Winning young playwrights from Wales and India have original scripts transformed into audio plays by Theatr Iolo and Hyderabad Children's Theatre Festival.

The winners of the international Young Playwrights’ competition have had their plays read by professional actors and turned into audio plays, now available for audiences around the world to listen to. The competition, which took place during autumn 2021, was created by Theatr Iolo and Hyderabad Children's Theatre Festival with thanks to a Connections Through Culture: India-Wales grant received from The British Council. 

The winning plays are A Life in The Wild by Mabli (age 9), Y Lladrad Lloerig by Awen (Age 12), A Warning to the Museum by Shiraz (Age 12) and Small World by Mahiya (age 16). 

The young playwrights were asked to write an original, imaginative and relevant 10-minute play for an audience between the ages 7 and 16. Theatr Iolo's Artistic Director, Lee Lyford and co-founder of the Hyderabad Children's Theatre Festival, Vaishali Bisht, judged the competition and chose the winning plays. 

The children and young people’s theatre companies from Wales and India worked together to record the four winning scripts, which have now been released as audio plays that can be listened to at home or in schools. 

The plays were recorded over a series of video calls, in which the winning playwrights had an opportunity to share their inspiration with the actors and directors, and watch their plays being recorded. The plays were directed by Lee Lyford, Ffion Wyn Bowen and Shaili Sathyu, and performed by Mari Beard, Ffion Wyn Bowen, Cellan Evans, Shayontoni Ghosh, Faraz Khan, Kyle Lima, Elin Llwyd, Hannah McPake, Puja Sarup and Rhys ap Trefor. 

“We’re delighted to have collaborated with Hyderabad Children's Theatre Festival on this year's Young Playwrights’ Competition. We received an incredible amount of entries from Wales and India, and it was brilliant to hear the voices of young people from around the world. The audio plays that have been created are testament to the quality of the wonderful stories created by these young writers.”
Lee Lyford, Theatr Iolo Artistic Director 

“I’m thrilled that we have been able to work with Theatr Iolo to bring their successful Young Playwrights’ Competition to children and young people in India. I’ve really enjoyed reading the entries and discovering more about the interests and ideas of children from both India and Wales.”
Vaishali Bisht, Hyderabad Children's Theatre Festival Co-Founder 

In addition to the four winning plays, three other plays were highly commended by our judges. These were The Trash Monster by Daniel (age 10), Three Best Friends and the Strange Bully by Marwa (age 11) and The Infamous Hunt by Tabid (age 11). 

The winning plays are now available to listen to for free through Theatr Iolo’s podcast channel and to listen to and read on YouTube (with captions). They can also be read, along with the plays that were highly commended, on Theatr Iolo’s website in a downloadable playtext.

https://www.theatriolo.com/young-playwrights-competition-1