TheatreFest15 playwright and director Bev Clark has won the 2015 Roister Doister Playwriting for Young People one-act play award with The Black Eyes.

She explained: ‘The play is a teen horror story, based on the urban myth of the black-eyed kids reported in USA during 1990s. A strange phenomenon: were they aliens, lost souls, ghosts or what? As teenagers love the unexplained and paranormal I thought it would be a great subject.

‘The piece incorporates some physical theatre and movement and my colleague Andy Taylor wrote a short piece of fantastic urban, sinister soundscape to accompany the text.

‘I am delighted that the play was first in the one-act competition -especially as I hear there were over 500 entries - and I’m so excited about it being published very soon. I’m sure youth theatres and schools will have great fun performing it.’

Merseyside-based theatre practitioner Bev Clark has written and is directing in association with Stage Door Entertainment Invisible Chains for TheatreFest15. The production is a challenging and thought-provoking new piece of devised work for the theatre that tackles slavery - past and present - with stark honesty. The work incorporates music, movement, physical theatre and text.

She said: ‘The work’s a truthful portrayal of the many faces of slavery, including domestic servitude, child prostitution, human trafficking and forced marriage told not so much in scenes as in sections. The script for Invisible Chains plays to the strengths of the 16-strong company and what’s especially exciting about the project is that the cast is a mix of experienced and novice Isle of Man performers and we’re all learning from one another as rehearsals progress.

‘Invisible Chains is a ground-breaking work that says we may think we know what slavery was but still today it has many names and many faces. Slavery is alive and thriving but most of the world turns a blind eye. One new piece of theatre won't change the world but we can begin the process by telling the story.’

Roister Doister Publishing was founded in 2013 to give a quality start to new writers and a more 'in touch' approach to established writers. Its aim is to make writing, publishing, and producing theatre as easy as possible for both professionals and amateurs.

TheatreFest15 is a five-year project encouraging new work for the theatre and is a partnership between the Isle of Man Arts Council and the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA).

Invisible Chains plays on Friday October 9 at the Gaiety Theatre as part of the inaugural TheatreFest15 weekend.

Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
To book, visit www.villagaiety.com or call the ticket hotline 01624 600555.