Vote for Your Favourite Play

OTTC is delighted to be taking part in Playwrite again this year. It's a competition run by BBC Radio Swindon and the Swindon Advertiser for unpublished playwrights. The prize is fantastic as well - you can see your play performed on stage by OTTC!

If you have an original story, that you think would make a great stage play, then get writing! It'll be judged by a panel of experts from the BBC, The Advertiser and OTTC. They will decide if it goes into a final shortlist of three plays.

All plays must be submitted by 1 November and extracts from those plays will appear in print, and on air during Christmas 2006.

Then readers of the Advertiser and listeners to BBC Radio Swindon decide which play they think is the best and it's that one which OTTC will perform in February 2007 at the Swindon Arts Centre.

Obviously, there's much more to this but if you visit either of these websites, you'll find out want you need to know...

BBC - Wiltshire (www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/08/08/playwrite_feature_06.shtml)

Swindon Advertiser (www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/playwrite/)

Suffice to say, we're really happy to be involved again this year. It's a real challenge for any company to take on a play, sight unseen, for public performance. But hey! We're OTTC!

A Word From The Director

Julian Smith, who will direct the winning play, as OTTC's entry in the Harold Jolliffe Festival 2007, said:

"Having taken part in last year's Playwrite competition, I am really looking forward to taking part in the judging process, working with the winning writer to build and shape a workable stage production, and directing the result. As a cast member in 2006, I remember feeling as though I was coming in halfway through a process, so I'm keen to be in at the start this year. I think the stage adaptation process, in particular, will be made much easier by restricting entrants to people who live in the Wiltshire area. Of course, it's entirely possible that this year's writers will come up with a fully formed theatre script, and that's just as good, as it will give us more time to rehearse!

"I think Playwrite is a testament to the vision and commitment of the BBC and the Swindon Advertiser. Maybe one day other regional newspapers and BBC local radio stations around the country will adopt the scheme, and it can become a real showcase for new writing talent on a national scale. In the meantime, it is a great privilege for OTTC to be asked to take part in such an innovative competition, and for me to be given the (hopefully not too onerous) task of heading up the OTTC effort.

"Good luck, and get writing, playwrights!"