Award winners published with help of Studio Salford WritefortheStage

Greater Manchester Fringe welcomes new writers - and new writers that win the New Writing prize are offered the chance to publish their play by our sponsors Studio Salford's Write for the Stage.

Mike Heath said: "We love the GMFringe because it's got a completely inclusive policy to participation. Anyone can stage their work - there's no selection criteria for involvement in the festival.

"The WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing was set up to celebrate the best work produced during The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival and offers a publication with WriteForTheStage Books as a first prize. There are plans to expand the prize nationally.

"In 2016, we were able to offer a publication through WriteForTheStage Books of the two winning pieces. All participating festival shows were eligible for consideration - they just needed to opt in.

"We sent someone from our panel of jobbing playwrights and theatre professionals and created a shortlist from which we chose the winners. We looked specifically at the writing, not the performance and had a list of criteria to judge against."

Previous winners of the GMFringe New Writing Award were:

Alan Stockdill - Le Grand Return, performed at The Swan, Dobcross, 2015.

John FK Hoyle - Trigonometry, performed at The Swan, Dobcross, 2016.

Elliot Hughes & Hidden Track Theatre - Standard:Elite, performed at Nexus Arts Cafe, Manchester, 2016.

Daniel Ireland-Reeves - Bleach - performed at the King's Arms, Salford - see video below.

Mike runs the Write for the Stage courses and will be offering workshops during this year's Greater Manchester Fringe 1-31 July 2018. Intro, Advanced, and Producing courses will start again in October. There will also be a Development Week at the end of September.

Writers who have been participated in the courses have had work performed at Royal Exchange, Contact Theatre, Oldham Coliseum, Kings Arms, Hope Mill, The Swan in Dobcross, Bread and Roses Theatre (London), 53Two, and two writers are being supported and their work developed by Graeae Theatre (London).

They’ve had month-long runs at Edinburgh Fringe, shows at Greater Manchester Fringe, had at least four ACE-supported productions of work developed during the course, become producers, readers for National Theatre and writing tutors.

Meanwhile Sarah Cassidy has been invited on the playwright development programme at Liverpool Everyman. Hear Sarah on Salford City Radio above and below.

Their work has been included at countless festivals including 24:7, and BAME festivals in London, and published independently of WFTS.

So far it looks like three shows will be included in the GMFringe, being supported through the WFTS Producers course - A Fine Life by Anne Wynne, Get Me Out Of Here by David Chriscole, and Sacha’s Song by Michael Campbell.

Previous participants of the producers course have gone on to create their own production companies - including Richard Douglas and Agrippa Productions, who staged Marina and the Clone last year starring Nathan Morris, who is now playing Milo Entwistle on Hollyoaks, see video below.

Richard Stringer set up Great Expectations Theatre and staged Runaway at Greater Manchester Fringe in 2016, starring Ryan Clayton, who is now playing rapist Josh Tucker on Coronation Street, see video below.