On the 26th of November 2020, BBC World Services and the British Council announced the winning entries for its 2020 International Playwriting Competition.
The winning entries included The Snowman by Neil Flynn from Ireland and The Passport by Ainur Karim from Kazakhstan respectively.
Blurb of The Snowman
Inspired in part by Irish polar explorer Tom Crean’s efforts to save a sick crew member during his first Antarctic expedition, ‘The Snowman’ tells of an Antarctic explorer’s desperate attempts to make it back to base camp with two colleagues. A lyrical monologue.
Blurb of The Passport
A student finds a passport and against a background of increasing social unrest and familial disagreement, tries to decide whether to return it to the lawyer it belongs to. A family comedy with political resonance.
For the full list follow this link.
Chinelo Mgbeadichie’s ‘A game like chess’ came under the list of Commended entries. See below.
Synopsis of A Game like Chess
NNEOMA NJIDEKA is a Nigerian youth and single mother of a 7 years old girl, AMANDA NJIDEKA. She is a fashion designer and a fashion blogger. The story revolves around her business and struggles to survive against the odds of power and wealth.
Microsoft Word – SYNOPSIS A GAME LIKE CHESS.doc
Her clothing store NIMORE COUTURE is near a canal in Alapere and there is a paint factory not too far away, SORA NIGERIA LTD that always discharges its waste into the carnal. She and her neighbour BANKE, who runs a catering business have complained severally but the owner, MR. GERALD ASOMUGWA, will not bulge, all he is concerned about is the profit he saves and makes.
In her struggle to gain traction in her business, Nneoma takes the matter up personally and goes as far as taking it up to the Chairman of the Local government area but there, not only does money speak, the secretaries will not allow her access to the chairman. Some of her customers have refused to come to her shop because of the smell in the area and she is losing clients.
She is also a polluter in that she throws refuse on the ground in her daily life but she cannot see how she contributes to the harm in the environment.
In the course of the story we follow the track of a plastic bottle she had thrown on the floor on her way from her daughter’s school and it goes from the floor to her daughters food and she soon realise she is really no different from the company. Her boyfriend JAMES OLISA is also a polluter, he is one of those who wait for the rain to dump their garbage in the carnal adding to the problems in the area, he is also a social media influencer.
Nneoma complains about the paint factory and her boyfriend encourages her to use social media to fight Mr. Gerald who has now come to subtly threaten her. She takes to social media to rant about how this pollution has affected her. The state government comes to the rescue and compels
Sora to clean up the carnal. It is a checkmate situation as she realises that she must be strategic if she must win the money in balance.
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