Oliver Award-winning playwright James Graham and director Thomas Hescott are seeking new and undiscovered writers to collaborate on a uniquely multi-authored play this autumn. James Graham’s Sketching will be staged at Wilton’s Music Hall from Wednesday 26 September – Saturday 27 October.
Taking inspiration from Sketches by Boz, Charles Dickens’ first novel which chronicled all walks of Victorian London Life, Graham and Hescott want to hear from emerging talents – particularly those currently underrepresented in the industry – with exciting and innovative story and character ideas. Successful applicants will receive £1,000 for their story, as well as expenses to attend a masterclass week with professional artists and writers.
James Graham said, “We’re all aware of the growing deficit of opportunities for emerging artists from working class, regional backgrounds. We know there are far too few writers finding stages who are women or people of colour, a mix of nationalities and faiths. We’re looking for a team of writers to contribute strands, to help us work together to interweave them, and collaborate on generating more, together.”
Thomas Hescott said, “You don’t have to have read or seen any Charles Dickens. What you may know, though, is that he wrote BIG STORIES. Life and death. Heroes and villains. High stakes, wants and needs. Who are the modern day pickpockets, money-lenders, street-sellers and Christmas Ghosts? You don’t have to know the entire plot yet. We just want an exciting ‘proposition’.”
The deadline for submissions is 1st June 2018 with further information here.
