Wishes do come true (when it comes to crazy golf)

So there I was, desperate for a crazy golf course to take photos of the cast of my one act play 'Bunkered' which is part of the Hole in One Act Play Festival.

Where shall it be? I wondered. Barry Island perhaps - there's a very good pirate one there - or possibly Tredegar Park.

Whilst I was pondering this, as part of the Big Splash event held over the August Bank Holiday weekend a crazy golf course was built on the doorstep of the Dolman Theatre.

A quick chat with the owner, Dave Lovatt, revealed that he's a theatre director from Bristol with a passion for crazy golf courses. Could we take photos of our cast on his course? No problem, he replied. So we did, for which, much thanks, Dave. His crazy golf course, by the way, is brilliantly fiendish and includes a pool table!

Dave is pictured, centre, at the photoshoot with Playgoers Bruno Cook and Lauren Brown. More details about the photos can be found here: http://newportplaygoers.wordpress.com/

Information about Dave's show 'Carny Village' can be found here: http://invisiblecircus.co.uk/invisible_circus/TheInvisibleCircus/Home.html

The play’s the thing

I was really pleased to hear that one of the plays I entered for Newport Playgoers’ One Act Play-Writing Competition had been selected for the forthcoming festival.

The theme of the plays was ‘golf’ of which I know precious little, except for the occasional highly competitive game of crazy golf I play with my wife Caroline. So I wrote about that – a down-at-heel crazy golf course that’s on the verge of bankruptcy because it’s at the wrong end of the recently revamped seafront.

The plays were judged by Frank Vickery, regarded by many to be Wales’s top playwright, and out of the 40+ plays entered, he chose three from a shortlist of 11. My play ‘Bunkered’ will now be part of the Hole in One Act Play Festival at the Dolman Theatre in Newport from 12 – 16 October 2010.

Caroline will direct it and we’re currently putting together a cast and desperately trying to find items for the set – namely, a small shed and a large ornamental windmill obstacle! As things progress, I hope to make a video diary of the play’s progress from page to stage, and will be posting it here.  For more information about the Festival, visit my blogsite: http://newportplaygoers.wordpress.com/

Budding Playwrights can take Centre Stage!

To celebrate Newport hosting the Ryder Cup 2010, Newport Playgoers Society, which owns and runs the city’s 400-seater Dolman Theatre, is holding a competition aimed at encouraging the writing of plays for amateur theatre.

To enter the competition, budding playwrights are invited to submit one act plays on the theme of ‘golf’. Plays should be between 20 - 30 minutes in length using a cast of 2 - 5 actors. In addition to a cash prize, the three best plays will be performed in the Dolman Studio Theatre for three nights culminating in a gala evening when prizes will be officially presented.

An Adjudication Panel appointed by Newport Playgoers Society will read and consider the plays entered in the competition and, in addition to arranging production of the plays at the Dolman Studio Theatre, will award the following prizes: 1st Prize - £100 plus trophy; 2nd Prize - £50; 3rd Prize - £25.
To download an application form, go to http://www.dolmantheatre.co.uk/.