Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s annual New Writing Festival is set to hit the boards again and the First Break playwriting competition will offer four early/mid-career writers the opportunity to see their work professionally performed as a rehearsed reading during the Festival. The selected writers will have dramaturgical support and guidance during the development of their script plus networking opportunities with other writers and industry contacts.
The theatre has recently appointed Chris Lawson as associate director and he will continue the Coliseum’s commitment to ‘developing the work of emerging artists and companies from across the region to explore the stories and issues that affect and reflect the local communities’.
Script submissions should be fifteen minutes max and have no more than four characters. The theme for the competition is Untold Stories and plays should be based on a story or experience which somebody has shared with you. ‘Use this opportunity to explore Oldham and beyond through the eyes of those who live it, love it or leave it,’ say guidelines.