The script’s perfect! Of course it is. Why would it not be? It’s the best version of it there’s been. Until you reach the Read Through session, that is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful opportunity to have professional actors read your work, bring life and nuance to your words. And that’s when it hits you: the script is not perfect. It’s far from perfect. Pass the binoculars…we’ve some distance yet to go.
Read MoreMore often than not, it happens that I am involved in a project and wonder “how did I end up doing this?"
A couple of years ago between lockdowns, me, Jill Korn and Lorenzo Novani had an idea about developing a filmed theatre event. The idea arose in response to what seemed then a plethora of online theatre events. The ones I saw had suffered due to the medium in which they were presented: online buffering (and any piece which starts with “can you hear me?” loses a lot of the magic of theatre).
Read MoreThere is always a tendency in my writing to give agency to those who seemingly have none. My play Dance The Colour Blue is about loss: of companionship, of love, of identity. What does it mean to be so absorbed by another that you can become as easily subsumed as the air that they breathe? You become a void: a repository into which any hint of a notion or scintilla of an idea can be tossed. All of it equally able to stick. Not a single joule of resistive energy anywhere to be found. Literature is littered with such examples - and they are overwhelmingly women. Take Shakespeare’s Cordelia in King Lear, or Ophelia in Hamlet, or so many supporting females in contemporary dramas able be replaced by a ‘sexy lamp’ without impacting the narrative. Or Penelope in Homer’s The Odyssey. Often seen as enigmatic, Penelope is the centre of the mythological strand of Dance The Colour Blue,
Read MoreA few years ago, I wrote a play that never saw the light of day. It was… not intentional, utterly frustrating and entirely enlightening. As I tend to write with a theme in mind, I conduct a considerable amount of research which often is more enjoyable than it sounds. However, it is always a job to ensure any research does not extrude from the narrative. The analogy of a double decker bus works best: top deck travels the story; inside travels the message. On this occasion, it didn't work: the play upon reflection didn't seem to hang.
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