THE world premiere of Sherbet opened at the Octagon Theatre last night.

The play by Sarah McDonald Hughes and Curtis Cole, was one of the winning entries submitted for the National Octagon Prize which celebrates new writing for the stage. It will be staged in Studio as part of the Octagon’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

As well as writing the play, winner of the Writer's Guild Award 2018, Sarah and co-writer Curtis are both starring in the two-hander as brother and sister Jade and Nathan growing up in Moss Side in Manchester.

Sarah, is an actor and writer from Manchester and her new play How to be a Kid, was winner of the Best Play for Young Audiences at the prestigious Writer’s Guild Award and will tour will tour nationally with Paines Plough’s Roundabout.

Sarah also wrote and performed in the Monkeywood production Multi Story, which was performed during the Octagon’s REVEAL season in 2016 on top of the NCP car park, and was nominated for a Manchester Theatre Award.

She said: "We were both surprised and delighted when the Octagon picked Sherbet for the National Octagon Prize and can’t wait to share Jade and Nathan’s story with audiences in Bolton.

"The play has been a long time in the thinking and writing and it’s so exciting to be finally working towards a performance.

Curtis added: "For me Sherbet is the exploration of childhood and when that stops, at what point are we responsible for our own destiny? At what point can we stop looking at the past as the reason we are who we are? But more than that, it is the exploration of unheard voices."

The National Octagon Prize, set up by artistic director Elizabeth Newman in 2015, celebrates new writing for the stage.

Elizabeth, who directed the play, said: "It is vital for theatres to support new writing, so we can present fresh, new and important stories to our audiences and Sherbet is a great example of this. We were, overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of the submissions for the prize, and Sarah and Curtis’s play stood out as a powerful and emotional story about childhood, families and relationships."

Sherbet runs until March 10.