New writers’ festival showcases fresh talent
What do Russian spies, a planet named Plop and hold music all have in common? They are all the themes of plays performed as part of a new writers’ festival.
The 10x10 New Writing Festival, at Chesil Theatre, Winchester, this time had the overall theme of ‘Hidden Worlds’. Writers sent their plays from far and wide, with the hopes of them being brought to life during the festival, but only 10 applicants succeeded.
The plays ranged from comedy to drama, tackling modern issues from homelessness to the Salisbury spy poisoning, and all took place within the walls of the medieval theatre.
The entries opened in January this year and closed in March after which the judges read all the submitted plays to create a longlist of 20, before narrowing it down to the 10 winners. All plays were a maximum of 10 minutes long, giving the name to the festival.
The actors are given a maximum of two weeks to rehearse, but managed it, with performances all of a high quality.
Charlie Hurst, an actor in the festival, said: ‘I loved the whole experience and was really grateful for the opportunity. I met some great people and all of them were amazingly talented actors. I thoroughly recommend the experience to any budding actors in the Hampshire area.’
Cressida Peever, a previous winner of 10x10 and current judge, said ‘judging is a very similar skill to writing’, but said that both had their challenges.
She added that topics came up repeatedly, such as homelessness. The play, Underground, which tackled homelessness, was the pick of the bunch.
Deborah Edgington, producer and founder, told of the backstory to the event. ‘In 2008, my husband was on a writers course with Nuffield Theatre, and had to write a 10-minute play, however it was not going to be performed at the Nuffield, so we put the 10 plays on here.’
This is why the festival is called 10x10. Over the years, it got more and more popular and is now ‘established on the writers’ map, with entries coming in from abroad.’
Deborah went on to say: ‘The best thing about it is that it showcases talent, but always provides the audience with something that can enjoy.’
