The Ninth Annual Elmbridge Literary Competition 2013 A Fortnight In September

1. The Ninth Annual Elmbridge Literary Competition 2013 A Fortnight In September A Radio Playwriting Competition inspired by the writings of RC Sherriff • Terms and Conditions of Entry • Age Categories • Ages 5 – 7: Little Rhymes and Stories • Ages 8 - 10/11 (Primary School): Radio Play • Ages 11 – 13 (Secondary School):Radio Play • Ages 14 – 18: Radio Play • 19 plus: Radio Play • Little Rhymes and Stories for the 5-7 years group should be no longer than 20lines, and can be hand written (but must be legible). • Short Radio Plays must be in English, previously unpublished/unperformed and a maximum length of 10 Minutes (approx. 10 A4 pages) and have a maximum of 4 characters • Each short radio play should be typed double-spaced on single sides of A4paper. • A maximum of one play per person can be entered. • The title of the radio play, word count, author’s full name, age (if under 18), postal address with postcode, daytime telephone number and email address to be provided on accompanying sheet of paper. • This information will be shared between the RC Sherriff Trust and Elmbridge Borough Council. • All entries must be accompanied by a completed cover sheet whether on line or in hard copy. • Email entries to: arts@rcsherrifftrust.org.uk • For posted or hand-delivered submissions, four copies please. • Entries cannot be returned. The Judging panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. • The closing date for entries is Monday 28th October 2013 (5pm). • Postal entries to the RC Sherriff Trust, Case House, 85-89 High Street, Walton on Thames, Surrey. KT12 1DZ • Please mark your envelope or email title ‘A Fortnight in September’ • The winning and shortlisted plays will be showcased online on the R C Sherriff and Elmbridge Borough Council’s websites and will be given public readings at the Vera Fletcher Hall, Thames Ditton on 23rd and 24th November 2013. • Competition entries will be judged by a panel of professional writers and directors, the Director of the RC Sherriff Trust and the Arts Development Officer at Elmbridge Borough Council. • The closing date for entries is Monday 28th October 2013 (5pm). • For further details and information about conditions of entry contact: • Loretta Howells, Director, The RC Sherriff Trust on 01932 229996, • Email arts@rcsherrifftrust.org.uk or visit www.rcsherrifftrust.org.uk • Or call Pete Allen, Arts Development Officer at Elmbridge Borough Council on 01372 474584 or Email leisure@elmbridge.gov.uk or visit www.elmbridge.gov.uk/culture

2. Dates: SATURDAY 27th & SUNDAY 28th JULY 2013 Time: 10.00am – 4.30pm (registration from 9.45am) Venue: Cecil Hepworth Playhouse, Hurst Grove, off Hepworth Way, Walton, KT12 1AU Tutor: Michael Bartlett Price: £10 per day or £15 for both days, if booked at the same time To book a place call: 01932 229996 (R C Sherriff Trust office) THE ART OF WRITING RADIO PLAYS #2 A TWO-DAY WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE This is a two-day workshop for young people who are interested in entering this year’s Elmbridge Literary Competition. The workshop will explore some of the techniques needed for writing a radio play such as plot, character, sound effects and dialogue and see how they can be used to create pictures in the mind. Using well known source material from Philip Pullman to JRR Tolkien, this workshop will explore those skills needed to adapt material or create original plays for radio. Participants will write a short play which will be rehearsed and recorded on the second day. Dates: Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st August 2013 Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm (registration from 10.00am) Venue: Cecil Hepworth Playhouse, Hurst Grove, off Hepworth Way, Walton, KT12 1AU Tutors: Pete Allen & Jo Humphries Price: £10 (NB Participants will be expected to attend both days) To book a place call: 01932 229996 (R C Sherriff Trust office) Following the success of the 2012 ‘A Dickens of a Christmas’ Literary Competition, Elmbridge Borough Council and The R C Sherriff Trust are once again the organisers of this popular event. ‘A Fortnight in September’ Taking as its inspiration one of Elmbridge’s most famous residents, RC Sherriff, this year’s literary competition is a little different. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The RC Sherriff Trust we are looking for short one-act radio plays that tell the story of “a fortnight in September.” Taking the title of Sherriff’s 1931 novel as a starting point, it is an opportunity to create an original piece of radio drama that has Sherriff as its basis, whether it is a play about ‘the drama of the undramatic’, or whether it takes some of the more world-shattering events that Sherriff experienced and wrote about, as its source. NB For our youngest entrants, we are happy to receive short rhymes or stories on the same theme. Age categories: Ages 5-7 Little Rhymes and Stories Ages 8-10/11 (Junior School) Radio Play Ages 11–13 (Secondary School) Radio Play Ages 14-18 Radio Play Ages 19 plus Radio Play As part of this year’s Competition, to assist potential entrants, we are offering a series of workshops with writers and directors on playwriting, focusing both on adaptation and on original work. THE ART OF WRITING RADIO PLAYS #1 TWO ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS PAINTING PICTURES IN THE MIND: Saturday 27th July A workshop on writing plays for radio This workshop will explore the basic techniques of writing a radio play, how the usual dramatic requirements of structure, plot, character and development can be presented through sound alone. Using examples from broadcast plays and a series of practical exercises, it will examine what makes a good play for sound (as opposed to a dramatised stage play or novel) and how the 4 tools of the radio writer – Dialogue, Music, Sound Effects and Silence – can be used to create pictures in the mind. THE ART OF ADAPTATION: Sunday 28th July A workshop on adapting a piece of writing from one medium to another Before a writer adapts a piece of work they need to have the basic skills for good creative writing – structure, dialogue, development of character. Then, using those skills, they need to extract the sense, the mood and the intent of the original so they can re-construct the story in a form that is suitable for the new medium. This workshop will explore those skills focusing mainly – but not exclusively – on adapting material for radio. There will be practical exercises and discussion. WHO SHOULD ATTEND Both these workshops are aimed at people who may have some writing experience but who wish to extend that to a different medium. If you are considering attending both workshops, be warned that there is a lot of common ground between them so expect some repetition.