Participants:
Lisa Hammond, Cherylee Houston, Angela Clerkin, Jean St Clare
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
• As a writer I would love to write a play in the future with a disabled character
• But I need a dialogue with disabled people to find out about the content
• Has found interest in people’s (disabled) difficulties but MORE interested in what we have in common
• More interested in what’s going on in the mind
• What about dis/abled bodied people are the same trials / tribulations/ thoughts
• Would an Open Space for writers on this subject interest you as a writer
• YES
• Open Space to explore the language
• To explore disabled people’s opinions / lives
• Challenged by the concept
• Never written a disabled character
• What would that challenge be?
• Is it casting not writing?
• Might not be the thing that you want to focus on as a writer
• But aware that it could be fear – getting it wrong
• Don’t want to get it wrong
• Realise that it’s a challenge that interests me
• Need to know that I’m included as an able-bodied person to come along
• As an able-bodied writer I’d have to be prepared to get it wrong – safe place needed to do so.
• I need my awareness and responsibilities to make other writer’s aware of theirs.
• There could be many strands to this idea of using Open Space to explore this – directors / producers
• Is it the writer’s responsibility to concentrate on that strand? Pass the buck back to the casting director – they then in turn pass the buck back to the writer. The disabled actor doesn’t get seen.
• Write normal scripts, but make one of the characters have a disability in the blurb of the character
• Writer’s can get feedback of showing too much of a breakdown of actual community
Two Solutions
• Cast disabled people in roles non disability specific
• The specific. The disability not being the central storyline, but access info / specifics in the script needed if the character has got a disability.
• If I write a disabled / Deaf character and that story is not played out, then I will be asked why they are there.
• Casting like before disability and after – different casting needs
• Disabled people represented not played out “their real disabled life” the difficulty of it
• Scripts that aren’t focused on disability
• If people don’t have the experience then how are they expected to get it right?
• Lack of information for people who don’t have experience of disability
• Information source
• Speaking to people to get their individual stories and taking credit for it
• Interested in a collaboration
• The first “story” isn’t the best “story”
• TV, film and theatre
• It will be a gift to come to an Open Space on this
• Contact Writer’s Guild, word of mouth, ongoing thing…
• Not only disabled actors some “normal” disabled people with stories and lives
• Could I call a session and ask about people’s first dates?
• Getting it wrong
• What is the question
• Challenging subject
• Different ways of working and approaching and are allowed to get it wrong
• Venue – Jerwood – posher venue attract all
• Be in touch about a “Name” for the Open Space
• Learning from “the old days”
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Friday, 5 February 2010
089 What types of women are we not seeing on stage?
Convener: Mandy Fenton
Participants: Lots…
Some facts, figures, info on survey findings - followed by the summary of D&D discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
1. Gender Equality Duty: -
2. Equality Bill published 2009, expected to come into force autumn 2010 containing significant clauses outlawing gender and age discrimination
3. Some European Commission/FIA findings in survey 2008 - Research on age, gender and performer employment conducted by Dr Deborah Dean of the Warwick Business School:
4. Equity Petition Feb 2009:
5. Sphinx Theatre - Vamps, Vixens and Feminists Conference 2009 - Summary Factsheet 2006 findings:
a. Theatre: 2006: Women in Theatre Survey. 16-29 Jan 2006 inclusive.
Theatre – Writing
b. Screen and Broadcast: Writer’s Guild TV Committee, 1 month of Radio Times issues
c. UK Film Council Report – Women writing for film
Summary of D&D discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
In light of shocking and depressing statistics relating to women in the industry in 2009 the question ‘What types of women are we not seeing on stage?” seems a significant and good start point for convening this discussion...
There were both male and female participants in this discussion, many of the women participating did not feel adequately represented on stage, particularly around stereo-typing and age considerations.
• Some suggestions of types of women we’re not seeing were made by participants before the discussion broadened out to wider issues, with awareness there are many, many more to be made:
• Why aren’t we seeing them, what is the source of the problem?
• Suggestions/considerations/reflections from participants around the current situation concerning representation of women
• Actions suggested/ to be taken following this D&D discussion
Participants: Lots…
Some facts, figures, info on survey findings - followed by the summary of D&D discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
1. Gender Equality Duty: -
“The gender equality duty comes into force in April 2007 and is the biggest change in sex equality legislation in thirty years, since the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act itself. It has been introduced in recognition of the need for a radical new approach to equality – one which places more responsibility with service providers to think strategically about gender equality, rather than leaving it to individuals to challenge poor practice. “(Equal Opportunities Commission Chair Jenny Watson Nov 2006)
2. Equality Bill published 2009, expected to come into force autumn 2010 containing significant clauses outlawing gender and age discrimination
3. Some European Commission/FIA findings in survey 2008 - Research on age, gender and performer employment conducted by Dr Deborah Dean of the Warwick Business School:
• 57% of women felt that their gender restricted employment opportunities (6% of men felt the same).
