Hull writer Lydia Marchant's latest play Mumsy to be staged at Hull Truck Theatre

“It was great growing up in Hull in terms of arts opportunities; I doubt I would be a playwright if I had not grown up in Hull,” says Marchant. Even with the title of UK City of Culture in 2017, there have always been those – outside of Yorkshire –who questioned the artistic prowess of the East Riding city by the sea. This despite the names Godber, Plater and university librarian Larkin all being associated with the city.

Marchant is clear: Hull was absolutely instrumental in her current writing career.

“As a child I was really into writing, English was my favourite subject and so when my mum read in the Hull Daily Mail that Hull Truck Theatre was running a competition for the Young Writer’s Festival, I really wanted to apply. I had to write a 15-minute play that would then be performed by the youth theatre, which I think is cool because the hardest thing about being a playwright is you need someone to perform your work too. After that, Hull Truck started a writer’s group led by local writer Morgan Sproxton, which was where I really learned how to write for theatre.”

Marchant’s journey includes a moment that provided a turbo-boost to her career – when she was selected for the BBC Writers’ Academy – but this moment, seeing her first full-length play at the theatre where it all began, is significant for her.

The play, Mumsy, is set in a one-bed flat in Hull where Sophie, Rachel and Linda are three women who battle through the friendship, drama and love of mother-daughter relationships.

“Hull Truck was the first theatre I ever went to; my birthday is on the 23rd of December so my birthday trip with my friends would always be to go and see the Hull Truck Christmas show,” says Marchant. “I was also an usher at the theatre, which was the best possible job, being able to see all the theatre that was coming in gave me loads of inspiration.

"To go from watching plays in the main house to having my own play on is crazy. When I was 18 and because I was a young writer in residence, artistic director Mark Babych said I could come into rehearsals for his production of A Taste of Honey and I remember fantasising about one day being in that rehearsal room with one of my own plays. I always dreamed of it happening and now it is.”

Marchant’s Mumsy has been on something of a journey, having taken five years to make it to the stage.

“The theatre’s associate director Tom Saunders took me for a coffee after reading a very early draft of Mumsy and told me honestly what bits he felt were working and what parts to focus on a little more. Tom knows that writers are very self-conscious about their work but he also knows the right questions to ask to help you make it better,” she says. “Being part of the Grow Festival at Hull Truck, where Mumsy was first put in front of audiences, was a scary process. Fortunately people laughed at jokes and it was a positive experience - although there were some complaints about the swearing.”

It’s at this point in the story that Marchant’s tale really starts to provide inspiration to aspiring writers. “After the reading of Mumsy at the festival, I sent it to the BBC to apply for a scheme called the BBC Writers Academy, which I was accepted onto. From there I was able to go on to write one episode of Holby, an episode of Casualty and an episode of Eastenders. I absolutely loved it and have since written more for Casualty and Eastenders.

“For writers in Hull there are lots of opportunities at the minute. I’d say take every opportunity you can and be resilient: the same script I submitted to the BBC Writers Academy got lots of rejections elsewhere. I’d say you have to keep going, keep learning, hold on to why you wrote the play in the first place and keep believing you’ve got stories that are worth telling.”

Mumsy, Hull Truck, March 2-25.