The People’s Play Award is a biennial playwriting competition to discover and champion new Northern writers.
Many previous winners have gone on to successful writing careers, including Mike Yeaman (Canoeing for Beginners), Fiona Veitch Smith (The Miss Clare Vale Mysteries), Alison Carr (National Theatre, Finalist: Women’s Prize for Playwriting) and recent Oscar-winner Peter Straughan!
This year’s winning play SIDES is a funny and heartwarming comedy-drama by Bolton writer Alex Joynes which won the People’s Theatre play award
“Hey, steady on. Got half the Atlantic on there. I do five prawns tops usually. Six if I’m feeling generous.”
In Uncle Del’s, a chain sandwich shop on the outskirts of Bolton, changes are afoot. Terry is preparing to leave. Charlie is preparing to take over. And Beth is somewhere in between.
Over the course of their handover, this unlikely trio will learn about love, belonging and the art of making a perfect panini.
Alex, originally from Warrington and now based in Bolton, works in the Creative Engagement Department at the Bolton Octagon Theatre, and started writing when he was part of the Liverpool Everyman Young Writers Programme.
About SIDES Alex comments: “I’ve always been interested in tv shows and plays that explore workplaces and the relationships that can form in work. I wanted to explore the different attitudes people have towards work – for some people it’s a means to an end, others form their whole lives around their work.”
When asked what it’s like to have won the Award, Alex said “it’s brilliant – the show is going to have a life and my words are going to be performed on stage.”
Tickets for SIDES are available from the People’s Theatre Box Office on 0191 265 5020 (option 2) and online at www.peoplestheatre.co.uk