• The number of women active in the industry declines sharply from the age of 50 – only 17.8% of women were in the older age group, 30% of men were over 50.
• 50% of men believed that getting older was an advantage in relation to pay, 70% of women said it was a disadvantage
• 33% of men earned more than £20,000 per year, 19.7% of women earned at the same levels.
• 2009 Euro/FIA Project : “Engendering Change: Strategies to Combat Gender Stereotypes and Promote Equal Opportunities for Performers in Theatre, Film and Television in Europe” – To move research into action
4. Equity Petition Feb 2009:
“Over half the viewing public is female, yet in TV drama for every female character, there are two male characters - (35.3% female roles to 63.5% male roles). Whilst leading parts are frequently played by male actors over 45, women in this age group start to disappear from our screens. The message this sends to viewers is distorted and distorting. We call on all the major UK television channels to take action to correct this imbalance”.
5. Sphinx Theatre - Vamps, Vixens and Feminists Conference 2009 - Summary Factsheet 2006 findings:
a. Theatre: 2006: Women in Theatre Survey. 16-29 Jan 2006 inclusive.
Theatre – Writing
• In 1983, only 20 out of 620 (3.2%) of plays were written by women, excluding Agatha Christie. In 2006, out of 140 productions sampled only 13 written by women (9%), with 22 collaborations (16%)
• Out of 48 new writing productions, only 8 were written by women (17%) with 10 collaborations (21%)
• Out of 9 new adaptations/translations, 5 were by men, 0 by women, with 4 collaborations
• In 1983, 7% of playwrights were women, whilst in 2006, 17% of playwrights are women
Theatre – Roles
• In 1983, only approx 12% of directors were women. In 2006, out of 140 productions sampled only 32 were directed by women (23%), with 6 collaborations (4%) and 5 unknown (4%)
• On stage, Sphinx’s survey found that 38% of roles were for women
• On television, Equity has found that 35.5% of roles are for women
b. Screen and Broadcast: Writer’s Guild TV Committee, 1 month of Radio Times issues
• Out of 179 television programmes, only 50 were written by women (28%)
• Out of 49 radio programmes, only 12 were written by women (24%)
c. UK Film Council Report – Women writing for film
• Only 26% of women writers write for film
• Women screenwriters are credited on less that 15% of films between 1999 – 2003
• Films written by women screenwriters are as likely to gain a release as those written by men
• The Box Office return for British films with a female screenwriter is $1.25 per £1 budget, compared with $1.16 for films with all-male writers.
Summary of D&D discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
In light of shocking and depressing statistics relating to women in the industry in 2009 the question ‘What types of women are we not seeing on stage?” seems a significant and good start point for convening this discussion...
There were both male and female participants in this discussion, many of the women participating did not feel adequately represented on stage, particularly around stereo-typing and age considerations.
• Some suggestions of types of women we’re not seeing were made by participants before the discussion broadened out to wider issues, with awareness there are many, many more to be made:
- 15% of single women are happier in their 50’s. Planning life in 50’s. Women in positions of responsibility with angst about time spent with children, court systems and women – women being separated from children through divorce of if child is in trouble with the law. Menopause and sex being great after menopause as less worries, older women giving advice, Family law, UK is bottom of welfare league in Europe for child welfare - ability to be a good mum in a system that doesn’t support them.
• Why aren’t we seeing them, what is the source of the problem?
- Women directors who have kids get wiped out. Exceptions: Thea Sharrock and Marianne Elliot. This can also occur for women in all areas of work where attendance hours are long.
- Writer told us she has been asked to put more men in the script/women under 30
- Commercial compromises i.e. Kidron’s first script was about Greenham Common whereas she recently directed a Bridget Jones film
- Historically women have been on stage a shorter time so there are a large amount of existing plays for predominantly male casts
- What kind of plays do producers/audiences want? i.e. participant remarks on a perceptible difference between Germany and UK and finds comparatively that here producers are predominantly thinking about selling tickets and star system
- Many literary managers are female but are they supporting the women in these networks? One participant mentioned a news article about a recent experiment done where plays were presented to female literary agents with some of those written by women attributed to male writers and vice versa – findings here were that when the plays were attributed to a female writer they were consistently marked lower.
