The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival 2018 is now officially over for another year. After a glittering, razzle-dazzle of an awards ceremony at 53Two last night, we looked back and celebrated the best of the fringe. It's been an amazing month of creative performance work, spanning stand-up comedy, spoken word, music, art installation, events, workshops, and - of course - plays.
This year, nearly 40 writers opted into the WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing. The prize was set up four years ago to celebrate the best new writing at the GM Fringe, and we've seen more than one hundred shows over that period.
We ask for the scripts for all of the entries, but we try to see the performances of as many of the pieces that we can possibly get to. If we can't physically see the show, we read the script.
We're looking for evidence of clear narrative structure, well-drawn character development, character-driven narrative, skilful and functional use of dialogue, and clarity of theme.
Our judging panel consists of theatre professionals who have a proven track record in playwriting, dramaturgy, teaching, and critique.
Our judges -
Stephen Hornby
Stephen is a multi-award-winning playwright and director. He is completing an AHRC funded PhD, researching playwriting from archives. He is National Playwright in Residence to LGBT History Month and artistic director of Inkbrew Productions. He lectures at the University of Salford on playwriting and the history of British Theatre.
Plays include:
- The Burnley Buggers’ Ball, toured North West, spring 2017 to 5 STAR reviews;
- Die Diana winner of the 2016 Best Drama Award for the Greater Manchester Fringe;
- A Very Victorian Scandal, Arts Council of England funded.
Stephen is under commission to several UK museums. His short film Unchechen won a Wings Award in 2018 and has been screened around the world. His next play, The Adhesion of Love, explores Bolton's connection with the queer American poet Walt Whitman and will tour in 2019.
Twitter & Instagram: @stephenmhornby @inkbrew
Cathy Crabb
Cathy is a multi-award winning playwright, poet, writing tutor, and an all-round good egg. A founder member of Studio Salford, her work has been performed extensively around the North West at venues such as The Lowry, and in the main houses of The Library Theatre, Royal Exchange, and Oldham Coliseum. She has written over 20 plays and been featured in The Guardian. She has worked extensively as an independent dramaturg for Contact Theatre and been writer-in-residence for People's History Museum. Cathy teaches playwriting at various theatres, including Oldham Coliseum.
Jayne Marshall
Jayne has a Distinction MA in Playwriting from Salford University and runs the WriteForTheStage courses in Glossop. She's a qualified trainer (C&G 7307 and CIPD Associate) with over 14 years of teaching experience and has taught creative writing with the Workers Education Authority. Her work has been performed around the NorthWest at venues such as The Lowry, Studio Salford, and at the 24:7 Theatre Festival.
Naomi Sumner
Naomi Sumner Chan is a Manchester-based playwright & dramaturg.
She leads Brush Stroke Order, a new writing company providing workshops, mentoring, and support to those who write for live performance.
Naomi currently reads for The National Theatre, The Royal Exchange Theatre, Papatango, and Theatre 503.
Currently under commission with Eclipse Theatre, her new play SAME SAME DIFFERENT will tour in 2019.
Mike Heath
Mike Heath is an award-winning playwright, director, tutor, and dramaturg., He has a Distinction MA in Playwriting and has written 18 stage plays which have been performed extensively around the North West of England, London, Wales, Cornwall, and Western Australia.
His latest play, The Big Things, was shortlisted for the BBC Alfred Bradley Bursary Award, where it was developed with the drama department and subsequently enjoyed a (rather controversial) 3-week run in London. His work has been published in paperback, and he is the founding tutor of Studio Salford WriteForTheStage courses.
THE SHORTLIST
We saw some fantastic work this year, making extremely difficult to whittle it down to a shortlist. We were impressed by the huge variety of new voices that are emerging from our fine city, and we thoroughly enjoyed attending the performances.
However, after much discussion, we decided upon five plays -
(in alphabetical order, according to title)
18 Victoria, by Cody Daigle
We felt that this piece incorporated an innovative use of imagery and monologue, with clearly defined voices and a clear narrative that analogically fused a world-ending event with the trials of a dysfunctional family.
How To Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, by Jonathan Hall
We felt that this piece had clear character voices and a strong, universal theme. The characters were easy to empathise with, and the writing made excellent use of humour to explore an emerging, unlikely relationship. Funny, relatable, and moving in equal measure.
OUT!, by Stewart Campbell
We felt that OUT! was a sharp piece of writing from an emerging playwright. The dialogue was particularly strong; the characterisation was clear and driven by strong objectives. The content explored challenging action driven by clear dramatic questions.
The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight, by Libby Hall
We felt that this piece explored modern Britain through a young person's eyes with eloquence, creativity, and true promise. The writer successfully wrote for a large ensemble cast while keeping a central narrative clear and driven by character objective - no mean feat!
Wendy To The Waterfall, by Matthew Smith
We felt that Wendy To The Waterfall explored mental health in an innovative and interesting manner. The character voices were distinct, driven by objective, and frequently hilarious. The piece steers successfully around surrealism to wrong-foot and surprise the audience while keeping the narrative thread driven by character.
AND THE WINNERS ARE
18 Victoria, by Cody Daigle
and
How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse, by Jonathan Hall
These two pieces share the first prize of a publication in paperback and eBook through WriteForTheStage Books.
Keep an eye and an ear out for news of these releases, coming soon.
And a DEVELOPMENT PRIZE went to Libby Hall.
We're offering Libby a free place on a WriteForTheStage course, starting in October. Libby is the youngest writer to have their work performed at this year's Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, and we felt that she demonstrated a huge amount of potential that we're keen to help nurture. Libby is part of the Young Performers Company at Salford Arts Theatre, for whom she wrote The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight.
Congratulations to everyone on the shortlist.
And finally...
We were buoyed by the high standard of work throughout the festival. Making theatre isn't easy, especially when you're working on a shoe-string. It's difficult to put yourself out there, and it takes a great deal of courage, tenacity, and thick-skin to get your work up on its feet and in front of an audience.
We're extremely proud to be a part of this festival and privileged to have the opportunity to recognise and help develop the city's talent: watching new and established artists and performers get together to create something born of passion and hard work.
And while there's the inevitable, occasional hiccup, we're proud that Greater Manchester is uniting its creative energies to make each fringe festival better than the last.
A fringe festival is just as much a place to learn as it is an opportunity to share. With a programme as diverse as the GMFringe, there's something for everyone - and a place for people to learn, and for audiences to see new work at its rawest.
We were heartened to see that houses were full for the majority of the pieces we attended. There's real love for the arts in Manchester - and the GMFringe is slap-bang in the heart of it.
Watch this space for very inspiring news of an Arts Council England-supported project for next year's Greater Manchester Fringe Festival.
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