A FORMER Peter Symonds College teacher is one of the winners of a Winchester theatre's 10-minute play competition. 

Hundreds of entries for the Chesil Theatre’s New Writing Festival came from all over the UK. 

Only the administrator, Peter Bateson, knew the identity of the writers. 

Each entry was given a number before being read and evaluated by three or more Chesil members.

The daunting logistics of this were dealt with over several weeks and, eventually, a long list of 50 was sent to the five judges, who all have extensive experience in drama and theatre. They drew up a short list of 20. After much discussion the final ten to be given four performances of a full production were chosen. 

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Sarah Hawkins, whose play New Master is one of the winners, lives in Shawford and worked for many years at Peter Symonds College, teaching English and directing seven outdoor Shakespeare productions. With the Chesil she has worked backstage, helped with the Youth Theatre and acted in their intimate auditorium and at the Theatre Royal. She often takes on the challenge of directing actors playing multiple roles as in Vanity Fair, Florence Nightingale and Persuasion. It was her production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Bishop’s Garden in 2021 that brought live theatre back to Winchester after Covid. Last year she worked with another large cast for Treasure Island in the grounds of Winchester College. 

Sarah said: “I enjoy the opportunity of Take Ten and have entered four times. This will be my second success.” The first was Poor Yorick for the Shakespeare themed festival in 2012. It was funny and poignant as young Yorick being ousted from the position of court jester by his uncle echoed Hamlet’s own problems.

“Even before the theme, Snakes and Ladders, was announced I had the idea, as a reaction to our own recent plague of the Covid pandemic,” she said. 

“It pretty much summed up what I was trying to say, albeit crudely, about how the Black Death, in which one third of the population died, changed the feudal power structure. I was brought up on a farm in a small village so I know a bit about those matters.

“I am looking forward to seeing the play performed in February knowing just how much work goes into this festival to achieve the highest possible standard for playwrights and audiences.”