Since the shortlist has been announced, I think this means I'm allowed to announce this.

I made it to the longlist of the North East Playwriting Award with #IStandWithVincent. This was quite a nice surprise, as the entry deadline was last August and I'd half-forgotten I'd entered this.

This is, to some extent, an extended version of Ask Me Anything, which I wrote for Elysium Theatre back in 2022. Previously, the charismatic Vincent Arthur only existed as someone Lucy only talked about - however, I wanted to bring this character to life. Someone who has be revered so often as a hero who can do no wrong he believes it himself. I do actually have some plans for this that are running independently of the competition, so this might not be the last we'll hear of this.

Anyway, congratulations to Sam Honour and Miles Kinsley who were shortlisted - I saw plays of theirs at Laurels last year which I really liked. Also congratulations to Connor Dorian who was shortlisted for the under-25 award; he's part of Brainsoup Collective who show bag of promise with clowning and physical theatre. I'll be joining you on Thursday to see who's won this, then it's probably back to It's Not Cluedo. Got some good news about that, but this can wait for another update.