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News editor turned playwright sees first play debut on stage

Sarah HamiltonA news editor turned playwright has seen her first full-length play debut on the London stage.

Sarah Hamilton, formerly of the Reading Post, saw a longer adaptation of her award-winning short play CHEW enjoy a three night run over the weekend.

Sarah, left, was previously news editor of the Post for seven years, leaving in December 2014 after publisher Trinity Mirror closed its print edition.

During her time at Reading as a reporter and news editor, Sarah made three trips to Afghanistan and Iraq with British forces stationed there and also freelanced for the Sunday Times, The Sun and the Independent on Sunday.

CHEW, which was inspired and influenced by Sarah’s experiences as a war reporter, won the London Horror Festival 2015 playwriting competition and was performed three times as a full-length piece from Friday to Sunday at Camden’s Etcetera Theatre.

Sarah told HTFP: “I am incredibly excited about the progress I have made in developing my playwriting since leaving full-time reporting, and I hope it will be the start of great things.

“But I will never leave journalism and am cherishing my freelance career, while pursuing my other great love. Journalism is indeed a rich source of material to inspire dramatic work.”

Prior to the 11 years she spent at the Post as reporter and news editor, Sarah worked for the Wokingham Times between 2001 and 2003.

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  • February 3, 2016 at 9:39 pm
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    “War reporter”? I think not. Perhaps she can explain a little more! War reporter suggests she was in a combat zone with bullets being fired around her.

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  • February 5, 2016 at 8:22 am
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    Harsh that Observer, do war reporters actually do that or do they just like to give the impression that they are? ‘War Reporting’ in Iraq usually meant riding in a tank with George Clooney

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