NEWS: Unmute - a national search for young political playwrights.

 

National call out in schools across the UK to find the next generation of political playwrights.

LUNG, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Salamander Street have launched a new playwriting competition called Umute. Designed for 11-18 year olds, this competition will celebrate fresh talent that is writing socially engaged and political theatre.

Unmute is a call out to celebrate and hear the voice of the generation z (or zoomers). Coronavirus has impacted everyone’s lives but schools and young people have in many ways borne the brunt of this upheaval. As teenagers return to the classroom, we want to amplify their voices and hear what they want to say about the world.

What matters to teenagers in Britain today and how do they want to express themselves? Whether young people want to discuss global issues like the climate emergency or international conflict, or open up about nation defining moments like Black Lives Matter or Sarah Everard, or if they want to investigate burning local issues that affect their everyday lives - we want to platform, champion and celebrate the voice of teenagers far and wide.

Submissions for Unmute will open on 2nd March 2022 and will close at 5pm on 8th May

2022. We are inviting teenagers across the UK to submit a monologue of no more than 500 words. The winners (judged by representatives from all the three partners) will have their monologue published by Salamander Street in an anthology which will be distributed worldwide. Some of the monologues featured in this anthology will be selected to be performed and filmed by acting students at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. These videos will then be publicly available for free for teachers, young people and anyone to access.

Winners will be entitled to 2 books and an invitation to an online launch event of the book. Royalties made from publication of the playtext will go directly into funding future learning & engagement projects to make the arts and drama school accessible to underserved communities.

An accompanying education resource has also been launched to inspire young people to get writing. Industry leading theatre makers such as Yami Löfvenberg, Helen Monks, James Peries, Hanna Adu-Boateng have filmed a series of videos on how to pen the next big political monologue.

Zeena Rasheed, Chair of the board of LUNG said: As a teacher, I believe education is crucially about finding learners' diverse, brilliant human voices as theatre makers and storytellers. Unmute enables learners to use their voices, angrily, lyrically, gently, crazily - whatever they like - with confidence.

Jenny Stephens, Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School said: “We are thrilled to be working with LUNG on this project that empowers young people and ensures that their voices are heard.”

George Spender, Publisher of Salamander Street said: It's very exciting to be a part of this with our old friends at LUNG and BOVTS. We're keen to discover some unique new voices and get them into print, to provide drama teachers with some new, relevant material.

For more information:

Helen Monks - Co-Artistic Director

LUNG

helen@lungtheatre.co.uk 07738170876