'Fun House' makes the National Theatre's longlist

Congratulations to Year 10 student, Eve Messervy (M5), whose play, Fun House, has been longlisted for the National Theatre's New Views competition - an annual playwriting programme for 14 - 19 year olds.

Every year, hundreds of students from across the UK learn about playwriting from some of the finest writers in the industry and write their own 30-minute plays. One play will then be selected to be produced at the National Theatre with a professional cast and crew, alongside rehearsed readings of the shortlisted plays.

We wish her every luck in the competition and look forward to hearing how she progresses.

Here's an extract from Eve's work:

Act 1 scene 1 
[In a theme park in the north of England, big wild crowds of people having fun. Huge roller coasters are whizzing past, faint screams are heard. Within the crowd is a father and a daughter snaking through the people holding hands, Peter and Emmy. Emmy has a huge candy floss in her hand.] 
Emmy: Father! Again, again! Please please pleaaaassee! 

Peter: Oh c’mon Em, we’ve been on that ride four times already, why don’t we try something else. [He rummages through his pockets and pulls out a handful of fairground tokens, he mumbles to himself counting how many there are] Five, six! [He looks around at all the surrounding rides] Em, the fun house is only five tokens, wanna go on that? 

[On the side is a faded yellow building, no windows, balconies or even noise coming from within.] 

Emmy: [looks with confusion] Father, that doesn’t look very fun, Lucy showed me a picture of a fun house when she went to France, aren’t there supposed to be lots of balconies with moving stairs and big foam things hanging from the ceiling? I 

Peter: Well I’m guessing it’s all inside, c’mon let’s see if it’s open. 
 
[They push through a big heavy door and come into a small white room with a locked door in front. Peter tries persistently to open the door, soon after he gives up and looks at Emmy, as they turn to walk out a small hatch slides open and an eye pops through scanning them] 
 
Peter: Who are you? What kind of practical joke is this? [Emmy latches on to her father’s body] 

Dr. Abbott: Don’t be alarmed [He unlocks the door and welcomes them in with a friendly gesture. The man is tall and slim with thick rimmed glasses, he is wearing a long white coat with smart black shoes.]  

Emmy: Is this the fun house? [She chews on her nails] 

Peter: Yes, what is this place? [There is a hint of nervousness in his voice] 

Dr. Abbott [He locks the door behind them and turns to Peter] Hello, my name is Dr. Abbott, and no, this is not a fun house. This is the place where I have been working on my experiment, I have dedicated my life to reveal the answer to my theory, and you will help me get there.  

Peter: [He squints his eyes with suspicion, he collects himself and calmly speaks] This is absurd, let us out now or I’ll have to call the police. 

Dr. Abbott: I’m afraid that will be rather difficult in here [Peter pulls his phone out to discover no signal, Dr. Abbott grins, and he becomes nervous]  

Peter: What kind of joke is this, let us out now! 

Dr. Abbott: Please sir, remain clam, I will explain everything. [They walk through a white corridor, everything sterile and neat. There are twelve doors along the corridor, ten of them have a sign on the front with a three digit number on it. Each door has a closed hatch and a little window, also covered.] 

Peter: What are all these doors for? Who are you? I demand you answer me!