It was exciting to make the Voices from Home shortlist for the annual Brighton Fringe Festival this June. Multi-award-winning Broken Silence Theatre describe their showcase as “a celebration of unheard voices, and of the South East itself”.

So, why was I in the line-up? Well, although now based in the West Midlands, my roots are very much in the South East. In fact, I grew up in Essex, by the coast.

Broken Silence Theatre aim to enable new and emerging talent to work side by side to create an extraordinary new writing event. Because of the restrictions around Covid, this year the company chose to present a curation of short audio plays instead of ‘live theatre’. This gave me the opportunity to adapt one of my true-life stories into a monologue for the festival.

“The ethos is simple: to champion regional writers at the peak of their powers, in a compelling radio play format.”

Although I made the shortlist, I did not make the final selection! But it’s great to know that I only “just missed out”. And to read that my writing was “highly praised by the company’s script readers for its originality and overall quality”.

A big Congratulations to Madeleine Accalia, Georgie Bailey, Lucy Dobree, Grace Merry and Sarah Milton for making the final selection.

The festival runs from 6 June – 27 June 2021.

Voices From Home | Brighton Fringe