New Writing Festival
From OUDS
The 2010 Line Up
Click on the links to read the full scripts
Revival by Carla Neuss - Crispin's bar is unlike any other: you tell him a story, he'll make you a drink. It's a beautiful system until, one by one, the rules begin to break.
The Fireflies by David Shackleton - Rising spitting and cursing from the remains of twentieth century Absurdist drama, 'The Fireflies' flares brightly for a moment before burning itself out.
Toffee by Charlotte Geater - Alfie's girlfriend vanished a while ago, his friends are tired of comforting him, he's still got the same songs on repeat, and he's wondering if talking to you might help.
Instead of Beauty by Richard O'Brien - When school-friends John and Matthew start at university and meet two very different girls, all four find out how little they know - about love, sex, each other, and themselves
The General Facts
The NWF is a unique opportunity for student scriptwriters to see their own work realised on stage by some of the best directors and actors in Oxford. Likewise, it is an exceptional chance for performers and production teams to work with new material written by their contemporaries who may one day write the future of British theatre. So get involved because OUDS is offering you a festival that embraces all aspects of theatre making and there are vacancies literally for everyone, no matter what your trade.
There is more and more media coverage of young writers in the UK and, if the continuing success of the Royal Court’s ‘Young Writers Program’ is anything to go by, the competition is heating up. We encourage anyone who has ever shelved an idea to take it down, blow off the dust, grab a coffee and get writing so that it is ready to submit by 4th week of Michaelmas. A successful professional will judge the entrants and choose the best four to be performed in Hilary. The scripts are then made available online so that prospective directors can read them and apply to OUDS with their artistic vision for a production of your plays. The casting will take place in the form of two days of open auditions at the beginning of Hilary where actors audition in front of the four directors and then they decide among themselves how to allocate parts. Rehearsals begin promptly afterwards and the shows will then run for a normal weeklong slot later that term in a venue that is to be confirmed by OUDS.
Meanwhile OUDS appoints a single producer from very early on to co-ordinate the whole festival in order to absorb any unnecessary organisational stress and to act as a support for the production companies and performers. If you would like to find out more information please email committee@ouds.org and one of our energetic team will reply with characteristic wit and alacrity. To submit scripts please email secretary@ouds.org with an email entitled 'NWF Script Submission'.
Key Information
-Plays must be under 60 minutes long.
-Keep your dramatis personae to no more than eight characters.
-Plays should not have been performed professionally before.
-Include title page with your name, year of graduation and college.
-Please put page numbers on the document.
-Submissions should be sent to committee@ouds.org. A hard copy should also be posted to the OUDS pigeon hole in the BT Studio.
-There will be a play writing workshop in first couple of weeks with professional actor and storytelling fanatic Napoleon Ryan designed to get the creative juices flowing especially for those interested in submitting for the NWF.
