According to the 1956 hit song, ‘there’s an old piano and they play it hot behind the green door’. It’s a tune that was running through my head as I approached a battered green door in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. However, rather than finding a smoke-filled speakeasy, I discovered an entirely different world of wonders: aContinue reading “Green door, what’s that secret you’re keeping?”
Tag Archives: New Writing
Open Door at The REP
In 2013, BOLDtext Playwrights initiated discussions with Birmingham REP about presenting New Writing nights, and the OPEN DOOR initiative emerged. We pioneered it by presenting eight individual pieces of work-in-progress to a growing regional audience hungry for new work that reflected their lives. Click ‘continue reading’ or scroll down for older posts about the shows.Continue reading “Open Door at The REP”
Bolder, Better, Brilliant
We’ve come a long way since we started in 2014. Beginning in The DOOR at the Birmingham Rep, we’ve burst out onto the streets of Digbeth, into the garden of a mansion, and even taken over a jail. We figured it’s about time we wrote down what it is we do. Read our manifesto below.Continue reading “Bolder, Better, Brilliant”
Follow Me
In summer 2019 it was anounced that the Birmingham Weekender would be going ahead. Planned for the beginning of October, it left us with less than three months to devise, pitch, and produce a show for the festival. To find out what we came up with click ‘continue reading’ or scroll down for older posts.Continue reading “Follow Me”
Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up
Our first site-specific production, Behind Bars took place within the walls of a 130 year-old Victorian prison. Kicking off with nine performances in October 2018, the show’s notoriety got it sent back to the clink for a further twelve performances the following year. Click ‘continue reading’ or scroll down for older posts about the show.Continue reading “Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up”
Other writers – your competitors?
There’s strength in numbers in a writing group – West Midlands playwrights collaborating rather than competing
Banged Up by Stephen Jackson
I’ve been banged up, locked up… I’m spending the week in prison. Some might say it was only a matter of time and no more than I deserve. Just throw away the key and leave me to rot. But I haven’t been convicted of any crime. I’m here in Birmingham Central Lock Up working onContinue reading “Banged Up by Stephen Jackson”
See you in 2019 for ‘The Sentence’
It’s been quite a year for BOLDtext Playwrights with our first ever site-specific show Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up selling out this autumn. Thank you to everyone who came and gave their support. Our fascination with crime and punishment continues with The Sentence, three new hard-hitting short plays from some of region’s foremost writers – LizContinue reading “See you in 2019 for ‘The Sentence’”
A Respectable Woman
Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only. Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Julia Wright writes about one of them… When we were given the possible choices for characters whose stories we couldContinue reading “A Respectable Woman”
Electricity
Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only. Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Helen Kelly writes about one of them… Evelyn Miles was one of the first police women in England, taking upContinue reading “Electricity”
BOLDtext Playwrights 