Swan Playwrights
with the kind assistance of a Worcestershire First Base award and
The Rose Theatre presented:
White ChristmasA closed competition for group members. Four new short plays by Herefordshire and Worcestershire writers, directed for rehearsed reading by Lance Woodman and performed by local professionals Robert Swinton and Ali Belbin; plus talk-back. The show was on December 20th 2003 in the studio at The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster and had an audience of about 60 people. |
U SEND ME by Martin Drury
Why is that house getting so much mail? What is the secret of Uri's packages? Nosy Pam is on the case, but is that really what she is interested in? A postwoman and an asylum-seeker don't necessarily get what they want for Christmas, but is this the start of something else?
CHRISTMAS EVE ON A GARAGE FORECOURT by Nigel Knowles
Jade and Gary have the all-night stint at the local garage. It's midnight. There must be something better to do than watch petrol pumps from behind locked glass at this time of year, right? Or will they resist the Christmas spirit?
THE WHITE ROOM by Rose Marshall
Tony always saw Margaret as a nuisance when she was a child, but now the tables are turned and Tony needs looking after. A perfect opportunity to abandon him to 'The White Room'? After all she doesn't owe him anything...
NANDOAEL AND BRANDOAEL by Penelope Hart
Prepare to be transported to a cave in the Hebron Hills in Israel exactly on the cusp of BC and AD. Two angels (all singing, all dancing angels!) discuss the arrangements. Who would have thought Christ's coming would be such a to-do!
Technical support by Dan Roebuck
Extracts from the Competition Guidelines
1. Scripts had to deal with "white" and "christmas" in some form or other to satisfy the umbrella title. Apart from that writers had carte blanche with the material, format and style of their piece.
2. Work was in the form of duologues ie pieces for two actors: 1M, 1F. (Doubling was acceptable but needed to be indicated and shown to be workable by the writer.) Pieces were about 20 minutes in length. They were self-standing not extracts from longer work.
3. The aim of White Christmas was to showcase the group and to provide a full evening's entertainment at The Rose Theatre. The judge was asked to choose the best scripts that provide a balanced and varied evening and different tilts at the title. Two of the scripts selected were by members of the group who had not come through in a duologue competition before.