The Imison Award – awarding the best original script by a writer new to audio drama and the Tinniswood Award – awarding best original script of the year are both currently open for submissions. Forming part of the prestigious BBC Audio Awards, previous winners of the Imison Award include Fraser Ayres for Maynard (2020), Lulu Raczka’s A Lifetime(2019) and Adam Usden’s The Book of Yehudit(2018), and of the Tinniswood Award, Christopher Douglas for Tristram Shandy (2020), James Fritz’s Comment Is Free(2017) and Julian Simpson’s Fugue State (2016). Society of Authors continue on with their aim of supporting and celebrating audio drama writing talent. Ahead of the deadline which falls on Sunday 3rd October, Society of Authors tell us more about both awards.

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Formed with the hopes of creating a network of first generation migrant theatre makers based in the South East of England, Dr Mary Mazzilli, from the University of Essex’s Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies has joined forces with Professor Renee Luthra – Sociology, Senior Research Fellow Dr Alita Nandi at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, with the support of theatre advocacy group Migrants in Theatre present the Global Theatre Pioneers South East Project. This is a collaborate initiative funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through its Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), creating a crucial much needed platform for creatives. Starting with a survey, which is currently live to complete, Dr Mary tells us more about the pioneering and ambitious project.

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Officially established in November 2014 by co-founders Tessa Hart and Rebecca Pryle, The Bread and Roses Pub Theatre, based in Clapham, has continued to fulfil its commitment of supporting new writing and emerging theatre companies and artists. Having received a 2020 commendation for ‘Pub Theatre of the Year’ from the London Pub Theatre Awards and an award from The International Centre for Women Playwrights Award three years in a row (2015, 2016 and 2017), the venue has proven just how vital the work they do is. Currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Velenzia Spearpoint and due to stage the sixth edition of the Clapham Fringe Festival, taking place from the 22nd September until 10th October, the Bread and Roses Pub Theatre tell us more about what to expect from this year’s event!

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the dream(ing) field lab. Photo by Flannery Miller.

Over a month until the COP26 Climate Conference in Scotland, and the arts have continued to contribute their responses to the urgent call for climate action. Artsadmin’s What Shall We Build Here festival a continuation of this, taking place from the 8th to 12th September in East London. Presenting another garden (will be our city), dream(ing), co-created by Jennifer Farmer and Zoe Palmer, the installation re-visions the relationship between women and femmes of the African Diaspora and the land in the context of climate breakdown. Ahead of their installation on Sunday 12th September, dream(ing) field lab tell us more about what to expect!

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With an increased emphasis on the natural world around us, on a local as well as global level, we’re at a crucial point in time in terms of conversations had about climate change, questioning how best to look after our home. Observing the beauty of his hometown Kilnsea, situated in East Yorkshire, writer Tom Wells explores his locality and its vulnerabilities, recognising a need for better care. Directed by Tessa Walker, Big Big Sky is currently showing at the Hampstead Theatre. Tessa tells us more about the show’s collaborative process and what to expect!

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The Central Nervous System – consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is responsible for the complex functions and various systems that power the human body. The brain, an organ of soft nervous tissue contained within the skull of vertebrates, functioning as the co-ordinating centre of sensation, intellectual and nervous activity. Diagnosed with incurable cancer around the time she’d been cast for a show at the National Theatre, in the part of the brain responsible for speech, language and memory, writer and director Phoebe Frances Brown, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, explores her health journey so far – The Glad Game focused on Phoebe “finding herself in the hardest of times, finding gladness in the saddest moments and of continuing to do what she loves.” Due to show at the Nottingham Playhouse from late September, the MAC Birmingham in mid November and supported by charity Brain Tumour Research, Phoebe tells us more about her important show.

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Hero – (noun) a person who is admired for great brave acts or fine qualities. The ‘hero’ is an archetype often portrayed within our literature, from fairy tales, to fantasy novels, to comic books as being the idealised embodiment of perfection, the one that ends up defeating the bad guys and saving the day. I’m sure, however, within our daily lives, we all have our very own ideas as to what heroes look like to us, and what this concept means within the real world. Exploring this concept of the ‘hero’ within his show Catching Comets, writer and director Piers Black tells us more about revisiting the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe piece, working with the creative team to realise the production and what we can expect!

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With the build up to COP26 taking place from late October, various arts organisations have created works responding to the climate conference, opportunities to respond to the climate crisis creatively and working within communities to encourage conversation and explore possible solutions welcoming collaboration. Contributing to this crucial conversation with his newly created work Murmurations, playwright and Professor of Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia Steve Waters, in collaboration with Tangled Feet, National Trust’s Wicken Fen Nature Reserve and RSPB Strumpshaw Fen Reserve explores “what we need from nature and what nature needs from us in a world recovering from sickness.” Showing as part of Great Big Green Week, which falls from Saturday 18th until Sunday 26th September 2021, the show will take place at both reserves. Ahead of the site specific piece, Steve tells us more about the show.

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Magic – (Verb) To move, change, or create as if by magic. A phenomenon often attributed to mythological tales, magic is a key component of the fantasy world, a means to manipulate circumstances, matter and time. Expanding on this facet further in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new musical The Magician’s Elephant, Illusion Designer and Magic Consultant John Bulleid – whose credits include When Darkness Falls at The Park Theatre, The Ocean at the End of the Lane which he is the Illusion Associate of, playing at the West End as well as being the current Magic and Illusion Assistant of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tells us more about his creative process!

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How trauma presents itself differs from person to person, the impact of which affecting a person on a physical, emotional as well as spiritual level. Exploring this complex topic further within her latest work, theatre maker Heather Agyepong, alongside co-creators Gail Babb, Gillian Tan and Imogen Knight present The Body Remembers, a look at how trauma lives within the body, particularly within Black British women across different generations. Ahead of the show, starting off at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre from late October before embarking on a tour, Heather tells us more about what to expect.

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