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Essex Theatre Festival 2015

The Dixon Studio, Westcliff on Sea

6th February 2015
Kim Tobin with winner Michael Sharp
Robb Stow, Amanda Whiteford and John Hill
Michael Sharp and Amanda Whiteford
Winners, actors, directors and writers of the Essex Writing Festival
Winner, Michael Sharp
Michael Sharp all smiles after being announced the winner
Last night brought us to the conclusion of this popular playwriting festival and MyTownSouthend were there to find out who was going to win the £250 prize.

The Essex Theatre Festival has proven to be highly successful this year and this was borne out by the amount of people in the audience last night, all of whom had come to watch the last five of the ten competing plays.  In fact the intimate Dixon Studio had to be furnished with extra seating, such was the demand.

With the huge amount of talent from the entrants this year, the judges decided to give two separate prizes under the Best Comedy category and these were awarded to Robb Stow for his play, a hilarious take on newly married life, called The Mistakes Men Make and to John Hill whose play Welcome to the Harmony Centre, gave us a humorous insight into a hopeless case of marriage guidance.

However, there could only be one winner of this prestigious competition and the judges decided unanimously that this year the winner was Michael Sharp with his witty yet thought provoking play, A Void in Time.  I caught up with the quietly spoken 65 year old, shortly after he had been awarded his prize and asked him how it felt to watch his words come to life. “I did feel a little nervous watching,” he told me, “but as I hadn’t actually looked at the play for some time, it wasn’t too bad as I couldn’t remember exactly what was coming next,” he smiles.  “Also, the director takes it away and puts their own interpretation on it, which is nice.”  The director in question is professional voice coach, Valery Taylor, who says she was “absolutely thrilled” that Michael’s play was the overall winner.  

This is the second time Michael has submitted a play to the Festival, his first one being unsuccessful in 2013.  “A Void in Time,” Michael tells me, “was just collecting dust and so I thought I’d dig it out and give it a go!”  “It took me around six months to write.”  Michael who lives in Leigh on Sea, is no stranger to playwriting, he has over 40 years of experience with his first play written in 1973 and has written over 40 plays professionally with his work being seen on the London Fringe, the Edinburgh Festival and in Paris.  He also has a number of radio plays to his credit, both for the BBC and overseas. 

Amanda Whiteford, co-organiser of the Festival, tells me with a huge smile on her face, “It’s been a fantastic week and we’ve had some great plays.  In the five years of doing the Festival, I have to say that this has been the best year for quality.  We’ve been lucky enough to have a great selection of both comedy and drama and I think that the shorter plays have gone down really well; so that’s something we may look towards for future festivals.”  

Amanda also performed in the winning play and informs me that she would love to be able to do it again; something that I think the audience would agree with judging by their reaction to it.  I really hope that showing it again can become a reality, for I feel that this talented, unassuming playwright’s work definitely deserves to be seen by a wider audience. 

Congratulations to Michael and also to the Festival organisers, the writers and performers for a hugely successful and entertaining week!

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