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2008: A Summer of Festivals.

Always pleased to support theatre outside of London, and fancying something a little different, 2008 sees Judy showcasing some shorter length new plays at three different arts festivals.

Steyning.

The Place.
Steyning is a historic market town in West Sussex. It is situated within the South Downs, and to the west of Brighton. It has a quiet rural setting, and the town centre is largely unspoilt, featuring many historic timber framed buildings of architectural interest.

The Festival.
The Steyning Festival is two weeks of music, visual arts, theatre and literature, as well as workshops, a series of fine walks around the town and local countryside, plus other special events. The 2008 festival took place between May 24th and June 8th.
Judy's play was part of the successful "theatre trails" run by The Company, a Sussex based theatre company founded in 2008 with the aim of taking quality theatre to rural areas. Each trail features two or three plays performed at different venues over the course of a day. Judy's work was the lunchtime play on Theatre Trail 2, which took place on Sunday 8th June 2008. Convienently set in a cafe, "Mary Leonti" was performed at the delightful Michael's Country Kitchen, in Cobblestone Walk.

Mary Leonti

The Play.
Mary Leonti.
Plot Synopsis: Mary Leonti is having an identity crisis. Buying someone else's name has unexpected consequences.

Original Production Details
Date: June 2008
Venue: Michael's Country Kitchen
Director: Stephen Israel

Arundel.

The Place.
Arundel is a picturesque West Sussex market town situated below Arundel castle (seat of the Duke of Norfolk). "Undone" was performed at The Swan Hotel, on Arundel High Street.

The Festival.
Running as part of the larger Arundel Festival, the Arundel Festival Theatre Trail presents eight short plays performed in different locations around the town. The 2008 festival ran from Saturday August 23rd until Saturday 30th August. Each play ran in the same time slot each day, so the audience could watch all the plays in a single day or space them out throughout the week.

Undone.

The Play.
Undone.
Plot Synopsis: A button phobic seeks professional help - with unexpected results.

Original Production Details
Date: August 2008
Venue: The Swan Hotel, Arundel
Director: Kirrie Wratten

There was a rehearsed reading of this play at Shoreham-by-Sea Community Centre as part of Shoreham Wordfest on Friday September 30th 2011.

Cambridge.

The Place.
The city of Cambridge is most famous for its university, with most of it's best known features and buildings associated with the historic colleges.

The Festival.
Hotbed is a vibrant and innovative theatre festival with one simple aim: to celebrate the energy and excitement that comes from commissioning, producing and witnessing new plays. The 2008 festival was the fourth Hotbed, and was presented by Menagerie Theatre and The Junction. It ran from 3rd-12th July 2008.

Push the Button.

The Play.
Push the Button.
The writer says (Plot Synopsis): In a recent "shoot-em-up" computer game, characters sing snatches of a song, look outwards from the screen and make other very human gestures. I don't want to shoot these people, I want to meet them and discover their stories. But of course these games only replicate violence, something that seems pointless to many of us, often including those engaged in the fighting. But this isn't a play about violence, real or virtual - there's more to life than that!

Original Production Details
Date: July 2008
Venue: The Junction, Clifton Way, Cambridge.
Director: Holly Race

This short play was also in Steyning Festival Theatre Trail 2, Sunday June 7th 2009.

Presented by The Company
Director - Matt Devitt

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