This Summer, during Lockdown, Platform Presents decided to spotlight the finalists of their 2020 Platform Presents Playwright’s Prize by teaming up with a range of talented actors and asking them to perform excerpts of the plays during the industry-wide quiet COVID-19 period. Five playwrights agreed.
“I am very moved and excited by Gala and Isabella’s enthusiasm. That thing that fills them and fires them and without that sort of energy and spirit, what’s the point? We all succumb to entropy and so having those people who are continuing to champion the newness of art, the newness of performance are there to be valued” Tamsin Greig
Platform Presents was founded in 2017 by actress Gala Gordon and producer Isabella Macpherson. They produce theatre and film that give rising star actors, writers and directors the opportunity to meet, perform, learn and network with each other and with established talent, showcasing exceptional writing. To raise the £5,000 prize money for their annual Playwright’s Prize, Platform Presents founded an annual Poetry Gala, to celebrate and highlight great writing, through the inspiring medium of poetry, brought to life by stars of the stage and screen.
For the 2020 Prize, over 200 plays were submitted from writers based from London to New York, LA to Melbourne. These were shortlisted to 9 finalists by the Platform Presents co-founders and script readers. The prize includes ongoing mentoring as well as the £5,000 cash prize.
Take a look at some extracts performed by some familiar faces:
‘Burn’ by Chris Thompson, stars George MacKay (lead role Lance Corporal Schofield in Sam Mendes’s award-winning ‘1917’). Captions available.
‘Burning Falling Rising Monster’ by Kate Vozella, stars Kyle Soller (Olivier Award and Critics Circle Award Best Actor as Eric Glass in ‘The Inheritance’ in the West End and on Broadway) and Phoebe Fox (Olivier Award Best Supporting Actress nominee as Catherine in ‘A View from the Bridge’ in the West End and on Broadway). Captions available.
‘Is Edward Snowden Single?’ by Kate Cortesi, stars Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray in ‘Glee’). Captions available.
‘Stripped’ by Hew Rous-Eyre, stars Pippa Bennett-Warner (Shannon in ‘Gangs of London’) and Aki Omoshaybi (the lead role in film ‘Burning Men’, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’). Captions available.
‘My Dad’s a C**t’ by Anoushka Warden, stars Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee Gibbs, a central character, in two seasons of the Netflix comedy series ‘Sex Education’). Captions available.
There are four more plays in consideration:
‘Private’ by Mona Pirnot
‘F**kboys’ by Katie Burnett
‘Everything Beautiful Happens At Night’ by Ted Malawer
‘Bird in a Ribcage’ by Lizzie Stern
The judges for the 2020 Prize are: Amy Gardner (Producer), Charlie Wood (Producer, Underbelly), David Eldridge (Playwright & Screenwriter), Dianna Agron (Actor & Producer), Francesca Gardiner (Producer & Screenwriter), Gala Gordon (Co-Founder, Platform Presents), Isabella Macpherson (Co-Founder, Platform Presents), Iwan Rheon (Actor), Ness Evans (Agent), Nicholas Pinnock (Actor & Poet), Rachel De-Lahay (Playwright & Screenwriter), Sam Yates (Director) and Tuppence Middleton (Actor & Writer).
The winner of The 2020 Platform Presents Playwright’s Prize will be announced on Saturday 15 August at 6pm on www.platformpresents.com and @platformpresents Instagram.