Debut 2022: 'Strip the Willow', 'Prisms' & 'Post Sex Spagbol'

Debut Festival is a pioneering event dedicated to the staging of new plays by graduating students on our BA Acting & Contemporary Theatre course.

Past Debut plays have transferred to professional production in Britain and abroad, winning awards such as the Edinburgh Comedy Award, The Stage Best Ensemble, Scotsman Fringe First, Best New Musical and BFI Best Short Film. 12+

Strip the Willow

Written by Frankie Golding
Directed by Nefyn Edwards

Buried within moving boxes lies one thing left to unpack

What roots lie beneath the questions we ask? 

Joe has come home to help his dad, Ian, finally move out of the small family town they both outgrew years ago. The end of the night sees this drunken pair stumble into a packed-up room of boxes and labels. Fuelled with old songs, slices of toast, and wrangled skirmishes about the state of England, these two men have a lot to say, and the perfect time to say it. 

Two generations, a shared life under one roof, both looking for answers.  

A heartfelt, honest story about the burden of choice.

Content Warning: Strong language, Mild threat, Sexual references, Alcohol consumption.

Prisms

Written and Directed by Signe Ebbesen
Music - Joseph Wood

When you fall in love, colours change.

The flutter of butterflies in your belly, the pecking of a birds beak in your heart and the scratching of claws on your skin? It is said all is fair in war and love, the latter is most certainly true for the housemates Red, Blue, Purple and Green. As a mysterious letter appear in the home of the four young women and their pet turkey Scurvy, they are challenged in their different views and ideals of love. When romance is allowed to bloom, friendships, jealousy and secrets start to show. 

With original live music, Prisms asks the question how far are you willing to go for love? An intense play exploring early 20s angst, willful optimism and experimental witchcraft in a world aiming to be aesthetically pleasing, alluring and correct.

Content Warning: Use of fake blood and explicit language. 

Post Sex Spagbol

Written by Katie Bignell
Directed by Caitlin Smith

Who knew lying to teenage girls could be so amusing?

After being handed a job as counsellor and sex-ed teacher, Krissy purposely leads a classroom full of goggle-eyed-girls down a motorway of mistakes. Fuelled by her own flaws, at a religious all-girls boarding school, she shaves away any expectation of a perfect role model. With a desire for destruction, Krissy intentionally feeds bad advice to the hormone-riddled girls, from questionable kinks, to the swimming pools secret-sex-shack, while being forced to face the femininity that the world around her has trained her to hate. Told by a three women ensemble, this comedic story of sex, love, and spagbol explores self-love, womanhood and growing up … as well as, vibrators, funerals, the twelve disciples, piss play and that mint shower gel. BYOB – Bring your own Bolognese.

Content Warning: Contains strong language and sexual content with references to slut shaming.