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THE THREE FINALISTS PLAYS WILL BE PERFORMED ON:
THURSDAY 3RD OCTOBER 8PM
FRIDAY 4TH OCTOBER 8PM
SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER 7.30PM
AT
The Old Court Arts Centre, St Leonards Rd, Windsor SL4 3BL
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THE THREE FINALISTS
We are very excited to announce the three finalists:
Copernicus, Darwin and Freud Walk into a Bar by Dan Borengasser (Arkansas, USA)
Star Light in a Jar by Celeste Engel (Bournemouth)
Die Trying by Niall McCarthy (Derry)
Our distinguished judges for 2024 are Joan Lane and Abigail Morris.
The Finalists
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Dan Borengasser (Arkansas, USA) Copernicus, Darwin & Freud
I began writing screenplays and short stage plays on an amateur basis after retiring from a career in sales and marketing. By continually entering playwriting competitions, I have had plays produced or given staged readings in theatres across the USA as well as in Canada, Mexico, India, Australia and New Zealand, Malaysia and the Philippines. I now focus exclusively on stage writing, but have had several screenplays produced and radio plays broadcast nationally, and I helped to write a feature-length film The Donor Conspiracy.
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Niall McCarthy (Derry) - Die Trying
My name is Niall McCarthy, I'm a writer/Stand up comedian from Derry currently living in London. My first full length run in London has been greenlit at Theatre503 for my play ‘Derry Boys’ for three weeks in May 2025. My first full length play script ‘Forbidden Fruit’ was optioned in 2023 and will be performed in June 2025 at the Cheltenham Playhouse. I've had short plays titled 'Parakeet', 'The Parting Glass', 'Glass Villas', 'Make Love Not Greenpeace' and 'Star Fish' performed in theatres in London, Newcastle and Bedford. In 2021 I was inducted onto the ‘Live Theatre Newcastle New Playwrights course’ and in 2023 I attended the ‘INK Festival Script Writing Course’ hosted by Greg Mosse. In April 2024 my play ‘Fatherland’ was performed at the INK festival. In March 2024 my short audio play ‘God Complex’ was selected for the UK International Radio Drama Festival.
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Celeste Engel (Bournemouth)
Celeste Engel studied Theatre and Drama at Australia’s La Trobe University. After emigrating to the UK, she obtained a Masters in Writing for the Media at Bournemouth University, her play SHINE BRIGHT was shortlisted for the the Kenneth Branagh Writing Prize in 2015 as was a project for the DOT award in 2018 as part of the New Media Writing Prize.
She teaches filmmaking at the Arts University Bournemouth, short courses. Her play Sweet Dreams was performed by Theatre West as a rehearsed online reading 2021 and extracts were later performed by Beyond Face Theatre Company at the Exeter Phoenix Theatre for scratch nights in 2022 & 2023, with Star Light in a Jar performed for a scratch night March 2024.
The Directors
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Jack Medlin - Die Trying
Jack is a director, theatre maker and actor who trained in London before attending Cambridge University. His production company Long Nights Productions had a recent sell out run of the show chaos, co-directed by Jack, and his debut short film ‘WILD ONE’ had been recognised in both national and international film festivals.
You can find Jack on Instagram @jackmedlin00 and X@jackmedlin3
![](https://sites.create-cdn.net/siteimages/53/2/4/532449/21/1/6/21165674/1333x2000.jpg?1724775357)
Michael Davies - Copernicus, Darwin and Freud
Michael Davies is a BAFTA and (4x) RTS award-winning writer and director, currently in pre-production on THE CAPTIVE HEART, a major feature film shooting on the Amalfi Coast in 2025.
Michael began his career making a wide range of critically acclaimed, award-winning documentaries and drama-documentaries for BBC Television, ITV and Channel 4 (including seven films with legendary producer Beryl Vertue at Hartswood), as well as dramatised adventure films and series for Discovery Channel.
Michael has a long association with RADA directing performances and rehearsed readings of new work. Two of his feature film scripts (including THE CAPTIVE HEART) have been developed with the Academy. Michael also teaches a Screen Acting masterclass in London, and is a Screenwriting Mentor at the highly regarded Rocaberti Writers Retreat, held in France, Spain and Italy.
Michael's short film WHAT’S VIRGIN MEAN? screened at over sixty international festivals, winning eight awards and attracting more than ten million hits on YouTube; unusually for a short, it also made a profit. Another of his films, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, starring John Hurt and Phyllida Law, won fifteen awards, including an RTS, Rushes and Raindance and was shortlisted for an Oscar.
www.michaeldaviesfilms.com
18.06.24 The Top Nine Scripts!
A Necessary End
Die Trying
Schrodinger
Seven Times
The Exit
The Gate
Copernicus, Darwin and Freud
Troy
Star Light in a Jar
Heading Text
04.06.24 The Top Twenty Scripts!
Die Trying
Seven Times
Troy
Copernicus, Darwin and Freud
Invisible
Candles
Pennies, Spectacles and Nevertheless
Strangers on a Train
Schrodinger
The Minstrel Boy
Treesitter
A Necessary End
Star Light in a Jar
The Tale of Setsumi and Her Beloved Nobu
Cassiopeia
The Exit
The Gate
Anne Sexton Had a Band
The Meltdown
Naked Truths
The Top Nine Scripts will be announced within the next two weeks ...
Script Submission Dates (ended)
Monday 15th January - Friday 15th March 2024
SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS, CRITERIA & INFORMATION ABOUT THE AWARDS
Amateur Playwrights worldwide are invited to submit a one-act play. Three winning scripts will be selected for fully staged performances during the Windsor Fringe Festival in October 2024. One of the three scripts will be chosen as the overall winner and awarded the £500 prize. The plays will be judged purely on the writing before they are staged.
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Only amateur playwrights are eligible and only one script per author will be accepted.
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Each script must be an original work and not previously published or performed.
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Each play to be up to 30 minutes in length.
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Each play to have a cast of no more than 6 actors.
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Each play must be suitable for staging in a studio theatre.
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One digital copy to be uploaded to the KBDA website as part of the submission process.
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Entry Fee is £15.