Titchfield Festival Theatre spreads new talent by Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth is a new short play season providing an opportunity for new and emerging writers to showcase their work on the stage
By Chris Broom
Published 15th Mar 2019, 15:15 BST
Updated 15th Mar 2019, 16:21 BST
Fran Nicholson and Lauren Monkton in Word of Mouth at Titchfield Festival TheatreFran Nicholson and Lauren Monkton in Word of Mouth at Titchfield Festival Theatre
Fran Nicholson and Lauren Monkton in Word of Mouth at Titchfield Festival Theatre

Each night, 11 short plays will be performed, some of which have been specially written for this production. Each play has its own director and will have a simple set – two or three chairs and a table.

The event is dedicated to the memory of Paul King, a good friend of TFT as well as a staunch supporter of new plays, and a respected writer. Paul was instrumental in setting up the theatre’s Playwrights Group which meets fortnightly – a mixture of experienced and less-experienced writers, with the objective of helping to support and nurture new talent.

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Each play lasts for between 10–20 minutes, with six performed in the first act and the remaining five following after the interval. The plays cover a wide range of themes, including revenge, relationships and alcohol addiction. Some are darkly comic pieces, others more serious and perhaps even bizarre…

Johnny O’Hanlon, co-ordinator along with Janette Evans of the inaugural Word of Mouth production, says: ‘I am delighted to have the opportunity to direct these plays, particularly as my good friend Paul King was such an inspiration to emerging and younger playwrights locally.

‘It has been fascinating to see how each of the plays has evolved over the past year and is testament to the amazing talent we have at Titchfield Festival Theatre.’

Johnny adds: ‘I love the fact that the writers have created characters that are multi-layered, offering insight and a sense of perspective. Word of Mouth will undoubtedly challenge the audience as the plays move from style to style and it focuses their attention for that brief moment on a different world.’

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In addition to the new adult theatre production, Titchfield’s award-winning Youth Theatre is performing its own series of plays on Saturday, March 23: Is it me? 

All of the actors are aged between eight and 16. There will be 12 plays, each one based on improvisations performed by the youngsters and some written by Johnny O’Hanlon. There will be a mix of styles, including slapstick, serious, spooky and surreal.

WORD OF MOUTH

Titchfield Festival Theatre

March 25-30

titchfieldfestivaltheatre.com