Lunchtime readings on Fridays introduce the work of more emerging young playwrights.
12 November 1pm HIGHFLIERS by Henry Darke
Directed by Vicky Jones
Cornwall.Charlie and Don are roofers, they have two hours to finish slating a house that’s gonna bank Jimbo Taylor five hundred grand. Meanwhile Charlie’s been chucked out of his brother’s and has to figure out a bed for the night.
19 November 1pm REASON FOR LEAVING by Amy Evans
Directed by Emily McLaughlin
Jobless and alone, a black woman struggles to make sense of her life while her disillusioned, fatherless son must cope with the harshness of their isolation. His search for answers leads them both down a dangerous and unpredictable path.
26 November 1pm THE PIE by Caroline Bird
Directed by Orla O’Loughlin
The Pie is a comedy about failure and some people’s obsession with needing to be in love.
3 December 1pm UNTOGETHER by Morna Pearson
Directed by Nikolai Foster
On a riverside bench in North-East Scotland, June and Bruno struggle with
life, love and loss.
10 December 1pm WARLESS by Jeta Xharra
Directed by Tim Stark
Set in present day Kosova, Warless illustrates the difficulty of making action match the desire for independence and self-determination in a post-conflict society.
17 December 1pm BEST OF THE REST
A selection of the best plays from YWP Education and Outreach Projects. Directed by Lucy Dunkerley and Jane Bodie.
THE WRITERS
Henry Darke
Henry Darke was born in London and now lives in Cornwall. Henry is a filmmaker and writer, his graduation film A Season In Hell was short-listed for a Royal Television Society award and his latest short Danger My Ally was adapted from a play performed in the RSC festival.
Amy Evans
Amy Evans was born and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her award-winning first play, Achidi J’s Final Hours, had its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre in May 2004 directed by Che Walker and produced by Frontline. Based on the true story of a young Senegalese woman who was shot and killed by German police officers in 2001. Amy is also a lecturer and performer. She is currently based in New York City where she continues to write plays.
Caroline Bird
Caroline’s first collection of poems, Looking Through Letterboxes, was published when she was fourteen. She was a winner of the Young Poet of the Year Competition in 2000 and 2001 and a recipient of an Eric Gregory Award. Caroline was invited to join the Royal Court Young Writers Programme after a reading of Nothing To Say, which was her first script staged at her school. She has written two other plays subsequently, the second of which is THE PIE, and is currently working with Carcanet on her second book of poems. Caroline will be taking her A Levels next year.
Morna Pearson
Morna Pearson is from Elgin, Scotland. She studied drama at Queen Margaret
University College, Edinburgh. In 2002 she joined the Traverse Young
Writers’ Group, taking part in the First Bite and Monday Lizard projects. In
2003 she attended the World Interplay Festival for Young Playwrights in
Australia. Her writing has since been produced at St Martin’s Youth Theatre
in Melbourne and Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney. Final
Address, a short play, was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe 2004 as part of
a new writing collective. Morna is currently under a starter commission to
the Traverse Theatre.
Jeta Xharra
From the age of 19, Jeta Xharra worked as a field producer for BBC News throughout the Kosova war. She now heads the Institute for War and Peace Reporting office in Kosova, doing journalistic investigations, training journalists and hosting TV political debates. Jeta studied Dramaturgy at the University of Pristina and gained masters degrees in War Studies and Screenwriting in London.
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