We are proud to announce that Faye Atkinson, is the winner of this year’s ARC Solo Show Award.
Working with Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen, the prestigious prize sees students perform original solo performances to an industry panel to be considered for the prize. Winners are awarded a residency to develop their work further.
Senior Lecturer Jonny Bussell at Northern School of Art explains “all our third-year students work towards creating a ten minute solo show on any subject and in any style, which they present to an industry panel at ARC. The ARC award has been running for six years now with the winning student receiving support from ARC to develop the piece further.
“Previous winners have gone on to successfully apply for Arts Council funding and develop their piece fully. It is a great opportunity for our students to create work that matters to them and potentially go on to tour the work they have made on the programme. It is part of the continued support from ARC as our education partner” added Jonny.
Faye’s comedy piece Back in My Day is “based around trying to explain to older generations how certain issues can still be improved but approaching this topic in a comedic way. The play tackles themes of homophobia, specifically within the younger generation where it is still so relevant in places such as schools. The piece takes inspiration from various stand-up comedy sketches.”
Speaking of the performance and winning the award she said “I thoroughly enjoyed performing the show at ARC, the audience was so supportive, and it was really nice to perform alongside my peers in pieces we created ourselves and worked so hard on. I was shocked but very excited when I won. I love performing this piece so it’s really nice that I get to work on it more and expand it now. The themes of the show are really important to me, so it felt extremely rewarding to win with this piece.”
ARC Producer Aisha Lama said that Faye’s work was “a really refreshing performance. Engaging, well-timed, and confidently delivered. The piece offered a fresh perspective on modern microaggressions and internalised homophobia, which felt timely and important.”
“Faye’s show was really strong and not just the writing, but the style of performance was really excellent” commented Jonny “Faye has developed hugely during their time on the programme and I am excited to see how ‘Back in my day’ progresses.”