THE Five Seasons brings together one writer, one new company, one gallery, four performances, five plays, five directors and 14 actors in York.

From Monday to Thursday, Off The Rock Productions present Matthew Wignall's quintet of shorts in the back room at According To McGee, the Tower Street gallery that was also among the 15 venues for this month's Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

"I wanted to explore the way in which external forces, be they the repressive legislation of a totalitarian regime or suffocating social conventions, act upon individual will," says playwright Matthew.

"It's still a painfully depressing fact that one’s gender, ethnicity, social class, learning ability, nationality or, to put it more succinctly, accident of birth, will do much to shape the opportunities, or indeed lack of, that pervade a person’s life.

"I thought the passing of the seasons would be an interesting analogy to use as these social forces act on humanity in much the same way as the seasons shape our environment."

Matthew himself directs the Spring play, Ash, Embers and Make-Up; James J Osman, the Summer piece, On A Beach; Anna-Siobhan Lewis, Autumn's The Goldfish Bowl; Tom Straszewski, the Winter work, Quare; and Sarah Cotterill, the play for the fifth season of Renewal, entitled Centricity.

"Spring's Ash, Embers And Make-up is all about beginnings while Autumn'sThe Goldfish Bowl sees the losing of friends and an old way of life as a tree sheds its leaves," says Matthew.

"I wanted to include a fifth season, known here as ‘Renewal’, represented by Centricity, to underline the way in which history repeats itself and that the seasons are not a straight line but a cycle that brings us right back where we started."

Matthew describes his plays as dark, fantastical pieces. "At their heart, however, they're also comedies, so hopefully The Five Seasons will also be very funny," he says.

"My work is very much open to interpretation, so it was very important that each play – or season – had its own director who would have complete autonomy to interpret the work as they see it," he says.

Explaining his choice of directors, Matthew says: "Anna-Siobhan Lewis and Tom Straszewski are two of the best directors I’ve worked with and to have them on board, directing The Goldfish Bowl and Quare respectively, is fantastic.

"Sarah Cotterill was new to me but I’d heard great things about her and I have to say that I’ve been absolutely astounded by her work on Centricity. The precocious James J. Osman makes his directorial debut on On A Beach and his enthusiasm and willingness to experiment is seemingly boundless. I’m learning a lot from them all, so hopefully I’ll do a decent job directing Ash, Embers And Make-Up."

Mick Liversidge, a stalwart of many musical theatre productions, will be making his "straight" acting debut alongside fellow cast members Barbara Gravil; Daniel Wilmot; Imogen Ruby Little; Teej Jackson; Richard Easterbrook; Jo Wragg; Six Lips Theatre founder member Anna Rose James; Hedgepig Theatre’s Gemma Curry; Matt Pattison; Anna Rogers; Jayne Allanach; director Sarah Cotterill and Matthew Wignall himself. Sound design is by Dan Sparrow.

When Matthew wrote the plays, he pictured them taking place in a white void with no definitive sense of a setting or time.

"According To McGee's white cube art gallery is the perfect performance space," he says.

"It's very intimate and because we're keeping props down to a minimum in an effort to maximise the space, it means that the foreboding yet somehow still ethereal soundscapes that Dan Sparrow has created will play a huge part in setting the scene while marrying the plays together as a whole. The fact that this is the first time According To McGee has been used as a venue for live theatre makes it all the more exciting."

In Matthew's day job, he works with adults with learning disabilities, who will be playing their part too.

"I’m delighted to say that each evening one of the people I support will have a paid role working as part of the hospitality team serving drinks – there’s one free with every ticket – and handing out programmes," he says.

"£1 from every ticket sold will go to United Response, a charity that supports people with learning disabilities and mental-health needs to live in the community."

Looking ahead, Matthew says: "Off the Rock Productions is a new production company that aims to promote new writing. The Five Seasons is our debut production and hopefully the first of many. In the meantime, you can find more information about the company on our Facebook page."

Tickets cost £8 http://ticketsource.co.uk/offtherockproductionsticketsource.co.uk/offtherockproductions. Doors open from 7pm; plenty of time to claim your free drink.

You can follow the progress of Off The Rock Productions at
facebook.com/pages/Off-the-Rock-Productions/