An aspiring playwright from St Albans has won a scriptwriting competition and his play will be available for schools to perform later this year.
The Young People’s Puppet Theatre (YPPT) ran a competition during the first lockdown to find new scripts for their library.
Budding Beaumont School playwright Oliver MacKinnon entered his idea, along with a draft of scene one, and was chosen as a winner.
The prize was to work with a mentor from the YPPT to work the idea up into a full script.
Oliver previously took part in a YPPT production in 2017, when Beaumont School performed in the International Organ Festival, staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Maltings Theatre in St Albans.
He is thrilled to have now produced an original script for them.
Oliver said: “As an aspiring writer and a YTTP alumni – I did A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2017 – when I saw the competition at the beginning of the first lockdown I thought it would be great experience and a fun way to fill my time."
He was mentored by Jeremy Duschenes, the executive director, from late September last year and finished the script earlier this year.
The play, called 'Robbing a Bank: A How-Not-To Guide', is a comedy about two friends who decide to rob a bank because they are fed up with not having enough money to buy ice cream.
However, it all goes wrong, with people disguising themselves as members of the gang, the wrong people getting caught and, of course, there's ice cream.
"I got the idea for this play whilst I was walking my dog, which is where I get the ideas for most of the stories I come up with," said Oliver.
The script will be offered to schools from September 2021, and Oliver is hoping he will be able to go and watch the production when it is ready.
The Year 11 Beaumont pupil said: "Working with a mentor to develop my ideas into a full script was really helpful and I can’t wait to write more in the future.
"I am looking forward to seeing the play put on by a school soon.”
For more on the YPPT, visit https://www.yppt.org.uk/
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