Sam Shepherd (H) has won the Fresh Tracks Young Playwriting Award for Surrey with ‘Acheron’, a short comedy set in the afterlife.
In June, Sam attended a short playwriting workshop in Guildford run by Pursued By A Bear, a new film and theatre company, which included an invitation to enter the competition for a ten page script to then be developed and performed with a professional cast and crew in Farnham Maltings. Out of twenty-eight entries, Sam’s was chosen to be one of the six plays put into production, and so, with the help of some professional notes, Sam redrafted ‘Acheron’ throughout the summer and was then invited to experience and participate in the rehearsal and production of his work.
Sam was at the rehearsals for his play, constantly discussing and rewriting lines throughout the rehearsal process. The play, along with the five others, was performed in front of a full audience of friends and family, and at the end of the showcase the writers were invited onto stage and presented with a copy of the Writers’ And Artists’ Yearbook and a year’s free membership to New Writing South, an organisation specialising in the development of fresh writing talent.
Sam found the experience invaluable and has made a lot of friends in the process, and hopes to continue his association with Pursued By A Bear. Sam is currently developing a production of ‘Acheron’ which he will be directing for the Pupil’s Drama Festival in October, and also hopes to make into a short film. The script of ‘Acheron’ will appear in the next edition of the Charterhouse Review.