In this interview, former teacher Sean McMahon tells us about his love of writing - and what persuaded him to enter the Titchfield Festival Theatre New Playwright Competition last autumn.

Simon: Well done, Sean on winning the competition! Our patrons would love to get to know you better. Tell us more.

Sean: Thank you! I was born and live in Liverpool with my partner and two children. I’ve been writing on and off for the past ten years or so: two self-published young-adult novels, short stories and a couple of short plays were performed before the pandemic. It has only really been during the past six months or so I’ve started to write again seriously after a two-year break. In the past, I have lived and worked in London, Greece and Germany. However, most of my working life has been spent as a secondary English teacher in Liverpool. After a decade or so teaching, I left the profession after the birth of my daughter to become a stay-at-home dad, and also to spend more time with my young son. It was during this period I first began to write. In February I am beginning the Playwright Development Programme at the Royal Court Theatre here in Liverpool, something which I’m thoroughly looking forward to – the aim of which is to produce a full-length play by September.

Simon: What persuaded you to enter last year's contest?

Sean: I saw the Titchfield competition on Playwriting UK’s Facebook page. The main reason I entered my play was to use the competition deadline as an impetus to complete the script for Taking Liberties, rather than with any thought of ever being successful. I had a draft completed by August and gave myself three weeks or so in September to finish the script before the deadline day. It never occurred to me that it could actually win. Or even be shortlisted for that matter. It was only when I met with a director here in Liverpool in December and we were planning to enter the script in a fringe scratch event to showcase the opening twenty minutes of the play, I first received any feedback about the script. He was very positive and I sent him the full script to read. A day or two later Titchfield Theatre’s email arrived out of the blue… And I was, and still am, completely flabbergasted.

Simon: What's the story behind Taking Liberties?

Sean: The central issue that connects the two characters in the play is based upon a real-life situation and, I would argue, a violation of the affected women’s human rights. Although this is a work of fiction, you can find real-world examples of all the events depicted in the play. I don’t want to give too much away, as this issue is the central revelation and determines how the play unfolds, leading to other revelations which tie the two characters even more closely together. To my knowledge, the issue at the heart of my play has been touched upon in two BBC television dramas and at least one stage play I know of – but haven’t seen. Yet, strangely, I think this ‘scandal’ is still greatly misunderstood and it’s not been fully appreciated what has happened to these women. It’s also troubling that nobody has really been held accountable for what they have done. The title hints at other events in the play, too, but Taking Liberties is emblematic, if you like, of the wider erosion of civil liberties over the previous thirty years or more here in the UK.

Simon: And what about the two characters in the play?

Sean: Through the drama's action, the two characters we see at the start of the play are nothing like the characters we witness at the end of the play. The first two scenes are a bit of purposeful misdirection, I suppose. We open with an older man, Leo – a professor of criminology – and a younger female student, Maya, meeting at the professor’s country cottage in the scenic Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Initially, we are led to believe it’s going to be that sort of play…Maya is there to present her research to an older academic, the wine is flowing freely and there appears to be a growing bond between the two of them. However, an incident at the end of the second scene propels the play in a completely different direction. Maya reveals the real reason for her presence and, furthermore, what her real research is focused upon: the professor himself and what he did back in the 1990s. We begin to see Maya in a different light, too, as her experiences – a world away from the comforts of the university campus – are explored and it gives us further insight into her actions.

The play is structured so that it gradually builds towards an intense, emotional climax, and I hope the audience feels the growing tension of this pressure-cooker drama. I hope, with each new revelation, they begin to see these characters more clearly and understand how they have arrived at their present situation. Despite being an intimate two-hander in a modern setting, in terms of themes, ideas and how the story reveals itself, it’s quite a traditional drama. In many ways, it’s a play about that most human of instincts – the desire for revenge. To right an injustice.

Simon: The play sounds really interesting, with some great dialogue and interaction between the characters. What do you think you will feel when the curtain finally goes up on opening night?

Sean: I expect when the curtain first goes up I will be tremendously nervous and overcome with excitement. The idea of seeing these characters – who have so far only existed in my head or on the page – fully formed, flesh and blood, speaking the lines I’ve written...Wow! I think it will be quite overwhelming. As well as the realisation of a long-held ambition to see a full-length play of mine on the stage. I can’t thank Titchfield Theatre highly enough for giving writers like myself – with little experience and background in theatre-making – a chance to have scripts judged on their merits and also given this fantastic opportunity to have their work staged. Even if I hadn’t been successful, the fact that such writing competitions exist gives emerging and inexperienced writers a purpose and a focus to finish and submit pieces of work. And that can only be a good thing.

Taking Liberties opens in the Acorn Theatre on Monday 20 February until Saturday 25 February. You can buy your tickets here.