Salford Arts Theatre will be hosting a production written by the winner of The Shelagh Delaney New Writing Award 2024.
The production of Rayla Clay (and the following day) by Drayla Kasheen will be showing between April 3 and 5.
Salford-born Shelagh Delaney was a strong female postwar voice who produced plays such as Taste of Honey, tackling early feminism and working class movements. She also won a Bafta for Best British Screenplay.
The Shelagh Delaney New Writing Award has been awarded for three years to support and mentor young writers.
The play is a realist drama following teenager Rayla who encounters the older apparition of herself and tackles her father’s inability to change.
Through her young naivety and her disillusioned/ addicted adult self, the complex relationship with her highly intelligent and emotionally abusive father is examined through the lens of unfulfilled desires and generational trauma.
Themes such as hope vs despair, female autonomy and innocence vs experience are displayed in a complex honesty.
The writer Drayla Kasheen said: “To see my work produced and performed is, and always has been, vital in terms of confirming a concept and expediting its possibilities: the notion that a script doesn’t exist until it’s seen, shown, done.
“I agree with this – that the play needs to make that crucial leap from page to stage in order for it to credibly, authentically exist.”
The Shelagh Delaney New Writing Award for the last three years has been used to prop up and support young writers, offering mentorship.
The award’s name comes from legendary Salford writer Shelagh Delaney, a strong female postwar voice who produced plays such as Taste of Honey, a play tackling early feminism and working class movements. She also won a Bafta for best British Screenplay.
Legend of the Manchester scene, Morrissey, attributed much of his inspiration to Delaney. The award, similar to her legacy, is offered to groundbreaking young female writers born in Greater Manchester showing emotional intelligence.
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