ANDREW BISS

Well, The Craft made it through last weeks performances at Riverside Studios during the Off Cut Festival and garnered enough votes to make it to the finals this week, where it's playing every night until Saturday. Saturday's performance will be the final which will happen in front of an audience of industry luminaries, including Olivier Award nominated playwright Moira Buffini. Actress Patricia Hodge was also scheduled to be one of the judges but unfortunately had to pull out, which is very disappointing. I'm not sure yet who's stepping in to take her place. My little play in such venerated company! It's quite humbling.

I was happily surprised to receive a call from one of the Artistic Directors at In Company Theatre in London, letting me know that my short play “The Craft” has been selected for this year’s Off Cut festival at Riverside Studios. A total of 28 short plays will be performed during a three week run at the end of September and beginning of October. For the first two weeks the audience gets to vote on their favourite of the evening, and all of the finalists are voted on again during the third week. At the final performance, a panel of industry professionals, chaired by the National Theatre’s Writer-in-Residence, Moira Buffini, will choose the winners of the Playwright, Director and Company of Actors Awards. This is a very popular event (formerly held at The Old Red Lion, where the 2009 and 2010 festivals were its most successful productions ever) and great exposure for all involved. And since Hammersmith is a former stomping ground of mine, it’ll sort of feel like a homecoming. Nice!