Tip Tray Event – What Happens Next? –  Thursday 18th January 2024

What Happens Next? is a playwriting competition, pitting writers, directors, actors – entire theatre companies against each other to produce the most engaging, compelling and gripping first 20 minutes of a play that’s possible to make.

The premise makes a lot of sense: if the audience aren’t completely invested within that time, why should they persevere? If your head isn’t spinning with questions, if you aren’t kept awake at night mulling over the twists and turns that play could take beyond those first scenes, then quite simply, you’ve failed the competition.

Following on from last year’s epic success of the three-night spectacular, Tip Tray Theatre has well and truly earned its place on Hope Street’s 2024 programme. This time round sees six play segments performed over two nights. Each night, the audience and the judges get to vote for the play they want to see return to the stage. These plays are invited back for the grand final on Saturday 20th January, when there can only be one winner, the one play Tip Tray Theatre will launch as a full theatre piece with the help of Papatango.

Play 1: Kill, Boom, Stop & Run Written by Dominic Quinn, directed by Sophie Compton

The first play to kick off night one was Kill, Boom, Stop & Run.

Davo and Jonjo are spending a night under the stars in “Wirral Woods”, overlooking the River Mersey, New Brighton Beach and the Liverpool Skyline. A fine chance for two best mates to catch up over a beer – except that someone forgot to bring said beverage - and a tent. Reliving memories of threesomes with soap stars in Pop World, or somewhere, with the help of a couple of scantily clad bearded actors to re-enact the meet-cute (why let the truth get in the way of a good story) everything seems light-hearted and jovial – except beneath the jokes lie secrets each friend has to own up to. Their mutual pal Mickey is dead – the circumstances are unclear, and for some unknown reason, one of the friends has hired a hitman – and he’s not been able to call the hit off.

The drama is interrupted by a couple of strange visitors, a drunken Tranmere Rovers fan and a wandering traveller armed with alcohol. Finally, a climax that creeps up on us from nowhere: it seems as though the hitman has found the four men.

If you want jokes a-plenty, fighting and intrigue, then this play might be for you. The conversation is fast-paced, the jokes are well-understood by anyone who is familiar with the rivalry between Liverpudlians and Wirralians, and it’s well set-up within the first twenty minutes as a lead into a longer play. The acting was strong throughout, pacy with comic timing and they used their physicality to good effect, for example with the dancing soap stars and the fight scene.  There are definitely questions that need answering, but with the abundance of action on stage, I didn’t feel invested enough in the relationship to want to know enough about what happens next.

Play 2: A Submarine for Mice Written by Paddy Clarke, directed by Paul Goetzee

Sean is homeless and carries around a red toy submarine. He chats to this submarine, addressing the Admiral. His sister has kindly brought him dinner in a shopping bag, inside which is a little mouse: a friend for the Admiral. Cut to the next scene and we’re now inside the submarine, hearing the innermost thoughts of two rodents, one dressed up as an admiral, steering (not piloting) the submarine. The Admiral is fiercely at odds with her humanoid “kraken”, paranoid about spies, and suffers delusions of grandeur while her Scouse counterpart is frank, witty and generally more accustomed to outdoor spaces. Back on the outside, Sean strikes up a friendship with an employee of the restaurant near Sean’s makeshift home. They bond over a few cans of beer in the park, where it is revealed why he keeps mice in a submarine and exactly why he doesn’t go indoors.

The staging was simple with two blocks. The overall effect was created more with small props and signs than with staging, although the lighting differentiated the human world from the submarine interior. As theatre goers, we’re used to seeing a lot of realism on stage, so it felt refreshing to have a pair of comedy mice (beautifully portrayed by Anna Miller and Abbey Fitzhenry) with a tense relationship, questioning their lot, forced to share a space with each other and resenting eating apple every day. The first twenty minutes answered a lot of my questions and I wasn’t sure what direction the story would take after that, although it promises to be a charming tale.

Play 3: When Things Fall Apart Written by Adam Stevens, directed by Patrick McConville

Two young chaps in a shared “apartment” (definitely not a flat) talk about love, and not necessarily the kind you find in a Jane Austen novel. Steven is straight dancer and has just spent the night with Briony, but he got so drunk, he thinks he’s seeing double, and can’t even remember her name. Also, he freely admits his performance in the bedroom is definitely hindered while under the influence – TMI for his flatmate. Dan, on the other hand, is gay and spends all his time on Grindr meeting men for casual liaisons. Despite their cavalier attitudes to love, we see the beginnings of a connection for both, with Dan’s resolve put to the test by Norman, a dapper neurologist who’s on Grindr to find a relationship - and never has sex before the third date – a somewhat unfamiliar concept to Dan.

This kitchen sink piece would be perfect for screen. As a lot of it is conversation-based, it set up the relationships well. We’re intrigued as to how it might go with Briony and we buckle ourselves in for an emotional roller coaster. Dan’s curiosity is piqued by Norman and there’s definitely scope for romance there. But has the writer given too much away too early? The first twenty minutes hasn’t allowed for much tension to creep in. On the other hand, the conversation between the two men felt very long. Had that scene been halved, there might have been room to build to a dramatic climax. Having said all that, this was my pick of the night. The dialogue was witty, the acting was on point and I felt invested enough emotionally in the characters to want to get to know them better, and especially to find out what’s wrong with Steven.

The winners

The audience vote: A Submarine for Mice

The audience were decidedly charmed by the mice – a quick chat in the Arts Bar with a fellow audience member revealed he felt “shocked”, as it was sufficiently different to surprise them, homing in on the inner world of the mice as well as the dark revelations in the human world.

The judge’s vote: Kill, Boom, Stop & Run

I can’t presume to know what’s going on in the heads of the judges, but it appears they enjoyed the mix of dramatic ingredients in Kill, Boom, Stop & Run.

You can see both of these once again on Saturday evening from 7.30pm along with the finalists from Friday evening. All round, a lovely evening of entertainment and a great warm up for Saturday’s much-anticipated showcase.

Written by, Kirsten Hawkins