Paines Plough reveals writers for Hull 2017 project

Tom Wells, Lydia Marchant and Maureen Lennon

New short plays by Tom Wells and other writers will be staged by Paines Plough in Hull to tie in with it being the UK's City of Culture for 2017.

They are part of the theatre company's Come To Where I'm From programme which, since 2010, has seen writers from across the UK return to their home towns to pen plays about the places that shaped them.

In partnership with Hull Truck Theatre, the latest project also features new work by Lydia Marchant, Maureen Lennon and Joe Hakim.

Run as part of Hull Truck's Grow Festival for developing new artists, the four plays will debut at the theatre on May 24. In the lead-up, more than 130 playwrights will read their plays on the Come To Where I'm From app, free to download on the App Store. The next places to be covered this year will be Glasgow and Gloucester.

Tom Wells is from Kilnsea in Hull and has scored hits with plays such as Jumpers for Goalposts, The Kitchen Sink, Broken Biscuits and Folk. He has also written three pantos for the Lyric Hammersmith and is under commission to The Drum Plymouth, the Royal Court and the National Theatre.

Lydia Marchant from Hessle in Hull is a supported artist at Hull Truck and a member of Soho Theatre’s Writers’ Lab. Her most recent work was Defiance for Hull Truck Youth Theatre.

Hull-based writer and director Maureen Lennon is co-founder of Bellow Theatre. Her most recent work was Bare Skin on Briny Waters for HeadsUp Festival which was part of a Hull City of Culture programme at London's New Diorama Theatre.

Joe Hakim, who lives and works in Hull, is a performance poet. He has also co-hosted and run spoken word events and workshops for Hull Truck.

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