We are delighted to announce the six writers who have been commissioned for the very first Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival, coming to the Fruit Market in July 2024.
Rosie Race, Hannah Scorer, Grace Waga Glevey, Marc Graham, Prince Kundai and Andrew Houghton were selected from 130 entrants, who responded to an open call for writers with “a meaningful connection to Hull”.
They will work with Middle Child to develop two drafts of their respective scripts, to be performed in rehearsed readings inside a marquee at Stage@TheDock, an open-air amphitheatre by the River Hull.
The Fresh Ink festival programme will also feature a series of workshops, talks and social events over the weekend of 20-21 July.
The full programme will be announced, with tickets going on-sale, in early June. Join our mailing list to be the first to hear about Fresh Ink.
Rosie Race
No Woman Is An Island
Hannah Scorer
Can We Be Friends?
Marc Graham
Isabelle
Grace Waga Glevey
Jack & Gill
Andrew Houghton
Phobia
Prince Kundai
Senzeni Na?
70-min commissions
A full-length script, for writers with at least one prior, professionally-produced play. Each writer will receive a fee of £4,582.
Rosie Race
No Woman Is An Island
No Woman Is An Island (working title) is a perversely funny, absurd and moving portrayal of a pregnant woman on the brink of insanity.
Driven to despair by the state of everything, she systematically dismantles the world around herself in search of a utopia where she and her baby can live in peace.
About Rosie
Originally from Hull, Rosie Race trained in choreography and visual performance at Dartington College of Arts, before graduating from RADA in 2018. She is a freelance actor and writer and a core member of Quirk Theatre in Devon. She works as a movement director and is associate artist at Theatre Royal Plymouth, where her first full length show Us Against The World opened in February 2024.
She is associate artist of Theatre Alibi and Documental Theatre and developed her second play Filthy Animal during her time on Soho Theatre Writers Lab, which was shortlisted for the Tony Craze award 2024. Rosie is an associate lecturer in Acting and Physical Performance at the University of Plymouth.
Hannah Scorer
Can We Be Friends?
Orla is six and wants to meet her dad. Her mum says he wasn’t ready to be a parent. But surely he could just be her friend?
Crushed by single parenting and endless bills, Orla’s mum Rex is sick of it being so hard to just exist. Can We Be Friends? follows them both as they discover that family doesn’t always look the way we’re told.
About Hannah
Hannah works in public health communications and has previously worked as a journalist. She started writing theatre late, after taking parting in the Middle Child Writers’ Group in 2019. Since then she has written for the 2020 Middle Child panto and Out Loud scratch night in 2023.
She lives in Hull with her partner, child and dog, Luna, a setter-cross they’ve just adopted from Greece. She enjoys being outside, walking, rock climbing, doing yoga and getting excited about new hobbies – currently trialling and loving aerial hoop.
30-min commissions
A full play or part of a bigger idea, for writers yet to be professionally produced. Each writer will receive a fee of £2,292.
Marc Graham
Isabelle
The festive season is in its death throes, but for the first time in ten years, everyone’s agreed to spend an evening with Mum. The table is laid and the Christmas decorations are wilting but when the children return to the place they called home, they bring back their past too…
A pressure cooker family drama exploring the intricacies of family life, Isabelle seeks to ask what world we’re leaving our children and whether it’s too late to do anything at all.
About Marc
Marc Graham is an actor who predominantly works in theatre. He has lived in Hull for 13 years, after graduating from the University of Hull and is a co-founder of Middle Child. Marc took part in the 2019 Middle Child Writers’ Group and this is his first commission as a writer.
Grace Waga Glevey
Jack & Gill
Two 80-somethings from different walks of life find themselves winding up in the same crumbling Yorkshire care home. Can they be friends?
Jack & Gill is a play about quiet changes, how different cultures treat ageing, and the traditions we risk losing with our elders.
About Grace
Grace is a theatre and television maker from Scunthorpe. She recently founded Hani Projects, a not-for-profit theatre and arts production company committed to developing and attracting new work in and to Humberside. Its first production, Delulu, a sketch show critiquing the portrayal of girls and girliness in ’00s pop culture, has received a residency with Sheffield Theatres.
She has trained with the Old Vic as a young theatre maker and in Sheffield Theatres’ New Dramaturgs Group. She has read for the Royal Court’s Living Archive, and the Bush Theatre. Her article, Mabuhay, on mixed race identity was published in FOYER magazine.
15-min commissions
A full piece, number of smaller extracts or part of a bigger story, for any writer. Each writer will receive a fee of £750.
Andrew Houghton
Phobia
Alex and Dad embark on their annual trip to Hull Fair, a beloved tradition despite the increasing distance between them. When a ride malfunction leaves the pair stranded high in the air, a very panicked Dad requires constant conversation to keep his nerves under control.
Phobia explores identity, family and the gentleness and humour in conversations you’re forced to have when you’re 100ft off the ground.
About Andrew
Andrew was born and raised in Hull and loved being part of the city’s arts scene before heading off to university. Since studying at Guildford School of Acting, they have been creating LGBTQ+ focused work with the company they co-founded, Pink Milk Theatre.
The past couple of years have seen Andrew tour their solo show Naughty, about the importance of safe role models for queer youth. They usually write from experience, with the intent to perform their own work, and Fresh Ink marks their first time stepping away from this, with a completely fictional duologue.
Prince Kundai
Senzeni Na?
How do you raise a child when the community that she’s growing up in would sooner see her die than succeed? How do you become the woman you wish to be if your family are the ones that are holding you back?
Senzeni Na? is an African coming-of-age story that follows a young girl and the dynamics between her and her small family, and the world around them.
About Prince
Born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe, Prince was raised in Hull and is an actor and graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He is currently understudying for the West End production of Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris.
Prince made his acting debut playing Sutter in the critically-acclaimed production of Bootycandy at the Gate Theatre in London, then went on to play Chuck in Paper Cut at the Park Theatre. Prince has also worked with The Globe, Yard Theatre and Telluric on creative projects. Fresh Ink marks Prince Kundai’s first venture in writing.
Photos by Sergej Komkov
How were these writers chosen?
An open call was run between November 2023 and January 2024, for writers with a meaningful connection to Hull to apply for one of the six commissions.
We asked for an outline of each writer’s idea and a 10-page example of their work, before Middle Child literary manager, Matthew May, created a shortlist.
The final six writers were then selected by an independent steering group. Read more about the process in a blog post by literary manager, Matthew May.
