Papatango new writing initiatives during theatre closures

Published: 18 March 2020
Reporter: David Chadderton

George Turvey and Chris Foxon

Papatango Theatre Company has announced a series of initiatives around new writing during theatre closures including open commissions for monologues through Isolated But Open Commissions, free circulation of 60 new play texts via the Paptango Mobile Library and free advice on Arts Council applications.

Artistic Director George Turvey and Executive Director Chris Foxon said, “Papatango’s motto is All You Need Is A Story. That is true now more than ever, and we feel an obligation to put all the resources we can into supporting artists and audiences who may be facing even more challenging circumstances.

"We are working on more initiatives to be announced in the coming days. We know how hard it is to be creative when things are so uncertain and so stressful. These informal, open commissions, alongside the Mobile Library scheme, are intended to inspire people to tell their stories and enable everyone to enjoy fresh new writing, even if getting to a theatre is no longer possible."

Isolated But Open Commissions will consist of ten five-minute monologues which ten actors will self-film—each playwright and actor will be paid £100—and these will then be shared online for free. The deadline for submissions is 31 March at midnight.

To continue the work of its physical bookshop, which usually helps to fund playwriting workshops in schools, Papatango has introduced the free Papatango Mobile Library. Using the hashtag #PTLibrary, twenty people were chosen to each receive a package of three plays on the understanding that, once these have been read, the recipients will use the hashtag to find a new person to send them on to, and so on. If anyone has any issues meeting the cost of the P&P to post the books on, Papatango will help.

Papatango's fortnightly one-to-one advice service continues as usual every other Thursday (10AM–12PM) and the company has also offered to advise on Arts Council applications.

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