Devin Tupper's THE RACIST IN THE CHAT Announced as Winner of the London Lovecraft Festival 2020 New Writing Contest

Devin Tupper's The Racist in the Chat has been announced at the winner of the 2020 London Lovecraft Festival's New Writing Contest. The play will be given a staged Zoom reading on Thursday August 27th at 7:00PM BST as a part of Thornhill Theatre Space's World Wide Virtual Fringe Festival, streamed live on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ThornhillTheatreSpace/ .

"When we had to cancel the festival due to Covid 19, we were unsure how to present the new writing contest winner given that in person rehearsals were no longer possible," said London Lovecraft Festival cofounder T.L. Wiswell. "But when Thornhill approached us about their virtual fringe festival, exclusively featuring original works, we realized we had the right venue to do shows in the format we can produce. Tupper's imaginative script, which is both timely and suited to the style of presentation available to us in the post-Corona world, was perfect for where we are now, as a festival, as an audience, and as people who have all sat through far more Zoom conferences than we ever expected.

"The offer from Thornhill Theatre came to us in the post-George Floyd world, and the issue of racism in HP Lovecraft's work was very front and center for us. Tupper's script didn't dance around it: it faced it front and center. In fact, it was so intense we requested he amend the script to take out some really shocking quotes - we aren't going to be platforming the racism of early 20th century America. But we do think it's a perfect time to present a play about modern people confronting our racist 'heroes.' I've always known Lovecraft was a 'troubled' author, but the anthologies I've read have steered away from his uglier works. I think audiences will like this play, though, because it DOES shine a light on the truth of his beliefs, but it's also a fun horror story. And if you have a deeply developed sense of irony, you'll smile knowing our lovely cast would make HP twitch on the icy cold slab in the temple beyond the stars where he lies waiting."

Upon winning Vulcanello's Writing Lovecraft award, Devin said, "it was so exciting when I got the news. Lovecraft's work is such an influence, and as someone who relishes the genre he helped to create, it's such a privilege and responsibility to be able to engage with that work and address its troubled history. In some of my more experimental works, the worlds of From Beyond and The Colour Out of Space Time are always at the forefront of my mind when looking to great examples of truly imperceptible, alien life. With everything going on in the world, I, like

many people, did not expect that the play would be able to survive once lockdown started. But I am so grateful to Vulcanello Productions for standing by their award and for working with me to adapt the play to fit around current safety guidelines and present it in its current form."

Putting on a show as a "made for Zoom" performance has stretched the London Lovecraft Festival's production team, but with this one under its belt, more shows could be coming. "We've got a pile of scripts that were submitted for the festival, and it's possible that we could do a small festival of all-original horror plays, doing a few of the shows that were submitted to the festival as staged readings, adding in 'The Racist in the Chat,' and maybe doing a rewrite of my script for 'Asenath's Tale: The Thing on the Doorstep' so that it's Zoom calls instead of visits for tea. I think as long as theaters are shut audiences will be eager for this, and as a writer I'm eager to be creating again."

For those who have attended the festival in the past, "The Racist in the Walls" has a lot of familiar faces. Natalie Morgan has been with it from the start, starring in 2018's "Mountains of Madness" and "The Thing on the Doorstep: Asenath's Tale" as well as the staged reading of "Albertina West: Reanimator" that took place in 2019. Cathy Conneff worked with Natalie as Professor Dyer in "Mountains" while also taking "Asenath" to the 2019 London Horror Festival. Director Coral Tarran performed alongside Natalie in "Reanimator." New to the London Lovecraft Festival but much experienced in horror is Paris Rivers, who takes a break from his work in film to trial a new way of working for "the small screen." Meanwhile co-founder Jason Meininger will move from planning to "post production" as he tries his hands at video editing. "It's a labor of love for all of us, " says Wiswell. "We really wanted to have something happen for the festival this year, we all want to be making art, we wanted those writers to see their scripts given a chance to live and breathe. We want things to get back to normal, but we have to do what we can with what we've got now. With luck, audiences will find this show and enjoy it in this unusual format."

Author Devin Tupper bio: Devin Tupper is a firm believer that every story has its perfect home. Trained as a screenwriter, his works now expand across literature, theatre, television, and film. His first feature film, Chapel, was developed and filmed as part of his undergraduate degree and since then, he has continued to hone the craft as a script editor across international dramas. After completing a Creative Writing MA from the University of Warwick where his short story, Depth, received a publication in the writing society's Kamena publication, Devin continued his editorial work in television while writing his most recent one-act play and debut novel. He is thrilled that his play, The Racist in The Chat, will be making its premier and that his novel will continue its development as part of University College London's Creative Critical Writing PhD. His works focus on pushing the boundaries of form and genre while crafting in-depth characters that reflect very real societal perspectives.

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