WINTERLONG (a 2008 Winner)
- Produced in The Studio at the Royal Exchange in February 2011, transferring to Soho Theatre in the same month. Directed by Sarah Frankcom.
OSCAR: My name is Oscar. I am twelve. I like animals especially birds. I have size five shoes. I don’t like wearing wool because it makes me wheeze. I’ve never eaten chips. I like watching television but prefer listening to the radio. I support the greatest football team in the world. Manchester United. I hate City. They are scum.
Biography
Andrew trained as an actor at Rose Bruford and has performed extensively in award winning theatre, TV and film, including performances in ANTIGONE, JONAH AND OTTO, THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE, ACROSS OKA, PORT and THE RIBCAGE at the Royal Exchange Theatre. WINTERLONG is his debut play, and he is currently working on his next play HOPE, LIGHT AND NOWHERE.
“the play unfolds as a brutally beautiful tone poem”**** THE INDEPENDENT
Synopsis
From the moment he came into the world as the snow fell and the cold wind blew, Oscar’s existence has been a stagger through an underworld peopled by loners and losers, and he’s aching to piece it all together. With the figures that clot his life unwilling to fix him when they’re unable to fix themselves, Oscar must discover whether or not a bird with a broken wing can ever learn to fly or is destined to remain earthbound forever.
Interview
How did you write WINTERLONG and what made you decide to enter the Bruntwood?
I’d had an idea for a play in my head for a while but never had the guts to commit it to paper. I had just finished performing in Jonah and Otto by Robert Holman in The Studio at The Exchange and he threw down the gauntlet and dared me to stop talking about this idea I’d had and just write it. The Bruntwood deadline gave me something definite to aim for.
How does it feel to see WINTERLONG being realised in production?
It’s very strange. It’s something I never thought would happen when I was writing the play. I’m an actor and the process is so different to that of the writer. I’m delighted that my first play is going on at The Exchange. It a fantastic theatre and my play feels very at home there.
What has winning the competition meant to you as a writer?
It’s given me the belief in myself to carry on writing. I don’t think one play makes a playwright. It’s what you do after your first play. Winning the competition has its financial benefits and the time it affords you as writer to explore and find what it means to write.
To listen to a Theatre Voice interview with Andrew about WINTERLONG, click here.
Gallery
Images from the 2011 production of WINTERLONG by the Royal Exchange:
