A creative writing competition was held inviting local writers to create a short monologue inspired by the play which was due to open the Bolton Octagon's new season in it's new building, but sadly COVID 19 stopped play. The ten winning entries had their writings recorded by local professional actors and actresses and a selection will be broadcast on BBC Radio Manchester. Here we look at the middle three.
The fifth in the series is 'Pilgrimage To Bolton' by Zoe Iqbal and performed by Karla Marie Sweet. A group of teenage girls go on a bus to a night out in Bolton. It's more of a pilgrimage, a "must-do". The local lingo and accent is perfectly captured in the script, and reading the script whilst listening really helps. Perhaps due to the direction, much of the humour, urgency and pathos of the script is abandonded by Sweet, not even mimicking the MC's voice nor singing the song lyrics. A real insight to how it was when young.
Next on the list is 'Olympic Torch: Once In A Lifetime' by James Storey, and performed by Sheban Dar. It is 31 May 2012 and here a young man recounts how he, as a young boy, was dragged to see the Olympic Torch process through Bolton. Hating every minute and dominated by a pushy mother; and at the very last minute she is forced to take his younger sister to the toilet as the runner passes by, and it makes him feel 'special'.
The 7th in the set of 10 is 'Results Day' by Ciaran Forrest and read by Ruth Madeley. Even after downloading the text for this piece I am still a little baffled. A poem? A monologue? A piece of verbatim writing? The piece tells of a night out with her boyfriend in Bolton after receiving her exam results - although you'd only know this from the title of the piece. Disjointed and unclear, and without the text, incomprehensible. Not because of Madeley's delivery, but because of the writing. I fail to see how a young and not particularly well-educated lass on her drunken night out in Bolton would use such highly poetic and imagery-based language one minute and slang the next. It's an odd piece which sadly left me completely cold.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 27/8/20
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