Papatango Theatre Company Announces Winning Monologues From ISOLATED BUT OPEN Initiative

Papatango Theatre Company today announced the ten winning monologues from their Isolated But Open - Voices From Across The Shutdown initiative. Filmed performances of the monologues are available now for free on Papatango's website (https://papatango.co.uk/isolated-but-open/), alongside the publication of each monologue as a free online PDF by Nick Hern Books.

The winning monologues were chosen from 2,063 submissions.

They are:

Hungry Like by William Drew (performed by Rosie Day)

Guts by Angus Harrison (performed by Bryony Miller)

rise from the wreckage by Benedict Lombe (performed by Gloria Obianyo)

Leave A Message by Hannah Mribiha (performed by Laura Hanna)

Pythagoras by Emma Pritchard (performed by Lucy Bromilow)

Hips by Alex Riddle (performed by Josef Davies)

Hair To Stay by Danusia Samal (performed by Shanaya Rafaat)

The Second Law Of Thermodynamics by Tafline Steen (performed by Andrea Hall)

Wild Swim by Martha Watson Allpress (performed by Lizzy Watts)

One More Son by Pip Williams (performed by Daniel Monks)

Isolated But Open - Voices From Across The Shutdown is one of several of Papatango's initiatives to encourage creativity and facilitate the enjoyment of new writing in the face of theatre closures across the country. Other projects include the Papatango Mobile Library and free advice services on Arts Council funding and any other creative concerns.

Previously released were two world premiere monologues by Rachel De-Lahay and Anders Lustgarten, starring Susan Wokoma and Danny Kirrane respectively, which can also be viewed on the website.

All winning playwrights and the actors performing the monologues were paid £100.

HUNGRY LIKE

By William Drew

Performed by Rosie Day

George is hungry. Katie's bitten off more than she can chew. A love story.

William Drew is a writer working across theatre, games and immersive experiences. He makes work through his own company, Venice as a Dolphin, and as a Coney Associate.

Rosie Day's previous theatre credits include Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon (Old Red Lion), The Girl Who Fell, Again (Trafalgar Studios), My White Best Friend (and Other Letters Left Unsaid) (Bunker Theatre), Velocity (Finborough Theatre), The Pussy Riots, Spur of the Moment (Royal Court Theatre), Microwave (National Theatre), and Les Miserables (Palace Theatre). Her television credits include Frank, Urban Myths, Living the Dream, Good Omens, Prime Suspect 1973, Grantchester, Outlander, Watership Down, Cuffs, Siblings, and Misfits. For film, her credits include Baby, Indigo Valley, Down a Dark Hall, 10X10, Butterfly Kisses, Heretiks, A Thousand Leaves, All Roads Lead to Home, Howl, For Sale, and The Bigger Picture.

GUTS

By Angus Harrison

Performed by Bryony Miller

An eye-opening glimpse into the inner workings of a supermarket fish counter.

Angus Harrison is a playwright and journalist from Bristol. He was a staff writer at VICE for three years where he wrote about society, politics and nightclubs. His first play, 6/49, was selected for Vault Festival 2020. His scripted work has also been performed at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs (Royal Court Theatre) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Bryony Miller's previous theatre credits include Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales (Unicorn Theatre), View From Here (Theatre503), Valley of the Weird (The Vaults), Caresses (HOME Theatre), and Miss Adventure (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Her television credits include The North Water, Cursed, Patrick Melrose, Doctors, and Killed By My Debt. For film, her credits include Rebecca, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Peterloo.

rise from the wreckage

By Benedict Lombe

Performed by Gloria Obianyo

rise from the wreckage is a funny, unflinching and hopeful call to arms for a new normal.

Benedict Lombe is a British Congolese writer. She is one of Theatre503's 503Five Writers, Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers and BBC Writersroom London Voices. She's been shortlisted for: BBC Drama Room 19/20, Royal Court/Kudos TV Fellowship, and the 2018 Papatango Playwriting Award.

Gloria Obianyo's previous theatre credits include Girl From the North Country (Gielgud Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra (National Theatre), Fanny and Alexander (The Old Vic), Twelfth Night (Flute Theatre), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Donmar Warehouse), The Wild Party (The Other Palace), The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic), and Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre). Her television credits include Good Omens and Feel Good; and for film, High Life.

LEAVE A MESSAGE

By Hannah Mribiha

Performed by Laura Hanna

A father and daughter separated by an ocean try to keep their relationship afloat despite cultural differences and religious expectations.

Hannah Mribiha studied Drama with Creative Writing at Kingston University where she graduated last year. Previously, she trained at Chickenshed Theatre as part of their Young Creators Programme.

Laura Hanna's previous theatre credits include Karaokay, Give A Man A Bible (Bunker Theatre), A History of Water in the Middle East (Royal Court Theatre), The Sweethearts (Finborough Theatre), A Bright Room Called Day (Southwark Playhouse), Foreplay (King's Head Theatre), Lean (Tristan Bates Theatre), and Beast and Beauties (Hampstead Theatre).

PYTHAGORAS

By Emma Pritchard

Performed by Lucy Bromilow

A young woman muses on love, sex, friendship and the end of the world.

Emma Pritchard is a playwright and screenwriter. She took part in the 2019 4Screenwriting programme and has two original screen projects in development, Meat with West Road Pictures and Salmon and Ella with Black Camel Pictures. Her plays include The Guardians, Pirate Queen (Almeida Theatre Participation), Armour (Vault Festival) and Split, co-written with Tamar Broadbent (Brighton Fringe, Leatherhead Theatre and Vault Festival), which won the Vault Festival Spirit Award.

