Shortlist announced for Heretic Voices Monologue Competition

Heretic Productions today announces the shortlist for Heretic Voices, a new nationwide competition to find the best new writing in monologue form. In their first year they have received an unprecedented 1,136 applications. The 9 shortlisted pieces are Cameraman by Jon Barton, Dogwalker by Alison Carr, Woman Caught Unaware by Annie Fox, Dean Mcbride by Sonya Hale, A Hundred Words For Snow by Tatty Hennessy, Party Politics by Lorna Martin, Three Mothers In Search Of A Son by Henry Martin, Vacation by Dan Pick and Lost Crystals by Anni Swinburn.

The monologues will now be judged by a panel including Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington, award-winning playwright and actor Lolita Chakrabarti, BAFTA Award-winning actorMonica Dolan and literary agent Mel Kenyon. The four winners will be revealed on Monday November 27 and they will receive a full production in the main space at the Arcola Theatre from 9th-13th January 2018 with experienced actors and directors.

Applicants could enter any monologue between 15 and 45 minutes in length, written in English, and both experienced writers for the stage and new writers could apply. The shortlisted productions are diverse in subject and situation, from a Croydon council estate to the Arctic Circle and from a children’s birthday party to a refugee’s flight from their home country.

Artistic Director of Heretic Productions, Max Gill, said today “Narrowing a long list of brilliant work to just nine plays was a fantastic challenge and we are thrilled to announce our shortlist. The writers come from many different walks of life but they are united by an exceptional talent and I do not envy the panel in choosing the final plays for production. Whichever plays are eventually chosen, we know the work we present will be very special indeed. We can’t wait to share it.”

The shortlist in full is:

Cameraman
A journalist searches for the unknown male frozen in a photo that marks a terrible event. As his investigation proceeds, the life of the photo begins to overtake his own.

Dogwalker
A supply teacher’s world is upturned after she makes a grisly discovery while walking her dog.

Woman Caught Unaware
After a lifetime of studying women artists, a university professor is alarmed to find the world’s gaze directed at her.

Dean Mcbride
Dean is ten and is growing up on a bleak Croydon estate. When one day he finds a bird on his doorstep, he begins a journey on which he is forced to confront all that he has lost.

A Hundred Words For Snow
When Rory’s travel-hungry father dies suddenly in an accident, she knows he needs her help to make one last expedition. So Rory sets off on a mission to get Dad’s ashes to the North Pole – before Mum finds out they’ve gone.

Party Politics
A mother’s love knows no bounds. An over-invested mum will do anything to ensure her daughter gets an invitation to little Bo’s birthday party…

Three Mothers In Search Of A Son
Love, longing, and loss impel a mother as she attempts to find her son at three moments throughout her life.

Vacation
When Larner and Simon tell the kids they’re going on holiday, they can’t believe it. It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime.

Lost Crystals
A housing estate, Yorkshire. Marilyn is desperate for her runaway daughter to be found, while Bronwen and her son Jimmy speculate on who may know the whereabouts of the missing girl, Crystal.