Nottingham Playhouse Announces Winner Of Panto Playwright Call Out

Nottingham Playhouse today announces Naomi Obeng as the winner of its recent call out for a professional writer to create its 2020 festive family show, Jack and the Beanstalk. Following the anonymous call out for a writer with an East Midlands connection in April, the theatre received over 30 submissions. The Neville Studio production usually tours to primary schools and libraries in the region after its Christmas run.

The Nottingham Playhouse team were thrilled when the successful playwright was revealed following the anonymous judging. Naomi was a member of Homegrown, the theatre's training opportunity for young theatre-makers and her plays a specific kind of loneliness and There, There and There were performed as part of the 2019 Messy Unity Festival at the venue.

Based in the East Midlands, Naomi is a New Associate at New Perspectives in Nottingham, is currently part of Soho Theatre's Writers' Alumni Group in London and was a writer in residence at Leicester Curve in 2018. Her writing for the stage includes A Distance Between for Paines Plough's 'Come To Where I'm From' project and I'll Show You The Oranges (Young Court at the Royal Court).

Naomi Obeng said: "The Christmas play in the Neville Studio is such a beloved part of the Playhouse's calendar. I'm delighted and honoured to be working with the team to create an exciting and playful adaptation of this fairy tale - a show with something for everyone!"

The writers call out is just one of many yearly opportunities for local theatre makers which the Playhouse makes available under its Amplify programme, which supports and develops regional talent.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs in the Neville Studio from 9 December 2020 to 2 January 2021.Tickets are available online at nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk.