10x10 New Writing Festival
' 'Startlingly good' Sir Ian McKellen
Deborah's long-held passion for new writing and the lack of opportunities for writers back in the early 2000s, resulted in her setting up the biennial 10x10 New Writing Festival in 2008, which she co-founded with her playwright husband, Jonathan Edgington, in partnership with the former Nuffield Theatre.
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The original concept behind 10x10 was to provide a vital new writing platform with the aim of discovering, developing and producing new work by exciting emerging and established writers. It began with the staging of ten short plays written by the ten members of the Nuffield Theatre's Writers' Group run by the theatre's script executive, John Burgess, who was previously Head of New Writing at the National Theatre (1984 - 1994). |
'I am incredibly proud of what was achieved with 10x10. |
Once the news of the first 10x10 success was known, it wasn't too long before Deborah was receiving play submissions from across the UK, Europe and even from as far-a-field as the USA and South America. Between 2008 and 2018 hundreds and hundreds of plays were read by a panel of readers. Every play was read anonymously, in order to eliminate unconscious bias and to encourage writers of any ability or from any diverse background, age or gender to take part. The panel then selected ten final plays, which would go on to receive a full production as part of the biennial 10x10 New Writing Festival.
10x10 ran for ten years under the directorship of Deborah, and during that time sixty plays were given a fully-staged production. Not only was 10x10 committed to working with the sixty writers but it also collaborated with hundreds of directors, creatives and actors. It was a springboard for the many writers who went on to have further playwriting success with plays performed at Festivals across the UK inc. Edinburgh and Brighton, as well as on the London Fringe. A number of them have also had their work performed worldwide in countries as far-flung as India and Australia.
As well as being the Producer and Festival Director, Deborah also directed four winning plays: Rook, Raven, Crow (2018) The Golden Years (2016) Burger Boy (2014) and Shakespeare's Women (2012).
Rook, Raven, Crow
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The Golden Years
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Burger Boy
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Shakespeare's Women
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Testimonies
'Being part of the 10x10 New Writing Festival was an absolute privilege' 'The experience of having my play selected and staged gave me great confidence and I haven't looked back' Winning gave me a huge confidence boost to continue to write and develop scripts. ...the experience of sitting in a theatre and hearing people laugh at lines that I've written was beyond compare.' |
Production Photography: © Tony Rogers
After ten amazing years, the final 10x10 New Writing Festival took place in October 2018. Deborah is grateful to everyone involved, especially Tony Rodgers, who worked on the sound, lighting and video design since the beginning back in 2008. Thanks must also go to all the writers, collaborators, creative teams and actors for helping to make it such a successful festival. |
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You can download a copy of the 2018
10x10 New Writing Festival programme |
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