Holly Arsenault Wins Papatango Prize as Chamber Heads to Park Theatre

By Grace Hatchell

Ey up, villagers. Yesterday’s postbag brought news of a playwright beating 1,912 other scripts to a rather handsome prize. I sometimes feel accomplished getting through three letters without misplacing my reading glasses, so hats off to Holly Arsenault.

Papatango announced yesterday that Arsenault’s Chamber has won its 17th annual New Writing Prize, following a record-breaking 1,913 entries. That’s a reading pile requiring a sturdy table and an industrial supply of biscuits.

The announcement came at an awards ceremony at London’s Park Theatre, which will co-produce the play with Papatango on its Park200 stage next autumn. Arsenault receives an £8,000 commission, a production and publication by Nick Hern Books. A proper theatrical delivery, that.

Chamber begins with the Easton High School Chamber Orchestra trying to rehearse. ChamberFest is three weeks away, Bambi is still struggling with the fermata, and then something happens. Or perhaps it doesn’t. It might be a drill.

Suddenly, a group of teenagers are stuck in a soundproof room, cut off from whatever is happening outside.

Now, I’d normally consider soundproofing an advantage when somebody’s learning an instrument. Here, it becomes a much more unsettling prospect.

The play explores how young people raised amid TikTok and extremism respond to a world that might be about to explode. Expect frank conversations, sharp humour and the chilling uncertainty of children trying to work out just how frightened they ought to be.

Papatango’s George Turvey describes the play as both hilarious and chilling, while Park Theatre’s Artistic Director Jez Bond highlights its depiction of young people navigating today’s burning world. I suspect this orchestra has rather more to worry about than coming in on the wrong beat.

Arsenault was born in Montreal and now lives in Edinburgh. Her background includes working with teenage arts audiences as Executive Director of TeenTix, bringing a relevant connection to a play centred on young people’s experiences.

There was more than one reason to celebrate yesterday, too. This year sees Papatango expand its support with a new Discovery prize and the launch of its Playwrights’ Progress programme.

Naomi Soneye-Thomas becomes the first Papatango Prize Discovery winner with One More Tune, receiving an £8,000 commission and further development support, with the intention of a future production.

Her play takes us to Derek’s legendary club, where one final party is unfolding before the place is demolished for a luxury hotel. Because apparently a community enjoying itself is simply a building site waiting for somebody to add expensive pillows.

Derek, his daughter and rising music star Chantelle join the friends and fans who made the venue special. As the night unfolds, secrets emerge and family relationships unravel in a story about gentrification, selling out and getting down. I’d advise wearing shoes you can dance in and avoiding any conversation beginning, “There’s something I should have told you.”

Meanwhile, three shortlisted writers will join the new year-long Papatango Playwrights’ Progress programme. Simon Jaggers, Íde Simpson and Jesse Weaver each receive £1,500, alongside workshops, mentoring and dramaturgical support led by Papatango’s Co-CEOs, George Turvey and Chris Foxon.

Jaggers’ Avalon Land is set in a faded Arthurian theme park where the castle is plastic but the legends are real. Cheap costumes, bored teenage staff and something ominous in the water: suddenly the gift shop seems the safest option.

Simpson’s We’re Still Here follows Jessica back to her late mother’s home in the parched Bluestack Mountains, where a long night with Eli brings grief, love and unresolved history to the surface.

Weaver’s Satellite spans 41 years and three generations of women, connecting a child’s unusual Christmas pageant costume with an adult’s attempts to contact a passing satellite. Family ties, it seems, can stretch an awfully long way.

Papatango says the remaining 1,908 entrants have all been offered personal feedback. That’s a substantial commitment, particularly when Turvey points to British Theatre Consortium figures showing a 30% fall in new plays produced since 2019. These awards come with money, development and opportunities to keep writing, which gives yesterday’s celebrations something solid behind them.

Chamber begins previews at Park Theatre on 28 October 2027, officially opens on 1 November and runs until 27 November. Tickets start at £15, with 7pm performances and 3pm matinees.

Visit Park Theatre’s website or call 020 7870 6876 for booking information.

Congratulations to all five writers. I’ll leave the orchestral rehearsals to the youngsters, but if anybody needs a triangle player with a formidable handbag and questionable timing, my diary might have a gap.