Besterman, Shaw, Gemmel et al. Set for Papatango New Writing Festival

Papatango have teamed up with one of London's leading new writing venues, the Finborough Theatre to present the winning entries in the 2011 Papatango Playwriting Competition 2011, featuring this year's winning play Foxfinder by Dawn King which will play for a four week limited season from 29 November (Press Night: Thursday, 1 December 2011 at 8.30pm) and three runners up who will each receive a one week run – Through The Night by Matt Morrison (Press Night: Wednesday, 7 December 2011 at 6.30pm), Rigor Mortis by Carol Vine (Press Night:Wednesday, 14 December 2011 at 6.30pm) and Crush by Rob Young (Press Night: Tuesday, 20 December 2011 at 6.30pm).

Papatango was founded by Matt Roberts, George Turvey and Sam Donovan in 2007. The company's mission is to find the best and brightest new talent in the UK with an absolute commitment to bring their work to the stage. Since then, Papatango have produced eight pieces of new writing in such venues as the Tristan Bates Theatre, the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Pleasance London. 2009 saw the launch of their first Papatango New Writing Competition, which each year has gone from strength to strength.

Winners of previous competitions have won much acclaim from the press and profession including – for Angel by Matt Grinter at the Pleasance London – "Riveting performances….powerfully directed"  (Jeremy Kingston, The Times critic), and "A great piece of theatre" (Steven Berkoff) and, for Potentials by Dominic Mitchell at the Tristan Bates Theatre, which was awarded four stars byWhatsOnStage,  "Potentials was beautifully observed, conceived and the performances strong, witty and true. It was also British and modern – things I am passionate about" (Emma Rice, Kneehigh).

Now in its new home - the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre - this year's competition received over 600 entries from all over the UK. This year's judges included Con O'Neill (Actor), Catherine Johnson (Playwright), Matt Charman (Playwright), Colin Barr (BBC Director and Producer), Tamara Harvey (Director), Ruth Carney (Director),  Neil McPherson (Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre),Van Badham (Literary Manager of the Finborough Theatre) and Tanya Tillett (Literary Agent, The Rod Hall Agency).

Tuesday, 29 November – Friday 23 December 2011

Foxfinder by Dawn King
Directed by Blanche McIntyre
Cast: Kirsty Besterman. Tom Byam Shaw. Becci Gemmell. Gyuri Sarossy.
Directed by Blanche McIntyre. Designed by James Perkins. Lighting by Gary Bowman. Sound by George Dennis.

"You, Foxfinder, must be clean in body and mind. Always remember that the smallest fault in your character could become a crack into which the beast may insinuate himself, like water awaiting the freeze that will smash the stone apart."

William Bloor, a Foxfinder, arrives at Sam and Judith Covey's farm to investigate a suspected contamination. What follows will change the course of all their lives, forever. Foxfinder is a gripping, unsettling and darkly comic exploration of belief, desire and responsibility.

Playwright Dawn King was one of ten writers from across the UK chosen for the BBC Writersroom 10 scheme, a prestigious mentoring and support programme. Through this she is developing a new play with West Yorkshire Playhouse. She is also currently writing My One and Only, an afternoon play for BBC radio 4. Her episode of horror series The Man in Black will broadcast on BBC radio 4 Extra later this year. Previous radio work includes afternoon play 28 and episodes for the first and second series of science fiction drama Planet B for BBC radio 7. She was made co-series leader for the third series. Her recent theatre work includes Water Sculptures/Zoo double bill (Union Theatre), Face Value  (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), The Bitches' Ball  (Hoxton Hall), National Tour and Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh) and Doghead Boy and Sharkmouth Go To Ikea (The Junction, Cambridge).  Previous work has received performances, workshops and readings at; Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Theatre503, Arcola, Old Red Lion, Etcetera Theatre, The Latitude Festival, Resonance FM and The Union Theatre. Dawn was a member of both the Soho Theatre and Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Programmes and holds an MA distinction in Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University, London. www.dawn-king.com

More Articles by This Author...