matthewturner.info

The last few years have felt pretty tough but, given that this is a day for taking stock, I can look back on some writing milestones this decade.

• The Interview at the Arcola in 2010
• The Inside Man/The Interview double bill at the Brighton Fringe
• Shortlisted for the Windsor Fringe prize (Inside My Head)
• Four Rapid Write Response plays for Theatre503
• Two Bruntwood Prize final 40 plays (Closed and Dead Yard)
• A Certain Kind of Girl for The Miniaturists
• Development of Dead Yard at the Arcola Lab in 2017
• The Arcola PlayWROUGHT festival, again with Dead Yard

Along the way I’ve worked with many talented and generous actors, directors and writers, inspiring me to make my own way as a playwright.

Eclipsing all the above are my two proudest achievements: marrying Fabia in 2012 and Adam’s arrival in 2014. Maybe the 2010s have been a rather special decade after all!

I’ve been quiet but busy in 2019. Stay tuned for the lowdown on my brand new full-length play in 2020.

Much of my time this year has been spent developing my new play Dead Yard. This includes an Arcola Lab residency in May and a performance at the Arcola PlayWROUGHT festival in July.

The year draws to a close with welcome news that the play reached the final 40 in the longlist for this year’s Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.

Dead Yard has been in development since 2015 and is a real passion project, drawing on family history and my own grief at losing loved ones. Really I feel that all my writing to date has been leading to this play, and it’s by far my proudest achievement.

So what is Dead Yard all about? Four siblings try to come to terms with the loss of their father while confronting their domineering mother. This is a play about family secrets, despair and hope, and the struggle to forge a new future under the weight of tradition.

On the back of our incredible feedback this year I plan to take Dead Yard into full production in 2018. If you’re interested in getting involved with this exciting project please contact me.