Author profile – Justine Cope
We are pleased to introduce another of our playwrights, Justine Cope. We currently have two one-act plays available for performance, both aimed at youth groups, ‘Scratching the Surface’ and ‘The Trial of Rattenfanger’
Justine is a Creative Arts and Drama Practitioner, Director and Lecturer in Education. Her passion for writing stems from her love of creativity and devising, scripting and directing drama, theatre and arts projects. She works with numerous educational settings and arts organisations to design and deliver creative provision, in addition to being a Creative Director of Fusion Performance Arts, in Staffordshire.
Justine has written several award-winning One-Act Plays for Youth/Young Performers which have been performed as part of The All England Theatre Festival including ‘Scratching the Surface’ and ‘From Ashes to Coals’.
Scratching the Surface
Set in an underground bunker, we follow a group of young apocalyptic ‘survivors’ with dreams of urban exploration as they delve into the past to make sense of the future. They are guided by two adults referred to only as ‘The Wise’. But who are the Wise and are they hiding something? And what of Nostradamus and the quatrains? Do they really hold the key to the downfall of the Relics (Adults) and the success of the New World?
Winner ‘Best Original Play’, Tamworth Hastilow One Act Play Festival, 2017
The Trial of Rattenfanger
‘The Trial of Rattenfanger’ is a one-act play which uses a range of documentary sources, poetry and verse to explore the story of the Pied Piper. The piece presents possible solutions to the loss of 130 children from the town of Hamelin, Saxony, Germany as charted in the towns scriptures and depicted in the stained-glass window commissioned for Hamelin church in 1300 which was later destroyed by fire.