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Soho Launches Second Annual Writers' Festival

Soho Theatre launches its second annual Soho Writers' Festival today. The four-week event, running from 29 October to 24 November 2001, celebrates new writing across theatre as well as film, television, radio and comedy. The programme of nearly 40 events comprises a variety of stand-up performances, drama masterclasses, seminars, writing workshops and readings, not least the premiere of the Whatsonstage.com/Soho interactive play, developed over the past two months on this site.

The theatre events in particular demonstrate the diversity of new writing currently being produced in Britain. Festival workshops will be led by some of the country's leading touring and production companies, including: Out of Joint, who will present a reading of Tony Green's Audrey, directed by Max Stafford-Clark; the award-winning Asian group, Tamasha Theatre Company, whose co-artistic director Sudha Bhuchar will workshop Balti Kings; Theatre Royal Stratford East, who will trace the development of new musicals using contemporary music; Mu-lan Theatre Company, reading new plays by British-Chinese writers; and Polka Theatre, which will focus on playwriting for children.

Other highlights of the festival programme include readings of works commissioned by Soho from its increasingly successful stable of writers (such as Shan Khan, Debbie Green and Lorna V) as well as new work which has come out of Soho's Young Writers Programme.

The theatre will also run several events aimed at helping new and aspiring writers. These include two workshops for those interested in entering Soho's annual Westminster Prize playwriting competition (open to anyone who lives, works or studies in Westminster), and a daylong Writers' Expo, hosted by writernet, which informs newcomers about all aspects of the industry.

Meanwhile, the premiere of the Whatsonstage.com/Soho interactive play - conceived and developed by Whatsonstage.com theatregoers and scripted by Sara Clifford - will take place on Monday 12 November at 7.00pm. The rehearsed reading of "London Vanishes" (working title) will be directed by Soho's associate director, Jonathan Lloyd.

Soho Theatre + Writers' Centre, at 21 Dean Street in central London, opened in March 2000 as the permanent home of Soho Theatre Company, who began nurturing writing 30 years ago. STC produce new plays by new writers, discover and develop new writers and plays, and discover and develop new audiences for new plays. The Writers' Centre uniquely includes space for individual writers to work alongside facilities for seminars, workshops and readings.

- by Terri Paddock

Click here to find out more about our Interactive Play. Or call Soho Theatre on 020 7478 0151 to book tickets (just £2!) to the reading and many other festival events.

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