AT 19, promising York playwright and director Alexander Gerald Wright is taking two productions to the Edinburgh Fringe with his Belt Up (Nothing To See/Hear) student company.

Fresh from the first year of his degree course in writing for performance at the University of York, Alex is heading north with his own play, Tapestry, and a new resurrection of Irvine Welsh's Edinburgh junkie drama Trainspotting (which may be like taking coals to Newcastle, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained).

He has been writing "for years".

"I used to write songs - I play guitar, piano and drums - and I was once in a group called Apologies of The Absent Minded Tapestry, " recalls Alex, whose drumming talents can be heard in White Rose Theatre's Tony! The Blair Musical at the Fringe.

He began to write plays while at Easingwold School, taking his inspiration from the volatile works of Jim Cartwright, Stephen Berkoff, Tim Crouch and Sarah Kane and cutting-edge companies such as DV8.

In 2005, he created his first version of Tapestry, initially using a pseudonym.

"I was initially going to direct Berkoff's The Trial, but then I put forward a work that I'd written under another name, James Evans (which I've since dropped). Once everyone had auditioned and been cast, I told them it was written by me, " he says.

Alex directed a cast of 12 in his premiere of Tapestry.

"It was a massive initiative for the school at the time, and the school was incredibly supportive and still is, " he says.

"We built a big black box theatre in the middle of the hall, which the school had never done before, so the design was in the round with a chess board."

Fast forward to early 2007, in Alex's second term at university, when he received an email from the university drama society asking for plays for the NUTS Drama Festival at Newcastle University.

"I thought I would send off Tapestry. I then forget I'd done it when, a couple of months later, I got a letter saying 'your play has been accepted'. I was thinking, 'What? Where to?'. So that's when I began to trim it."

He has trimmed an hour from the original version. Trimmed to 50 minutes, note, not re-written.

"I have a very odd approach to writing in that I will never write it again, " Alex says.

"I feel it would be wrong to do that because I wrote it when I was growing up in the sixth form and I'll never have those feelings again."

Tapestry addresses typical teenage concerns of love, life, loss, religion and addiction, and is written in a style that seeks to blur the boundaries between traditional theatre and live art happenings, as "six actors lead you through what it means to open your eyes every day, breath in, feel your heart beat and see the world around you".

The play is woven out of poetry, monologues, dialogue and prose, complemented by piano pieces and soundscapes composed by Alex.

"It's written without characters - only two have names - and without a storyline or a plot, " he says, without batting an eyelid.

"The title Tapestry does fit the feel of the play, the design of the play and the way it's written through emotion and feelings.

"That's why Jim Cartwright is a massive influence on me, because in such a short time he can create powerful emotions and images and then they disappear just as quickly, but for that brief moment there is magic."

Alex says audiences will not feel disconnected from his play just because he eschews conventional writing in favour of aggressive physical theatre rubbing up against language.

"I can only write what I know about, and I know there'll be something for everyone to latch on to, " he says. "Some things mean more than the world to me; for someone else, it will be something else, but everyone falls in and out of love, and everyone has arguments, so they'll agree or disagree with what I say.

"I don't know about politics, but I do know what it's like to be a teenager and I want to remind people that it's good to enjoy yourself and not get bogged down."

Then again there's having a good time, and then there's Trainspotting, Alex's second production.

"Some people are saying it's daft for a York company to be doing that play in Edinburgh. Yes, everyone knows the play is Scottish and you have to do it in those accents, but it would be a shame if people just concentrated on that, " he says. "Hopefully it'll be a really exciting production, playing to a lively audience at midnight."

Belt Up (Nothing to See / Hear) presents Tapestry at C SoCo, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, tonight until August 11, 11.20pm; Trainspotting, C Venue, Chambers Street, until August 27, 11.55pm. Box office: 0845 260 1234.

  • DAVID Goodwin, thespian, manager and bon viveur, is leaving Helmsley Arts Centre after eight years to pursue a career on the professional stage.

"Scary, but if I don't do it now, I never will, " says David, who will work under the Equity name of Dominic Goodwin.

First stop for David, sorry Dominic, is the Edinburgh Fringe in the principal role in Ratatat Theatre Company's production of a new Susie Spencer play, Dropping To Zero.

"I tend to embrace my roles with enthusiasm, and my new character, a celebrity chef, is no exception.

Thankfully, Paul at the Black Swan Hotel in Helmsley has been giving me a few culinary tips, " says Dominic, who made his professional bow last night in Spencer's black comedy drama about TV chef Robert and his anorexic, dietcrazed TV weather-girl wife, Candice.

Played by Rebecca Ann Lovell, Candice drops to size zero but winds up in a coma, so why does Robert want her dead? All will be revealed in Stephanie Preacher's production, in which comedy is used to explore more serious issues.

"It's an awful shame when we can't allow the odd tasty treat to pass our lips for fear of putting on weight, " says Dominic, who ironically has slimmed down considerably from his once larger-than-life frame.

York company Ratatat's premiere will be one of 1,500 shows in the 60th year of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Dropping To Zero will be staged daily at Venue 50, C Cubed, Brodie's Close, Lawnmarket, until August 18 at 3.45pm. Box office: 0845 260 1234 or online at www.CtheFestival.com

  • WHITE Rose Theatre, from the University of York, make Government rock in Tony! The Blair Musical, Chris Bush's intimate revue of Tony's Greatest Hits with Blair, Bush, Brown and a barbershop quartet of Tory leaders. James Duckworth plays Tony; Ed Duncan Smith, son of IDS, plays Alastair Campbell, at C Venue, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, until August 27 at 6.20pm. Box office: 0845 260 1234.
  • YORK writer Mike Kenny's musical show for young children, Stepping On The Cracks, is presented by York company Random Angle Arts at Underbelly, Cowgate, Edinburgh, from this week until August 12 at 11am. Beatrice Augusta and Rosy Rowley star in a magical tale of how Billy copes with daily dilemmas when his day goes wonky and only his bear will listen to him. Suitable for undereights. Box office: 0870 745 3083.
  • LOOK out too for more shows from the University of York at Rocket@Demarco Roxy Art House, Roxburgh Place: Strolling Theatricals in Bouncy Castle Macbeth, at 4.40pm, and Concrete Dreams in Beth Pitts' tragicomedy of fantasy and reality, Cricket On The Moon, at 10.15pm. Both run until August 18. Box office: 0871 750 0077.
  • SWEETS, songs and puppetry abound in York company Rubber Duck Theatre's stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me at C Too, St Columba's by the Castle, Johnson Terrace, Edinburgh, until August 27. Performances start at 1.05pm; tickets 0845 260 1234.