Credit: Leodis
By Grace Hatchell
Well now, this one arrived in my satchel with a bit of a quiet weight to it – the kind that doesn’t shout for attention but gently insists you listen. Sanctuary, a brand new play by first-time writer Jacob Sparrow, has just been crowned the winner of the inaugural Leodis Prize and is heading straight to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, fully funded and ready to make its mark
And I’ll tell you what caught my eye straight away – nearly 350 submissions, all from writers hoping to be seen, and it’s this story that rose to the top. There’s something special about that, isn’t there? A first play, plucked out and given a proper stage at Pleasance Dome. That’s the Fringe doing what it does best: finding voices before the rest of the world catches up.
Now, Sanctuary isn’t your light-and-fluffy afternoon jaunt. It’s a reflective, time-shifting drama set inside a house where past and present blur together, inspired by real events in a Suffolk village during the early 1990s. Plans for an AIDS hospice caused tension in the community, and from that starting point, Sparrow builds a story about memory, belonging, and the complicated ways we make sense of survival
There’s a man returning, confronting what he’s buried, and from what I can gather, it’s not just the house holding memories – it’s holding truths he’s not quite ready for. The play leans into loneliness, shame, and that uneasy question of why some people get to carry on when others don’t. But – and this is important – it doesn’t sit in the dark. There’s warmth in there too. Care. Humour. Hope. The kind that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
Jacob Sparrow himself said he wanted to write something that finds hope in queer voices while still acknowledging the weight of history, and honestly, that balance is no easy thing to pull off. But the judging panel – and we’re talking names like Tamzin Outhwaite and Sam Yates – praised it for exactly that: emotional depth and theatrical imagination
And can we just pause a moment for the Leodis Prize itself? Brand new, launched in 2025, and already doing what so many schemes promise but don’t always deliver – actually getting new writers on stage. Not just a pat on the back and a “well done,” but a full production, representation, a £2,000 boost, and publication. That’s not just opportunity, that’s a proper door opening.
You’ll find Sanctuary playing at the Pleasance Dome (Ace Dome) from 5th to 31st August at 4pm (not the 17th, don’t go turning up mid-run like I nearly did once…), with a 70-minute running time and tickets starting from £8
Now, between you and me, this feels like one of those Fringe shows people will quietly recommend to each other. Not the loudest flyer on the Royal Mile, not the one with glitter cannons and a queue round the corner (though we love those too), but the one someone leans in and says, “Go see this. Trust me.”
And those are often the ones that stay with you the longest.
Tickets are available from www.pleasance.co.uk
Preview: £8
Weekday: £12 (£11)
Weekend: £14 (£13
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