Tucked away in an upstairs room once a week during term time, aspiring writers gather at the Bristol Old Vic. They gather to read and discuss each other's work, and 'they' are the members of Southwest Scriptwriters.

Formed nine years ago, members of the group have included Mike Bullen ('Cold Feet'), Catherine Johnson('Mamma Mia'), and have won awards such as the Peggy Ramsay Award, the PAWS Award and the Radio Times Award. Current members write for BBC1's 'Doctors', ITV's 'The Bill' and BBC Radio's 'Station Road'. Guest speakers - recently Tony McHale ('Eastenders'), Caroline Harrington ('Archers'), Mike Jenner ('Holby City') - are invited regularly to share their knowledge of the industry.

A very important event for the group is the acclaimed SW Scriptwriter's annual new writing competition, and this week  the winning entries are making their first appearance at the Tobacco Factory in a series of rehearsed readings. This year's showcase offers ten new stage and radio plays including Heather Lister's 'Matthew's Splinter' and 'Interviewing Alice' (Monday 14th July), Shiona Morton's 'Falling Through' (Wednesday 16th July) and the overall winner Brian Weaving's 'The Trials of Thomas Weaving' (Saturday 19th July).

Shiona Morton's 'Falling Through' and Eilleen O'Haire's 'The Breakaway Blues', both of which were premiered at the Tobacco Factory last night, were fine examples of the talent on our own Bristol doorsteps. 'Falling Through' is a touching radio drama which tells the story of recently widowed Robert, who comes to Clevedon with his daughter to look at retirement flats. He recollects stories from his past, entangled with memories which will not leave him alone. We see Robert with his daughter, Carol, and flashback to a young Robert with friends Chris and Jimmy, and locals Frank and Irene.

The focus on relationships is strong, Frank wanting control over wife Irene, Irene wanting control over the thirteen year old boys and the parent/child roles of Robert and Carol being reversed as she tries to gain control over her father.

The piece is flawlessly written and beautifully sentimental, the use flashbacks was most effective, as was the music and sound effects and the piece had a lovely pace. The repetition of the first scene at the end with a different generation was unexpected and poignant. Notable performances were given by Simon Spencer-Hyde (Frank), Patch Waddington (Chris) and Brady George (Jimmy). The other casting and the direction wasn't quite as suitable or satisfying, the opportunities that the director and cast were given with such a well-written script weren't really explored. However, there is obviously a hidden talent in Shiona Morton, I look forward with anticipation to seeing her next piece - with her writing style and skill her plays certainly won't be 'falling through'.

The second play of the evening was Eileen O'Haire's 'The Breakaway Blues', which tells the story of Babs, a widow in her sixties who meets with an old aqquaintance, Renie, and is ignited by her new lease for life. Well-written and well- performed, the characters were believable and nicely acted. Paticularly good was Veda Warwick's Babs, a beautifully sincere portrayal which highlighted the humour in the writing but also brought out the serious undertones. Nik Howden also had a lovely subtle approach, he had clearly paid attention to the detail of his character, resulting in another very realistic performance. This piece also explored the differences in people of difeerent generation and role reversal, as Babs re-evaluates her life and starts living for the moment. Another impressive new play, watch out for more work from Eileen O'Haire, or make your way down to the Tobacco Factory this week to witness some of the best new writing you could see and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.      

The Tick List

Falling Through by Shiona Morton:

Story 

Writing/Language


Cast 

Direction
 

Overall

The Breakaway Blues by Eileen O'Haire:

Story

Writing/Language

Cast

Direction

Overall

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