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Live Theatre Premieres A Thrilling Mix Of Online Plays

Live Theatre Premieres A Thrilling Mix of Online 10 Minute Plays From The Hottest New Writing Talent 
 
10 Minutes To...Call Home  - nine short plays online from October 2020 
 
Autumn just got a whole lot better with the chance to see some brand-new theatre from the comfort of home, courtesy of Live Theatre, Newcastle.  10 Minutes To… Call Home, brings nine new short plays, all of which have been rehearsed, performed and filmed on Live Theatre’s stage, to be released on 2 October 2020, for free online viewing.  10 Minutes To…  is the first offering in Live Theatre’s new and exciting digital programme, Live Wired.

The Quayside based theatre has made a commitment to invest in its talent development programme and the wider theatre sector despite current challenges, with more digital work and engagement opportunities rolled out through to March 2021.

The scripts were selected from more than 300 submissions in a response to an open call out on the theme of 10 Minutes To...Call Home.  The nine brilliant pieces from a range of writers, present writing that is bold, gritty, poetic, hilarious and fizzing with emotion on a mix of themes. Some of the writers are new to Live Theatre and for some this will be their first piece of writing developed and produced for stage.

The drama lines up as follows:

Amai Vangu – My Mother by writer, actor and director Mandi Chivasa follows Moyo, a young women living in Zimbabwe with her sisters and brothers, on a bittersweet tale of journey and discovery.  Directed by Maria Crocker and performed by Shvorne Marks.

Written by John Hickman, Blyth Spirit is an hilarious spin on the classic Blythe Spirit. This play is performed by Adam Donaldson, Mitch Donaldson and Serena Ramsey with direction from Jamie Eastlake.

Newcastle actor and writer, Benjamin Storey tells a tender tale of moving on and letting go in Gutter Weeds. Live Theatre’s very own Creative Director Graeme Thompson directs with Donald McBride and Samantha Neale performing.

Sarah Tarbit, an alumni of Live Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting Course, and winner of a Northern Writers Award, presents a vivid and colourful story, in Invisible Boundaries. Becky Morris, Creative Associate at Live Theatre, directs performers Jake Jarratt and Jackie Edwards.

Can Inter-generational differences be settled over a bag of Quavers on a train journey on a warm summer day? Ellen McNally’s superb new piece Off Peak is performed by Colleen Prendergast, Annabelle Rich and Megan McKie Smith with direction by Jamie Eastlake.

Rebecca Glendenning-Laycock makes an interesting and conceptual return to the 10 Minutes To… project with Sheltered. Judi Earle, Jude Nelson and Francesca Tomlinson seek refuge from an air raid over Northern England in this filmed audio play. 

Niall McCarthy’s touching debut piece of stage writing, Star Fish is performed by Mahsa Hammat Bahary and Aiden Nord and directed by Graeme Thompson. Can the stars align for Dan and Laura as they take a moment out of their lives to watch the night sky and reflect?

Watching and Waiting written by Olu Alakija is a piece that explores a loss of identity and being robbed of who or what we are or could have been. Olu’s crackling monologue fizzes with raw emotion and guts.

The final play, you can’t start a revolution sitting on your arse, from gobscure is a vivid, bold and shatters confines. Directed by Rosa Stourac McCreery and performed by Lindsay Nicholson and Faye Alvi, the piece is compiled from real life incidents that take us on a journey of what it’s like to be framed and viewed by other people.

Graeme Thompson, Creative Producer at Live Theatre and director of two of the plays said: “Its been a privilege to get back to making theatre again here at Live Theatre with such a wide range of writers, actors and directors. This project is all about early stage writers trying out new ideas and experimenting. We put these plays together over two days. It’s a really energetic process. Filming them is a new thing for us as well, but I think that energy has been captured very well and we are really excited to be able to share them with you on line.”

10 Minutes To…Call Home, part of Live Theatre’s Creative Opportunities supported by the John Ellerman Foundation, is a vital and important part of Live Theatre’s work nurturing new and emerging writers and theatre makers. Throughout the coming months the Live Wired online programme will continue to bring new theatre to our audiences, with content from Live Youth Theatre, Script Submission reading and the Introduction to Playwriting Course.

Seven of the nine plays in the 10 Minutes To…Call Home series will be streamed from 2 October onwards, with the final two plays streamed from November.  So get yourself a cosy seat and some refreshments, find out more about the plays and settle yourself in for a cracking boxset of theatrical drama at https://www.live.org.uk/10-minutes-tocall-home-online 

  • Arts Council England
  • Community Foundation
  • European Regional Development Fund
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