A BURNLEY playwright has secured a place in the final of an international competition.

Anna Clarkson is down to the last three of Amnesty International’s “Protect the Human” contest, with the winner in line for a £3,000 first prize.

She reached the last stage of the competition with the second part of a Burnley inspired trilogy called ‘There’s Loads of Them in Burnley, Thais.’

Anna said: "Burnley is now my inspiration, I write about Burnley as itself and as a metaphor for post-feminist, post-socialist, hedonistic Britain.

“I look at the people I see in Burnley and I make up stories. I add rigorous research."

The competition received scripts from Europe, the USA and Africa, with writers asked to make human rights issues real and relevant to the audience.

Topics ranged from domestic violence, sexual abuse in orphanages and the human cost of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Anna’s play is directed by Charlotte Gwinner and explores Burnley culture in the 21st century.

Actors Emma Cuniffe and Dylan Brown took part in the reading of the play at the Soho Theatre on Monday.

The winner of the competition will be announced on Tuesday December 9 and it will then be read simultaneously at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hollywood actor and Protect the Human Competition judge, said: “What I find so exciting about this competition is that it harnesses the power of theatre to explore and make sense of human rights issues by providing a high quality platform for dynamic and imaginative plays."

Amnesty International UK Director, Kate Allen added: “As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, what better opportunity than to explore human rights topics through creativity and drama?”