Local student’s play at the National Theatre

A student from Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green has been shortlisted for the National Theatre’s annual playwriting competition for 14- to 19-year-olds, and will have her play read by professional actors as part of the New Views Festival on 2 July. Emilia Hitching’s original play To Charlie was one of nine plays shortlisted from 350 entries across the UK by a panel of judges including playwright Chris Bush and NT Associate Director Lyndsey Turner. “New Views has been a creative outlet for me during a fairly taxing first year of sixth form and I have cherished the hours that I spent working on my script. It has been gratifying to have something which is solely mine, that I can pour all my creative energy into and polish not because it will be graded or examined but because I care about it,” said Emilia.