Salford Star Awards 2018
Best Drama
Libby Hall for The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight
2018 was, once again, a great year for our venues and playwrights. The region's big-hitters all seemed to be busy doing what they do best. This resulted in a fiercely competitive Best Drama Award category. Last year's winner Joe O'Byrne was on top form, as ever. Stevie Helps and Tim Keogh also came back with exciting and visceral shows. We had a cinema release to rave about when Chris Green gave us the brilliant Strangeways Here We Come. The GM Fringe Festival provided an abundance of high quality, thought-provoking entertainment.
It wasn't going to be easy to take the award with such a wealth of talent on offer. The votes came in thick and fast...And we are delighted to announce that this year's winner is Libby Hall for The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight...
The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight is the debut play by the Salfordian writer who first started to write for the stage as part of Shelagh Delaney Day. After producing an impressive monologue, Libby was encouraged by Salford Arts Theatre to attempt a longer piece. The resulting script became The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight, and the play was performed in the summer as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival.
It jostled for position with the work of experienced writers from all over the UK, and given that Shelagh Delaney had provided the initial creative spark for Libby, comparisons were soon to be made between the two Salfordian playwrights. As a result, there was a lot of interest.
Thankfully, the play lived up to the very high expectations and also proved very popular with our readers. Brilliantly, the play managed to put plenty of backsides on seats and even went on to take a Fringe Festival Award. Director Roni Ellis was bursting with pride on the news that Libby had done it again..."I am absolutely thrilled Libby has won Salford Star Best Drama Award" she said "She worked extremely hard during the process which coincided with her GCSE's. I am so proud of her and all our young performers company who performed in the play. It has been a pleasure being part of this play..."
I asked an extremely pleased Libby a few questions about a very successful year...
How does it feel to win the Salford Star Best Drama Award?
Libby: I'm overwhelmed and smiling like a lunatic. I was humbled just to have a mention in the article. This means so much to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
What has been your highlight from 2018?
The GM Fringe Awards evening was a really special night for me and the cast of the play, but my number one highlight has to be our opening night at Salford Arts Theatre. The building was absolutely buzzing and the atmosphere was electric, you could really feel it. I had goosebumps all night. I'll never, ever, forget it.
Do you think you will continue to write scripts?
100% yes. I've cherished every bit of this experience; it's something I want to do forever.
Do you have plans for the play to return in 2019?
Hopefully yes. I'd love to perform it again and it's something we're trying to make happen, so fingers crossed.
The Things We Tell The Hours After Midnight is an original piece of theatre from a new, exciting and authentic writer. Given the wealth of talent that was on offer, it is an impressive accolade for a debut play. Be sure to look out for its return later in the year, and remember the name Libby Hall.
Words by Ian Leslie
For a full background see also previous articles on Libby Hall in the Salford Star click here and click here
See also fellow winners of Salford Star Awards for 2018...
Best Band/Act Dominic Carlton Jones click here
Best Performer Brian Gorman click here
Salford Star of the Year - Simon Williams - click here
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