I hope you’re all enjoying the summer break and are using the time to crack on with some new scripts. Our early autumn season starts at the Naval Volunteer on Tuesday, 8 September — there’s a full list of dates on the Diary page of our website.
I’ll be emailing our next full newsletter at the start of September, but here are some summer special updates…
Southwest Scriptwriters’ Theatre West autumn season slot
Following our season of dedicate workshops in May and June, eight of you submitted scripts for the group’s two-week slot in Theatre West’s autumn season at the Alma Tavern Theatre. Theatre West has now picked a shortlist of four possible plays for the fortnight’s run. They are:
State by Virginia Bergin
The Other Reader by Andrew Graham
Showing the Monster by Steve Lambert
Genesis by Heather Lister
The company will make its final choice after read-throughs of the shortlisted scripts at the Alma this weekend. I’ll bring you news of the finalist plus details of the production dates and the rest of TW’s autumn programme in the next newsletter. [Catherine Swingler and Steve Lambert are pictured above at the read-through of Showing the Monster by Steve Lambert in the Alma Tavern Theatre on Sunday, 9 August 2009.]
Happy Happy Happy and Sleep With Me at the Trinity
Max Theatre Company is presenting a double-bill of comedy plays by Steve Lambert at the Trinity Community Arts Centre from this Thursday, 6 August until Sunday, 9 August.
In Sleep With Me, Carol and Brian share a bed to try to cure their insomnia, while Happy Happy Happy has a poor Victorian couple, a modern family and an amorous dolphin seeking ultimate contentment.
This will be Max Theatre Company’s first production at the Trinity and may lead to further shows at the venue.
Writers’ Sprint success
Congratulations to Adrian Harris who is one of ten writers to be invited by Bristol Old Vic to take part in its Writers’ Sprint initiative next month.
The Writers’ Sprint will provide a hothouse for writers to kick-start their creative process and explore the possibilities of working to a tight and strict deadline. The ten participants will work in the Bristol Old Vic complex from 10am until 6pm for four days to produce the first ten pages of ten new plays, aided by the Bristol-born playwright Simon Bowen (National, Hampstead and Soho Theatres).
Adrian gained his place in the project on the strength of his historical play Deep Pit, which he workshopped at a Southwest Scriptwriters meeting in April. We look forward to hearing what he,comes up with during the Sprint!
Crumbling Walls back in action
Crumbling Walls, the non-professional company that presented a series of script-in-hand performances in First Nights at the Hope Centre in Hotwells during the 1990s, has reformed and is seeking plays to try out in rehearsed readings.
The group plans to develop a regular programme at the Lansdown pub in Clifton. It will be casting from a predominantly older membership and scripts should allow for this, although Crumbling Walls is also ready to look at plays with younger roles with the aim of attracting new members.
Bee Here Now
Long-time friend of Southwest Scriptwriters, Shirley Brown, was chosen in the lottery to appear on the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley’s live artwork One and Other.
Shirley will be appearing on the plinth in a bee costume to highlight the current worldwide plight of the insects.
Hope you create a buzz, Shirley!
Follow us on Twitter
Fans of social networking sites will be pleased to hear that now you can not only join the Southwest Scriptwriters Facebook group, but also follow us on Twitter.
The new Twitter feed will bring you rare tweets on breaking news. Hear it here first!