Opportunity for a NE writer under 25

Published: 10 February 2019
Reporter: Peter Lathan

The Takeover Festival 2019

The Customs House in South Shields is offering an opportunity to a NE-based playwright under the age of 25 to become their second Young Writer in Residence.

Each year, The Customs House is taken over by emerging artists and arts professionals aged up to 25 for a week of theatre, cinema, music, dance, poetry, hip hop and visual art, the Takeover Festival. This year’s festival will be the fifth and will build on the success of last year’s performance of Wormtown written by The Customs House’s first ever Young Writer in Residence, Reece Connolly.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity again,” said Fiona Martin, Deputy Director—Learning and Participation, “and are seeking to appoint 2019’s Young Writer in Residence, who will benefit from mentoring delivered by professional writer, resulting in a play that will be staged in our Main House as the finale piece of our Takeover Festival.

“We are seeking submissions which have an authentic and relatable voice, with a narrative that is rooted in the North East. The final version would run at between 45 and 60 minutes, with no interval, and would be suitable for audiences aged 14+. There would need to be roles for eight young actors, who may play single parts or as multi-roles.”

The Young Writer in Residence would need to be aged 25 or under and be from or live in the North East of England. The total fee allocated to the writer for the opportunity is £400, payable upon submission of the final draft, which would be on 3 May.

Submissions should be made by e-mail to [email protected] by Monday 18 March at 5PM. Each submission must include:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • A brief biography
  • The title of the play
  • A brief synopsis
  • Up to 15 minutes of the script

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?