The winning play was chosen from the three finalists listed below. All three plays had rehearsed readings at Soho Theatre from the 1st-3rd December 2008.

“The Protect the Human award is not about lecturing but about sowing the seeds for powerful theatre that grapples with necessary issues; it reminds people there are things we need to think about and talk about now as much as 60 years ago.”

The Guardian

After the Accident

by Julian Armitstead
Directed by Tessa Walker

The house was where they – Petra, Jimmy and Charley – were going to be happy, then Leon broke through the security gates taking their happiness with him. Four years later they have the chance to meet face to face , confronting what’s been hidden for so long behind locked doors.

“It’s not all on your side. I’m saying, you’re not the only ones to have suffered for this. You’re not the only ones.”

Cast: Amanda Drew, Nicolas Tennant, Toby Wharton

There’s Loads of them in Burnley, Thais

by Anna Clarkson
Directed by Charlotte Gwinner

Mae has never eaten a ready meal, been to TK Maxx or tasted mushy peas and Graham Fairclough has only got six weeks to teach her. But with ex-wife and landlady of The Clog and Rocket, Marie, offering up some home truths he might not even have that long.

“Why the ‘ell else ‘as she come to Burnley? It’s not for t’weather is it? And it’s certainly not for ‘im, ‘e’s no oil paintin’ is ‘e?”

Cast: Dylan Brown, Emma Cunniffe, Stuart Laing, Julia Sandiford

Lullaby

by Dominic Leggett
Directed by Ken Christiansen

Beth’s got the house ready for Ray’s return from war. But his arrival brings more than just dirty washing and there are some stains that no amount of scrubbing can remove.

“They keep their cool and look you straight in the eye, then you spot there’s a foot tapping, or a twitch at the side of the mouth – The body betrays them every time.”

Cast: Charles De’ath, Edmund Kingsley, Rachel Morris, Susannah Wise

The announcement of the winning play, After the Accident by Julian Armitstead, took place at the Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre on the 9th December 2008.

The play then received readings at Birmingham Rep, Theatre Royal Plymouth and West Yorkshire Playhouse on the 10th December, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Past Competitions:
Protect the Human 2007 »