Back in March we started our Five Day Plays; writers were invited to submit a play they'd written, the only rules being that the play could not exceed 10 pages and it had to match our weekly brief. After ten weeks, over 300 entries and ten winners, the series came to an end.
A group of professional actors directed by our own Hannah Hogg and Dale Rooks, have recorded some of the winning entries as audio plays for you to enjoy.
Backbone
By Louis Turner
Secrets, lies, evidence… and Pamela.
Cast: Henry Pettigrew (Quiz) as A, and Ashley Zhangazha (The Country Wife) as B.
Blue Moon
By David Kinder
Sparks fly when the past catches up with a left wing journalist and a Tory politician at a party conference gala.
Cast: Lucy Briers (Forty Years On, Young Chekhov) as Anushka, and Keir Charles (Quiz) as Simon.
Rockpool
By Alexander Wiseman
A young man is drawn irresistibly back to the seashore, but a strange encounter leads to a revelation.
Cast: Adam Buchanan (The Butterfly Lion) as B and Nicola Sloane (Flowers for Mrs Harris, The Butterfly Lion) as A.
Signs of Life
By Hannah Crouch
Mary Shelley has a horror story to write. As a storm rages, where will inspiration strike?
Cast: Keir Charles (Quiz) as Frankenstein, Olivia Dickens (CFYT’s The Wizard of Oz) as Young Mary, Dickon Gough (The Midnight Gang) as William & Creature, Grace Molony (The Watsons) as Mary, and Ashley Zhangazha (The Country Wife) as Percy.
Winning entries
A big thank you to everyone who entered our Five Day Play series. You can read all 10 of the winning entries below.
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Ten
It's the final week of the Five Day Play, but we hope you'll keep writing! For this week you're all alone - we'd like you to write a one-person play.
Submit by 6pm on Thursday 28 May 2020.
Week Nine
Pick one of the following objects to include in your play: shoebox, dictionary, wallet, screwdriver. How it makes an appearance is up to you!
Submit by 6pm on Friday 22 May 2020.
Week Eight
“…and then I woke up” is a classic ending to many stories, but how and where do you place this in your short play?
Submit by 6pm on Friday 15 May 2020.
Week Seven
Two characters, A and B, are happy enough until C comes along and changes everything. It's up to you to fill in the blanks!
Submit by 6pm on Friday 8 May 2020.
Week Six
We're feeling musical this week! Pick one of these 4 songs as your inspiration:
· Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
· Gone, Lianne La Havas
· Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles
· Siegfried, Frank Ocean
Submit by 6pm on Friday 1 May 2020.
Week Five
It's Shakespeare's birthday week! We're fusing the past and future this week and asking you to reimagine a Shakespearean story for 2064 - 500 years since his birth. Which story will you choose?
Submit by 6pm on Friday 24 April 2020.
Week Four
'Dancing in the moonlight' is your starting point. Take it as you will, it could be romance, intrigue or anything in between!
Submit by 6pm on Friday 17 April 2020.
Week Three
One of your characters must be a historical figure. They could be well known, or someone who's story's been forgotten over time. The rest is up to you - fact or fiction?
Submit by 6pm on Friday 10 April 2020.
Week Two
Choose your favourite space in the entire world. It could be the beach, a family holiday home, or it could be completely made up and imaginary… maybe in a hot air balloon? This is where this week’s play is set.
Submit by 6pm on Friday 3 April 2020.
Week One
We're keeping it simple to start off! There can only be 2 characters, A and B, and B has a secret to tell A. Whether we find the secret out or not is up to you... we all love a cliff-hanger.
Submit by 6pm on Friday 27 March 2020.