Stage is set for new plays to do battle

SIX one-act plays will be performed and judged over four nights, from tonight, in two different categories at Writers’ Week at the Cork Arts Theatre.

Category ‘A’ is for playwrights who have been published, and previously short-listed for the competition, while category ‘B’ is for emerging playwrights. Since Writers’ Week was established in 1986, 800 plays have been submitted, 150 performed, and six published. Twenty-six were entered this year.

Breda Healy, manager, says “We’re dedicated to getting new plays out there. It’s very easy for theatres to put on plays that are bankable. It takes a real commitment to the arts to put on new plays by new writers that have never been seen before. The writers get feedback from the adjudicators, so that they can improve their standards.”