matthewturner.info

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.

We start a residency at the Arcola Theatre next week to develop my new play Dead Yard. This includes a reading to an industry audience on Friday 19 May.

The R&D will be led by Yasmeen Arden, with design by Holly Pigott. It is supported by the Arcola Lab and Arts Council England.

We have a wonderful cast for this project, including Franc Ashman, Roger Griffiths, Karlina Grace-Paseda, Teri Ann Bobb-Baxter and Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge.

Please contact me directly if you have an interest in this exciting new project.