The Silence and the Noise byTom Powell is part of an upcoming tour of the Papatango New Writing Prize plays.
They embark on an ambitious UK tour from October 2021 – February 2022, touring to 15 venues. The thirteenth Prize has been reconfigured for 2021 for audio format, with three winning playwrights instead of the traditionally offered 1 prize. The winning playwrights and plays are Some of Us Exist in the Future by Nkenna Akunna, The Silence and the Noise byTom Powell and Ghost Stories from an Old Country byTajinder Singh Hayer.
Every teenager knows what it’s like to be stuck between things: childhood and maturity, innocence and experience, hope for the future and uncertainty about what that will be.
But Daize is torn between even greater challenges: her love for her vulnerable mother and her dangerous friendship with Ant. An outsider with knockout trainers, Ant has just appeared on her doorstep, bringing with him a whole world of trouble.
The Silence and The Noise captures the story of two young people on the edge.
The Artiscape spoke with Tom Powell about his process writing The Silence and The Noise.
Tom Powell was the 2019-21 CRSC Writer in Residence at Pentabus Theatre and was chosen for the BBC Studios Writers’ Academy 2019/20. Powell’s previous writing includes I Dare You (Nottingham Playhouse/Curve – shortlisted for the Soho Young Writers’ Award) and Little Echoes (Hope Theatre – published by Methuen/Bloomsbury). They previously won the OTR National Radio Drama Award and the Harry Porter Prize. Powell was selected for the BBC Words First spoken word programme, is an Arts Council England/BBC New Creative and his short audio drama Love Beyond the Zoo will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in September 2021.
What inspired you to write this piece?
Powell: I had an image in my head. A teenager in school uniform in the pale light of the morning, standing on a train platform, but not going to school, terrified. They weren’t paranoid – they were right to be afraid.
It all came from there – from unpicking that image.
Can you tell us about the play?
Powell: It’s about two teenagers, Ant and Daize, who are on different sides of a county line. Daize’s mum is an addict, and her house is being taken over as a site to shift gear from, and Ant is a cocksure teenager running the line down from the city.
They’re natural enemies. Teenagers in an impossible situation. They might be each other’s only hope of escape.
What are you looking forward to during the tour and production?
Powell: I can’t wait to have work on the road that’s being listened to by audiences. I’m so excited it’s going to tour. I’ve never had theatre work that will have been to so many different brilliant venues, from An Tobar to Belfast to Canterbury, and that’s just the ABCs.
The production itself was a joy. Having a piece of work out there always sparks new things for me, so I’ll be listening and thinking and seeing what ideas come bubbling to the surface. It’s always surprising.
What can an audience expect to get from listening to the three audio plays?
Powell: I can’t wait to hear Nkenna and Tajinder’s pieces. There will be laughter, tears, and hopefully some things which echo with an audience a long time after they’ve left the theatre.
For more information on Papatango New Writing Prize plays visit https://papatango.co.uk/new-writing-prize/
