Katie Mitchell’s play wins a place in Five Minute Theatre

May 13 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE cameras are ready to roll for budding Perth playwright Katie Mitchell.

Katie, an advanced higher drama student at Perth High School, entered a National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) competition which challenged people of all ages and from all walks of life to create a piece of Five Minute Theatre.

From the huge volume of entries, NTS selected 235 five minute theatre pieces involving more than 1000 performers across 11 countries. Their work will feature on a live online broadcast over 24hrs starting at 5pm on Tuesday, June 21.

Katie (17), from Huntingtower, chose Anne Boleyn as the subject for her Five Minute Play, entitled ‘Four Stories High’.

It is set in the tower the day before Boleyn died. The significance of the title chosen by Katie was to show the varying perspectives of Henry VIII’s second wife’s layered and complex personality.

Katie’s play is one of eight of the successful Five Minute Theatre projects to be performed and filmed at STV’s studio at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.

Michelle Reid, on behalf of everyone at Perth High School, said: “We congratulate Katie and wish her all the best in her future career as an actor/director/playwright.”

Marianne Maxwell, NTS audience development manager, said: “The response to Five Minute Theatre from all over the world was fantastic. There was a huge range of ideas from a huge range of people. The creativity of each submission promises live and virtual audiences 24 hours of short, original, funny and brilliant entertainment on June 21.”

The Five Minute Theatre live streaming will be on www.fiveminutetheatre.com and STVs own website: www.stv.tv

The winning entries also include a monologue delivered from a park bench in Perth, when stand-up comic David Innes will present My Black Dog – recounting his personal experience of dealing with the highs and lows caused by depression; and there will be a five minute slot from Perth Theatre titled ‘The Gods are Watching’, written by local writer John McCann and directed by Rachel O’Riordan.

It is based on the legend of the ghost of Perth Theatre and, turning convention on its head, the play will be performed by a female actor in the auditorium of the theatre with the audience watching from the stage.