Earlier this year, Theatre503 asked people to apply for a place on a team of five new writers taking up residency at the venue and next week those chosen will be showcasing their work for the first time.

All I Want for Christmas is a collection of five funny 10 minute festive themed plays written by the 503Five, Richard Marsh, Rex Obano, Lou Ramsden, Nimer Rashed and Beth Steel, with stories ranging from a serial killer family Christmas to disgruntled elves in Santa's grotto.

"We started the commissioning process back in May," says Dan Coleman, one of the directors putting on the plays.

"We put out a feeler looking for applicants and got more than 200 come through which we then got down to these five.

"What we wanted to do was have writers as part of the theatre, so they will be coming to all the team meetings and have a say in all the different departments.

"They have all been asked to write a first draft of a play for us, one of which will be put on at theatre and we hope to get the others put on somewhere else throughout the course of the year."

The Christmas show was designed as a way to introduce the writers to the theatre and also it's audience, with each of the five coming up with a funny tale to tell.

"They are all supposed to be a light hearted take on the true meaning of Christmas," explains Dan,.

"There is one piece that shows a family having a typical 2.4 children family Christmas that turns out to be a family of serial killers.

"Another one follows two young city types coming back from a mass shopping spree and being accosted by a homeless person, while the third is a sort of parody of the postal strikes with two elves saying they have had enough of working in Santo's grotto.

"Then there is the tensest family Christmas dinner ever where a young woman brings her new boyfriend but all the parents can do is compare him to her previous one.

"The final one is about a young boy who tries to get his parents back together by locking them in a room together then sabotaging their respective relationships, though it doesn't quite work out as he planned."

All I Want for Christmas, Theatre503, Latchmere pub, Battersea Park Road, December 8 to 12, 7.45pm, £10. Call 020 7978 7040 or visit theatre503.com.