Sanctuary

And I think of all the things I could say
that would protect him, to warn him, so he
wouldn't make the mistakes I made. I wish
that someone older and wiser than me
would have told me what to do, where I am
meant to go. We didn't have anyone to ask,
no elders, no blueprint.
Sanctuary, the debut play from Jacob Sparrow, is the winner of the inaugural Leodis Prize, a new playwriting competition with Methuen Drama as publishing partner. This beautiful, evocative play is set in a Suffolk village in the early 90s alongside the AIDS epidemic. Told from the perspective of a man who has come to stay, Sanctuary explores his relationship with the people in the village and the confrontation with his own mortality. It is a play about loneliness and the places we go within ourselves when we feel alone, the legacy we leave behind and the things we would tell ourselves to do differently if we could.
Sanctuary is about safety and where we allow ourselves to feel safe.
This edition was published to coincide with the production at Pleasance Dome at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2026.

Jacob Sparrow is a casting director and writer. He was was part of the Emerging Writers Group at the Royal Court in 2025, and his first play Sanctuary won the inaugural Leodis prize and will be produced in summer 2026 and published by Methuen Drama.