Lucy Bromilow's previous theatre credits include Karaoke Play (Bunker Theatre), and Anna of the Five Towns (New Vic Theatre). Her film credits include Adventures of a Mathematician.

HIPS

By Alex Riddle

Performed by Josef Davies

This bittersweet reflection on family and loss takes us into the strange world of father-and-son music impersonators.

Alex Riddle was raised in Bognor Regis, and has spent the early years of his career working in film and publishing. Hips is his first produced work.

Josef Davies' previous theatre credits include Shook (Southwark Playhouse and national tour), Hangmen (Royal Court Theatre, Wyndham's Theatre), The 306 (National Theatre of Scotland), and Junkyard (Headlong). For television, his credits include Chernobyl, World on Fire, Silent Witness, Shakespeare and Hathaway, The Bisexual, Curfew, Call the Midwife, and Uncle. For film, 1917, The King, Dumbo, Undercliffe, and The Limehouse Golem.

HAIR TO STAY

By Danusia Samal

Performed by Shanaya Rafaat

Hair To Stay is a sharply relevant look at our obsession with female body hair.

Danusia Samal is an actress, writer and singer from London. In 2018, she wrote and performed Busking It, a gig theatre piece inspired by her experiences busking on the underground. Last year, she won Theatre503's International Playwriting Award for her play Out of Sorts, and joined the BBC's TV Drama Writer's programme.

Shanaya Rafaat's previous theatre credits include Jude (Hampstead Theatre), Romeo and Juliet, Richard III (Shakespeare's Rose Theatre), Frankenstein (Royal Exchange Manchester), Uncle Vanya (Theatr Clwyd, Sheffield Theatres), Terror (Lyric Hammersmith), The White Devil, King Lear (Shakespeare's Globe), A Tale of Two Cities (Royal and Derngate), Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Around The World in 80 Days (St. James Theatre), and The Illusion (Southwark Playhouse). Her television credits include Doctor Who, Lewis, Complicit, and Silk. For film, her credits include Schadenfreude and Honeycomb Lodge.

THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

By Tafline Steen

Performed by Andrea Hall

A metaphoric and powerful examination of the overwhelming nature of grief.

Tafline Steen trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This is her first written piece. Her acting credits include Appropriate (Donmar Warehouse), Pride and Prejudice (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), King Charles III (Almeida, West End, Broadway), Casualty (BBC), The Athena (Sky One).

Andrea Hall's previous theatre credits include Shook (Southwark Playhouse and national tour), Ares (Vaults Festival), The Wild Duck (Almeida Theatre), The Notebook of Trigorin (Finborough Theatre), Hyacinth Blue (Clean Break), Talkin' Loud (Theatre503), Abena's Stupidest Mistake (The Drill Hall), Parting Shots (Bootleg Theatre), Large Tales (Nottingham Playhouse), The Palace of Fear (Leicester Haymarket), and Johnny Dollar (Bloomsbury Theatre). For television, her credits include Unforgotten, The Child in Time, Broadchurch, Flack, Humans, Joe All Alone, Apple Tree House, Trauma and Thirteen.

WILD SWIM

By Martha Watson Allpress

Performed by Lizzy Watts

From fags, red stripe and eclairs to plunging into icy water, the grieving process is full of surprises.

Martha Watson Allpress is a Midlands-born, Peckham-based actor/writer currently training on the BA Acting Course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. After positive responses to her shorter pieces, her debut play, Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit), received 5 star reviews for its VAULT Festival 2020 run, and will transfer with the Pleasance up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2021, upon its reopening.

Lizzy Watts' previous theatre credits include Strife (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Angry Brigade (Paines Plough, Bush Theatre), Merit (Plymouth Theatre Royal), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare's Globe), Blink (Soho Theatre, UK tour), Twelfth Night (UK tour), Wasted (Paines Plough, Camden Roundhouse, UK tour), The Man (Finborough Theatre), Dr Faustus (Watford Palace Theatre), Artefacts (Bush Theatre), and The Grizzled Skipper (Nuffield Southampton Theatre). Her television credits include The Durrells.

ONE MORE SON

By Pip Williams

Performed by Daniel Monks

A young man draws on The Killers' back-catalogue in a funny, heartfelt attempt to communicate with his family.

Pip Williams is a writer, actor and director based in London and Cambridge. He's a graduate of UEA, co-artistic director of We Talk Of Horses theatre company, and a regular contributor to Other/Conversations. He is a member of the National Youth Theatre and has created work at the Southwark Playhouse, Camden People's Theatre and in schools.

Daniel Monks' previous theatre credits include The Seagull (Playhouse Theatre), Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse), Lord of the Flies (Sydney Theatre Company) and The Real and Imagined History of The Elephant Man (Malthouse Theatre, Sydney - for which he was nominated for a Helpmann Award and Green Room Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play). For film, he wrote, produced, edited and starred in Pulse - which won the Busan Bank Award at the Busan International Film Festival 2017 and for which he was nominated for the Australian Academy Award (AACTA) for Best Lead Actor in a Film. He is an Ambassador for the Starlight Children's Foundation, and in 2018, he was named the Ambassador for People with Disabilities Australia at the 40th Sydney Mardi Gras Parade.

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