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Tiffany Parker
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New competition urges writers to fill up their quills

Join our online workshop on the 14th Century Decameron stories which inspired Shakespeare to find out more

£200 prize for the best short play (audio drama)

Competition deadline: Friday, June 26

Workshop Session: Thursday June 4, 7.30pm

There could not be a more apt time to shine a spotlight on the stories written by Italian author, poet and scholar Giovanni Boccaccio, whose work is thought to be among the classics from Italy which influenced Shakespeare in his writing.

Known as The Decameron the 14th century stories feature 10 young Florentines who flee from the Black Death to live in Naples. In all there are 100 short stories that feature a framing device and range from the erotic to the tragic, the hilarious to the instructional. In the stories individuals tell their stories to - guess what - distract themselves from the Black Death during a period of medieval quarantine.

These stories have also proved inspirational to young writer Rebekah King who has penned her own stories in the Decameron style. Rebekah has teamed up with Shakespeare in Italy on our Sharing Shakespeare platform to devise a competition open to all.

Over the next four weeks we would like you to submit a short play (audio drama) of no longer than 15 minutes - those shortlisted by our panel will be performed over two nights early in July with a director and two actors (max) assigned to each play. Then we will select an overall winner from those performed.

The plays must be written in the style of the Decameron, but must tell an original story set in our own time. To help you get started we have organised an online workshop session during which we will introduce the Decameron stories to you and which we will include a Q and A. We will feature Rebekah's short adaptation of a Decameron story and a short story set in modern times but in the style of the 14th Century writer to inspire your imaginations. If you want to join in and listen to the workshop but don't intend to submit a short play that is ok too. Please see link here with details on how to join us. A donation however small will be gratefully received. Of course should you wish to make a generous donation to help us continue our exciting work - this would be most warmly welcomed too. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/decameron-playwriting-workshop-tickets-107343138216

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