Following a radio playwriting project that took place almost entirely in lockdown last December, eight young playwrights from the north coast, Derry/Londonderry and Donegal shared their work this week at on online celebration hosted by Fighting Words Northern Ireland.
‘Radio: 2020’ selected eight 14-18 year olds to participate in the programme which was managed by creative-writing organisation Fighting Words NI, in partnership with the Riverside Theatre in Coleraine and The Playhouse in Derry/Londonderry. Working alongside Fighting Words NI’s professional scriptwriting mentors, the young playwrights produced new original scripts, which were then recorded to broadcast quality with professional actors, directors and a sound designer all with links to these theatres and the north coast area. The project, supported by the Dept for Tourism…, was free to participants, providing an accessible experience to writers from all backgrounds. Their original short plays are highly eclectic, including mystery, surrealist comedy, punk, climate change, a nuclear apocalypse – and also friendship and fighting stereotypes.
Fighting Words NI Director Hilary Copeland said:
“This will be our first public event since I joined Fighting Words in March this year and the whole team is incredibly excited to celebrate the work that was produced by the young people, (in a virtual room) with friends, families and the creative team. The high quality of the work is a testament to everyone involved, who had to constantly adapt to the challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic, communicating and collaborating over online video platforms.
“We shared extracts of the eight plays at the event, however people can listen to the plays in their entirety at https://www.mixcloud.com/RadioYNP/playlists/fighting-words/.”
Áine McCarron, Marketing Officer at the Playhouse, said:
“We at The Playhouse continuously re-imagine new ways of working to ensure our performances, programmes and management processes are the best that they can be. This has been made especially true as Covid-19 continues to create uncertainty and damage to the world of the arts. We responded to Covid by bringing live performance and art back to our building, with an imaginative digitally led programme through our social media channels to great critical acclaim- enabling us to thrive in a new artistic and theatrical landscape. Radio 2020 was a key feature of our digital programming in 2020.”
Young Playwrights is a year round programme of Fighting Words NI, introducing the next generation of writers to a diverse range of scriptwriting skills and to professional creatives and theatre venues across the region.
For more information about this project, visit www.fightingwords.co.uk
ENDS//
Notes to Editor:
About Fighting Words NI
Fighting Words NI is a creative writing network that encourages and amplifies the voices of children & young people in our society. Our year-round programme of schools workshops, Write Clubs & special projects is free & supported by volunteer mentors.
