In 2017 I wrote a play called House Proud about the clusterfuck that was Remain and Leave Brexit campaigns. I first submitted it to the Isle of Man Theatre Festival and received a runner-up prize for best entry. I tweaked the script and worked with North London theatre group SMP to get it on at the Welwyn Drama Festival in 2018 where it was nominated for best new play and won best lead actor. From that I was able to submit it to the NDFA New Playwriting Award which I had previously won with Thank You For Protesting in 2015. The award is now called the The Derek Jacobi Playwriting Award (previously the George Taylor Memorial Playwriting Award).
I didn't win it this year for House Proud but came fourth, which I'm still chuffed with as it's a nationwide competition. Here was their feedback:
House Proud (3m 3f)
Initially this appears to be a simple domestic comedy drama but very soon the underlying themes begin to emerge and we enter the realms of a state-of-the-nation commentary. Among other matters the playwright cleverly makes comment on the Brexit situation, immigration issues, the passing of the Old British Empire and people's fear of the future. The characters have more than a passing reference to some well-known politicians. Their manipulative chess game is played out in "a house in modern Britain" where they all worry about their uncertain tenure. They have no great depths and tend to be caricatures but the dialogue is bright and certainly holds our interest as we begin to make connections between this volatile domestic atmosphere and recent nation/Europe wide shenanigans. On the surface it seems a simple folk-tale but under the surface veneer the playwright is making some astringent points. In the final few pages the play moves into a different gear taking us on a brief metaphorical journey into the fearful unknown - which brings us back sharply to the current state of the nation.
The playwright has found a personal style and there is much to admire in the originality of the writing.
