writers group productions ~ Burton-Taylor Theatre 2007

Multilateral
13th, 14th & 15th September

The Writers' Group at Oxford Playhouse have entered a total of seventeen brand new short plays for the Playhouse's New Writing Festival. Come and see the three winning entries from these local writers:

The Attic by Stuart Lee
Every Mother's Son by Lorna Pearson
Irene by Gwilym Scourfield

THE ATTIC by STUART LEE
Directed by Sarah Jones

‘The Attic’ explores the lives of two women living in an old attic, hidden away from the outside world. Outside, troops roam the war-torn streets trying to round up undesirables to be taken away to camps where they will disappear forever. As the bombs fall around them the two women attempt to maintain normality when their safety is shattered by the sudden arrival of an airman, shot down during a bombing raid and on the run. Tension mounts as the troops outside begin to close in on their prey, threatening the future of everyone.


IRENE by GWILYM SCOURFIELD
Directed by Sarah Jones

‘Irene’ is an ex actress living in a nursing home. For her free, imaginative spirit this constricting, constitutional environment is worse than claustrophobia. Irene escapes the only way she knows how – through her fertile imagination and within the Shakespearian roles that she has played. The sudden illness of her only confidante in the home causes Irene to explore her personal and professional life as well as her belief and her survival strategies. Far from being morbid or dull the play hilariously celebrates the fun of living whilst posing serious questions about dying with dignity and how to relate to the old.


EVERY MOTHER’S SON BY LORNA PEARSON
Directed by Sarah Dodds

Set on the Western Front during the Great War, ‘Every Mother’s Son’ explores the theme of finding a truce in No Man’s Land’: the mysterious survival of ‘out there’, in shell holes and abandoned trenches, a scarecrow band of the Missing and otherwise undead of all the armies – an official army beyond hostility in the symbolic middle battlefield. No-one ever saw it. It was one of many myths in the underground society of the trenches.

ABOUT THE WRITERS

STUART LEE ‘THE ATTIC’

Stuart is a member of the English Faculty at Oxford University. His previous productions include ‘The Ghosts May Laugh’ (The Burton Taylor; Edinburgh Festival) and ‘Quiz Night’ – a comedy set around a pub quiz caught up in the spin of Blair’s Britain’

GWILYM SCOURFIELD ‘IRENE’

Gwilym is married with 3 children. Having worked as an education Officer for Special Educational needs in Buckinghamshire, Gwilym is now retired allowing time for him to focus full time on his writing. Gwilym’s recent writing includes ‘The Most Unkindest Cut of All’ (Pirandello Short Story Prize); ‘Token Protest’ (Thame Players 2006; Banbury Festival 2007);’Testament To Trade’ (touring 2007) and short stories broadcast on Radio Oxford. Gwilym is also a versatile actor and has worked extensively in amateur theatre performing in a wide variety of roles.

LORNA PEARSON ‘EVERY MOTHER’S SON’

Lorna’s Oxford mystery novel ‘The Cherry Stones of Oxford’ (published by L Pearson) can be found on Amazon. com and Lulu. Com. Her short story about Charles Dodgson ‘ Cross Purposes’ appears in the collection ‘The Sixpenny Debt and Other Oxford Stories’, endorsed by Colin Dexter and found in many bookshops around the county; a second collection is currently in progress.


Testament To A Trade
4th 5th & 6th October

A devised drama produced by Oxford Theatre Guild in collaboration with the Oxfordshire Record Office and Writers’ Group at Oxford Playhouse, presented in association with Oxford Playhouse 2007: The bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery in Britain.

With source material taken from the city’s archive, discover how the slave trade affected the lives of Oxfordshire’s community.
Suitable for family and school audiences aged 11+, with discussion opportunities after each performance.