Molly Naylor
Molly Naylor TSL photo credit Robin Mair.jpg

The new show created by a Norwich based TV writer, poet and theatre writer, Molly Naylor, has been nominated for one of the top prizes at the Brighton Festival.

Lights! Planets! People! (promoted previously on iceniPost), written and directed by Molly Naylor, has been shortlisted for the New Writing South Best New Play Award 2019. The eleven-strong shortlist has been selected from over a thousand shows at the Brighton Fringe, the biggest arts festival in England, which stages over 4,500 individual performances.

The Award is presented to a playwright in recognition of an outstanding, original theatre script produced at the festival.

I’m delighted to be shortlisted for this award’ said Molly ‘As a writer it is always great when people connect with the work and in a competitive environment like Brighton Festival, with so many other shows for people to choose from, it is especially welcome.’  

The play, which is performed by Attleborough based actor Karen Hill, has been attracting rave reviews and plaudits as it has toured the country following a London run earlier in the year at the Vault Festival.

Molly Naylor
Lights! Planets! People! Molly Naylor and Karen Hill. Photo Dave Guttridge.

Lights! Planets! People! is described as an Insightful, moving, funny and inspirational take on the interconnected worlds of women, science and space travel. Along the way it encompasses issues around the environment and mental health. 

The show takes place as Maggie, a 60 year old space scientist is giving a lecture to a group of young female students in an effort to interest them in careers in science. In a parallel storyline Maggie is undertaking her first therapy session to discuss issues in her relationship – at which she is at pains to stress that her bipolar disorder is not relevant to the conversation.

Lights! Planets! People! was co-commissioned by Norwich Arts Centre and sold out its performance there last week. It can be seen in Brighton from 26 – 30 May after which it continues to tour the country, returning to the region at Pulse Festival in Ipswich on 3 June and Holt Festival on 24 July. 

Molly Naylor is a scriptwriter, poet, performer and theatre maker who studied at UEA. She co-wrote and created Sky One TV comedy After Hours with John Osborne and wrote and directed short film Callback. She is currently writing I’ll See Myself Out a Creative England/BFI-funded feature film, produced by Jeva Films. She and is co-director of True Stories Live, the live storytelling show that has toured the UK to sell out audiences. Her previous shows include the autobiographical Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You (‘A brave, funny, tough and beautiful piece of writing’ The Guardian) which was later adapted for BBC Radio 4, My Robot Heart and If Destroyed Still True

Her debut poetry collection Badminton is published by Burning Eye. mollynaylor.com