profession. Ben's affection for his subject is evident in the humorous portrayal of the three characters'.
Andy is 24 and lives in London. He was one of the winners of the first Woolwich competition back in 1990 and two years before that he had a script produced in the BBC's first Young Radio Playwrights' Festival. He then continued to write many more radio plays, and won the Woolwich competition again in 1994.
A Virtual Smile is carefully constructed, the listener becoming acquainted with several characters separately, before they finally meet by chance in the last scene. The judges said 'Andy's writing is articulate, absorbing and displays great clarity of thought. He has an innate understanding of the radio medium which makes this play flow naturally. The settings are carefully painted with great attention to detail and the sounds build up a vivid picture of present day London in the listener's mind. This script is a work of art.'
Andrew is 24 and lives in Warrington in Cheshire. He has worked extensively in the theatre - acting, directing and writing. He recently produced two of his own plays at the Ben Kingsley Theatre in Salford.
He says he usually writes comedies or lighter drama, but he wanted to try his hand at something darker and heavier in nature. The Book is the story of a soldier who upon his return from the Great War becomes obsessed with a search for immortality in order that mankind can be freed from death and the horrors of war.
The judges were impressed by the way Andrew had 'created an authentic flavour in his honest portrayal of life during the first half of the twentieth century'.
Click here for information about the winners of the 1998 Woolwich competition
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IRDP website by Marja Giejgo |
