While its Dean Street doors may be closed to performance for the foreseeable future, Soho Theatre continues to work behind the scenes alongside bringing work to its digital player.
David Luff, Soho Theatre’s Creative Director, said: “In this period of separation there is need, more than ever, for connection and stories of hope. Today we announce the launch of three filmed plays for Soho Theatre On Demand, each shining a light on diverse challenging life experiences but each laced with humour, insight and compassion.
Now is also the time to uncover new positive visions for the future and we have six stunning new writers join our Soho Six residency and a record number of Verity Bargate Award submissions. To continue supporting the next generation of writers we have seven masterclasses exploring different aspects of new-writing led by the Soho team and alumni.
Stay safe and we hope to see you soon back in Soho.”
Three new theatre films join the Soho Theatre On Demand platform from Tuesday 26th May: The Special Relationship, a darkly funny and biting verbatim satire by Hassan Abdulrazzak about the complex stories behind the deportation of ex-prisoners from the US; a specially filmed version of Patrick Sandford’s Groomed, a moving one-man play inspired by the writer/performer’s own life shot on location in a primary school; and Good Girl, the debut play by Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab alumna Naomi Sheldon, a comic and unflinching coming-of-age story which won critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. All films will be available to rent for £4 each for 48 hours until August.
Six writers join the Soho Six programme, each co-commissioned with a theatre or production company, and working in residence with Soho Theatre for a year to develop their artistic practice and write a new play:
- Willy Hudson (Bottom), co-commissioned with Daisy Hale
- Yasmin Joseph (J’Ouvert), co-commissioned with Actors Touring Company
- Nyla Levy (Does My Bomb Look Big in This?), co-commissioned with Tamasha Theatre Company
- Racheal Ofori (So Many Reasons), co-commissioned with Fuel
- Holly Robinson (soft animals), co-commissioned with 45North
- Danusia Samal (Out of Sorts), co-commissioned with Paines Plough
A record number of 1,493 plays have been submitted to the Verity Bargate Award 2020, a 40% rise on 2017. The reading process continues and the shortlist and winner will be announced once the theatre reopens.
New online playwriting and theatre masterclasses have been announced, led by writers Yolanda Mercy (Quarter Life Crisis), Dylan Coburn Gray (Citysong) and Milly Thomas (Dust, Clickbait), director Sara Joyce (Dust), producer Daisy Hale (PECS, Not F*cking Sorry), Soho Theatre’s Literary Manager Gillian Greer and its Creative Director David Luff.
