Owain Johnston-Barnes certainly didn't expect it to be a case of history repeating itself as he awaited the name of this year's winner of the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society's 'Famous for 15 Minutes' playwriting competition.

In fact, as he joined the packed audience at Daylesford Theatre on Saturday following his performance in fellow competitor Henry Godfrey's play, 'Chance Encounter', he was certain it would not be him.

The fact that he had won the 2008 competition with his play 'Inter-Mortem' was no reason to suppose that the Golden Inkwell would again be inscribed with his name.

"I wasn't that stressed out because I thought Karenmary Penn's 'The Slip' was probably going to take it, so I thought, 'I'll just relax, and that will be it,' and then the judge called the name of my play."

Mr. Johnston-Barnes' reaction was one of "complete and utter shock".

As he stepped forward to receive the Golden Inkwell and a $250 cash prize, he realised that history was repeating itself, but in a second sense. "I was in the exact same position of two years ago, with nothing prepared to say. You always forget a couple of people to say 'Thank You' to everybody does – so I rambled on for about three minutes, which felt like 20, (and then stopped)."

Mr. Johnston-Barnes' winning play, 'Cockroaches', is summarised as "a post-apocalyptic unromantic comedy. A man and a woman have miraculously survived the apocalypse. Unfortunately for the future of humanity, they're already divorced".

An intriguing concept to be sure, and one which the author says was somewhat inspired by real-life feelings and emotions experienced or witnessed by himself and others.

The idea for the play had been kicking around in his mind for a while before he began writing last summer, but as the work progressed it dawned on him that the proposed scenario wouldn't work, so he set it aside for a while until he suddenly had a 'eureka' moment which led him to take the plot in a different direction, and give it the winner's edge.

As for the title 'Cockroaches', Mr. Johnston-Barnes, who studied theatre, creative writing and journalism in Florida, had previously explained that "it came from the fact that cockroaches are something we think about as basically indestructible.

"They can survive anything, and I think people who are getting married think the same way about their marriages. A few years later they may not feel the same way.

"Here we have a case where not even the cockroaches survived. And no, in this play, the future of the human race doesn't look so great".

For the six finalists in the 'Famous for 15 Minutes' competition, casting and direction are done by others a formula which can ultimately be a revelation to the authors.

In Mr. Johnston-Barnes' case, Nicola Wilkinson and Mike Hind were the actors, Liz Knight directed, and he was delighted with the results.

"I had written the play as two people in a room. For the most part they were playing cards, which sits them at a table.

"Obviously, in the show you can't have two people sitting still all the time, so Liz worked out a lot of blocking, which helped with the problem I had cast," he says. "She also did a lot of work with the lighting. It was fabulous, and with all the cues it was a lot of work for a lot of people who made the lighting happen."

In terms of the actors, Mr. Johnston-Barnes was similarly pleased.

"I was very excited when Nicola was cast, and Mike Hind was fantastic," he says. "It's great to see your words put into action, but even better when you see the audience watch them and respond."

Certainly, visiting judge Ian August (see sidebar) was impressed, and while there were other plays he "liked very much", it was 'Cockroaches' which stood out.

"Owain's play covered all the bases," he said. "It was clever and sweet, but there is a firm reality to these characters. Their relationship is a genuine relationship, and the conversation they have is believable and honest.

"There are moments of humour, and moments of pathos. But more than anything 'Cockroaches' encourages us to believe that even if it seems that everything is at its worst, there is still a ray of hope that emerges through the relationships we have with others. I think that's a lovely and heartfelt message. 'Cockroaches' had all the elements I was looking for."

It was a verdict which fits perfectly with the amateur playwright's approach to his writing.

"I like taking an idea and pushing it as far as it will rationally go," he says. "By pushing to a ridiculous level I think you can pull in more comedy whilst sneaking in honest feelings and emotions."

Not one to rest on his laurels, Mr. Johnston-Barnes has already formulated some ideas for next year's entry, and is also "perpetually working on" a full-length play which he hopes will be staged some day.

Meanwhile, he continues to write on a daily basis as a reporter at The Royal Gazette.