A new joint venture for Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Malvern Theatres and The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, are collaborating on an ambitious new development programme to identify and foster new industry professionals and offer them a platform to showcase their work for a wider audience.
3CTH 2026 STAGE WRITING COMPETITION
The winner of the Three Counties Talent Hub 2026 stage writing competition has been announced.
The Hand of Sarah Nelmes
by Martin Lytton
Martin Lytton’s new play is the winner of the Three Counties Talent Hub playwriting competition 2026. It tells the story of milkmaid Sarah Nelmes and her part in the discovery of the original smallpox vaccination. This runs in parallel with a plot about the discovery of the COVID vaccination.
This stage writing competition is a unique opportunity to explore the untold stories of women in the rural Three Counties (Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire), bringing first to the page and then to the stage the complex and dynamic lives experienced by those in our communities, either today, tomorrow, or looking back in history.
The competition follows on from 3CTH’s successful launch in 2025, which saw Cathie Rolinson’s play In Veritas performed to excellent reviews at both Malvern Theatres and the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.