THE next great playwright could be discovered in Winchester.

Creative writing students at the University of Winchester will see their work performed on stage at the Theatre Royal in March as part of Depthcharge Theatre Company's spring programme.

Depthcharge was created in 2011 by creative writing lecturer Glenn Fosbraey and former head of performing arts Peter Billingham to showcase talented student writers and actors.

Mr Fosbraey said: “We particularly wanted to provide a platform for student writers to get their work performed. All of these plays have been workshopped in class and then fine tuned over the past few weeks.

Four 15-minute plays will be performed on March 5 including Flatpacked by Megan Ball, Barefoot by Shannon Harris, Checkout by Paige Marchment and The Elephant in the Room by Antosh Wojcik.

Megan, 27, a third year mature student of Basingstoke, said: “We are getting to the point where we are thinking about our future careers and I would like to pursue a career in writing. Depthcharge has been brilliant at helping us do that.”

The plays focus on a variety of themes from the perception of soldiers returning from war to domestic abuse and broken families.

Performances begin at 5pm on March 5 and entry is free.