6 New Writers, 6 Rehearsed Readings, 6 Months
Accidental's first rehearsed reading series produced 6 rehearsed readings by 6 new writers over 6 months. Hosted at Blick Shared Studios these new plays introduced new voices and new faces. As part of our early work with new writers Accidental started VI, as a way of giving voice to a new writers’ imaginations and ideas. Staring emerging and established actors these readings were a unique opportunity for emerging writers and performers to be seen and heard.
VI was Accidental's first rehearsed readings series, started in 2010 and the following year the series was developed further, renaming it to The Biscuit Tin Readings and moving to the fantastic Ulster Hall Group Space.
The Writers' Room
by Michael Shannon
Thursday 8th April // 7pm
Blick Shared Studios, Belfast
Once a week, four writers meet up and discuss each others work. They rip scripts apart, scene by scene ... kill off characters for the sake of cheap drama ... wipe out worlds. And then they get started on each other. Today the script they find waiting for them is called The Writers' Room ... it has four characters, all writers ... a dead body ... and not many pages left ... How does it end?
Directed by Richard Lavery
Cast: Aisling Groves-McKeown, Katy Campalani, Cormac Brown and David Monahan
Leopoldville
by Jaki McCarrick
Thursday 13th May // 7pm
Set in 1990, at the tail-end of the last recession in Ireland, Leopoldville is a play about a gang of young men who rob a pub in a border town. Damaged lives are revealed and friendships profoundly tested as their crime spirals horrifically out of control.
Directed by Richard Lavery
Cast: Shaun Blaney, James McAnespy, Ryan Crown,Cormac Brown, Fra Gun and David Bell
Ravine
by Margaret Irish
Thursday 10th June // 7pm
Ravine tells the story of two people trapped in a ravine whilst on an adventure holiday. When they can't get out they are forced to face each other and themselves. Irish weaves a gripping psychological tale that questions who we are in a crisis and what are we prepared to do to survive.
Directed by Gayle Dennison
Cast: Helen Ashton, Cormac Brown and Fra Gunn
Some Kind of Stranger
by William Patterson
Thursday 8th July // 7pm
Set in 1987 Belfast, Some Kind of Stranger is about two groups of students, from Belfast and Bangor who find their upbringings clash with each other set against the backdrop of studying at Queen's in a 1980s Belfast. This is William's first drama and he doesn't shy away from difficult and controversial subjects but engages with them in this intelligent and entertaining drama.
Directed by Richard Lavery
Cast: Helen Ashton, Dan Leith, Cormac Brown, Chloe Fox, Christine Claire and James McAnespy
School of Thought
by Neil A. Edwards
Thursday 12th August // 7pm
School of Thought is a bittersweet comedy about four teachers trying to battle their way through a typical day in an ordinary comprehensive school. For the pupils, the lessons come from the pages of textbooks; but for the teachers, the lessons are a bit trickier.
Directed by Richard Lavery
Cast: Genevieve Swift, Phil Barnhill, Olivia O'Kane and Fra Gunn
The Kitchen, the Bedroom and the Grave
by Donal O'Hagan
Thursday 9th September // 7pm
Up-and-coming journalist Dempsey is a NIPPLE (Northern Irish Professional Person Living in England) with a lot on his mind. He's been sent home to Belfast to make a documentary on the changing face of good ol' Norn Iron, before he can escape back to his adopted London.
At home he must face his father (obsessed with Marxism and eco coffins), his mother (convinced his father has Alzheimer's), and his school buddy Mark, who thinks it's time Dempsey told his family the truth about himself.
Directed by Emily DeDakis
Cast: Fra Gunn, Olivia O'Kane, Kim Moylan and David Bell