THE Edit, a new play by Poole-based BBC writer Sarah Gordon, shows at Lighthouse, Poole on Thursday, May 9.

In many ways it brings Sarah back to where it all started for her…

“One of the first things I did was a summer writing and acting course at Lighthouse,” she says. “I actually managed to break my foot on stage – clearly an early warning to follow writing rather than acting…!”

Set in the turbulent world of modern romance, The Edit is a gripping new play about forgiveness, love and self-preservation – and about discovering who we really are… all over again.

The story follows Nick and Elena. He loved her and she loved him, but their relationship was a disaster. The Edit unfolds in real time, a year after they broke up, as they desperately try to unpick where things went wrong and decide whether they could – or should – take another chance on each other.

Sarah Gordon is is a graduate of the National Film and Television School and now writes for both stage and screen. She is currently developing her TV series We Listen to Podcasts for BBC3 with Big Talk Productions and Flies with Drama Republic. Over the past two years her scripts have been nominated for Channel Four’s 2016 Coming Up scheme, The Old Vic 12 and the Bruntwood Award. Her play Figures was a Theatre Fest West finalist in 2017 and was subsequently workshopped for a week at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which continues to support her work.

“I’ve gone quite a traditional route into writing and I’m a massive believer in first getting the right qualifications and training, but knowing that those qualifications aren’t actually going to get you very far in terms of work is quite crucial,” she says. “For ages I thought the process of writing was just about that, the writing, but you have to be really active (and confident, which can be hard) about creating opportunities for yourself. For instance, it was me that found and contacted Folio Theatre to put on The Edit together rather than the other way around and it’s proving to be a really wonderful partnership.”

*The Edit, The Sherling Studio, Lighthouse, Poole, Thursday, May 9, 8pm. Call the box office for tickets.