With theatrical entertainment still on hold, Manchester-based theatre company JustOut Theatre has hit upon a great idea. It has launched JustOut Stays In, a weekly series of radio plays producing the work of Northern-based creatives. Those in need of original entertainment from our region's finest playwrights can experience the brilliant, new dramas from home.
The plays are unique, stand-alone pieces that range from topics such as the confessions of a Ted Bundy super-fan, to a dystopian world within a television sitcom. And the wonderfully titled Total Slag by Sophie Mitchell celebrates the empowering nature of 'slagdom'. Each play aims to provide writers from the North the chance to continue to tell their stories despite theatres currently being closed.
JustOut Theatre was founded in early 2019 by University of York graduates Gabriel - Gabe - Stewart, Keira MacAlister and Ben Wilson. The company has a particular focus on promoting new Northern writing. Gabe explains the selection process: "The first thing we do is make sure that all our writers are either from the North or based in the North as we are a company focused on improving representation for new writing up North.
"Then, we make sure that all three of us have read all of the submitted scripts by the end of each month" he adds "This can sometimes take a while as we have had far more submissions than expected, although we can't exactly complain about that... We narrow it down to our favourites, which we base off of the quality of the writing and the suitability for a radio play format..."
The pedigree of the writers is excellent with experienced dramatists and highly-regarded newcomers debuting work. Accident of Birth was written by Trevor Suthers, a Manchester-based playwright who has previously written for both Coronation Street and Eastenders.
Our other writers include Issy Flowers, a young writer who is just starting out and is currently based in Durham, Lee Thompson, from Liverpool, a graduate of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse writer's programme, and Jilly Sumsion, as Creative Learning Practitioner from Lancaster. In the past, the theatre group has also produced plays by Salford based playwrights.
Last summer, JustOut produced and toured two original plays, Home and White Nurse, across various UK fringes to glowing reviews. In March it launched a monthly Scratch Night based in Manchester to produce and develop new pieces of writing.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, JustOut Stays In aims to continue its excellent work promoting new talent from this region of the country. So what advice does Just Out's Gabe have for our aspiring, Salfordian script writers?
"Read and listen to as many plays as possible" he says "Experiment with new ideas, don't be afraid and keep writing..."
Meanwhile, enjoy our very best writing talent and get inspired...
The radio plays from JustOut Stays In can be heard on Soundcloud: JustOut Theatre – click here or on YouTube: JustOut Theatre – click here
The plays range from five to thirty minutes, and if anyone wants to submit a play up to 15 minutes in length contact Justouttheatre@gmail.com
Words by Ian Leslie
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