- Confidence, self-restriction, self-editing
• Suggestions/considerations/reflections from participants around the current situation concerning representation of women
- One participant discussed the development of the strong female character in her forthcoming solo show and voiced her fears about buying into stereo-types of ‘mad hysterical woman’ . The character is quite enticing and she is worried about picking up outside, received ideas/stereotypes of women. Discussion on this perhaps being a tendency for writers and a strong point raised for writers to reflect on when writing female character
- Write more female protagonists, set out to write more female parts, put women in roles where you would ‘expect’ to see men
- Many stories are ‘guy’s stories’ – reverse the male gaze. Theatre de Soleil given as an example in this approach
- ‘It’s Complicated’ – Meryl Streep’s new film
- Point raised about too many women being on stage talking about relationships, not enough about ambition / competitiveness / creativity / movers within the world politically
- Concern voiced that there has been awareness around this issue for years - i.e. memories of university essays written years ago etc – and that this situation still has not been adequately addressed despite women being 52% of the population. The need for men, as much as women, in taking responsibility to address this issue
- Don’t wait for other people to do it. Women work in ways they want to work now, keep doing what you do – challenge commissioning editors/producers. Need to stop thinking of what other people are going to buy. Make relationships happen and get them to see something they might not see
- Reverse casting – need to think about this when casting – sometimes have to question the reflex which may first think of a man in a role
- If writing a ballsy character, not to just see this in terms of a division between male and female behaviour
- How to write about the lived existence of a strong woman, ‘f**k’ the setting and tell the story. Would it be pushed aside because of this? Is there danger in saying women’s stuff has to be outside of these structure?
- Now there many women are coming through in genuine positions of earned power and still negotiating their identities within this.
- Is there any impact in the structures of the new playwriting going on?
- Hard to get female gay relationships on stage – One participant writer said she had been asked to take the female gay relationship out of her script - male gay relationships more acceptable. Sarah Walters writes these relationships in a historical context - if its detached in this way then it seems it can be accepted more readily?
- There is a branding issue for the big theatres – that they work with writers they want to write with. There was the positive suggestion that now perhaps they will want to work with more women writers and theatre makers as this issue could almost become ‘trendy’ ...
- Resources such as The Bush Theatre’s Bush Green online facility for playwrights, 17percent network for women writers http://17percent.wordpress.com and http://17percent.co.uk/index.php , Clean Break, Unfinished Histories, Magdalena Project - Jill Greenhalgh Aberystwyth University etc
• Actions suggested/ to be taken following this D&D discussion
-Several participants expressed the wish for a continuing forum or conference. Proposal that one of D&D monthly session be themed around this issue, to deepen this discussion, exploration of subsequent insights/thoughts and suggestions of possible actions arising from this.
087 Playwright as Scientist.
Convener: Suzy Almond
Participants: Allen O’Leary; Ellis Kerkherven;Darren Boulton; Rebecca Gould; Jonathon Petherbridge; Dan Copeland; Liz Chen; Clare Fischer, Susie Ashfield.
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
What happens when the playwright is like a scientist – seeking to discover, rather than prove?
Sometimes issue plays, by closing down on answers too quickly, became about proving rather than discovering. (‘Drugs are bad; bankers are weak-minded; Racism is bad; Tories are bad.)
It could be useful to adopt the persona of ‘mad scientist.’ To explore wildly, to let go of the need to prove a point through a rigid schema.
In this way a piece would be more open and less about the usual narrative signposts. A space would open up for the audience, so that they felt less inevitability about the conclusion. The audience would be more surprised, because the writer surprised themselves in the process, and this was liberating for everyone involved.
David Hare’s ‘The Power of Yes’ was used as an example of a writer/character exposing their own naivity about who ‘the bad guys’ are, and coming to the realization that all of us are involved and responsible – yes, even the liberals.
Macbeth was used as an example of how a playwright experiments, so that rather than one point being made about how power corrupts, many points are raised – including how self prophesy is self-fulfilling.
In Mick Gordon’s ‘On Emotion’ the writer/character is changed by his research as he tries to explain his work (similar to Hare), and we feel we go on a genuine voyage of discovery with the character.
Is there still a thirst for neat, elegant, linear plays? To an extent, yes. It is a human need to have these narrative signposts.
Ah, our Scientist.
Is she/he adult and controlled with their experiments or must there be chaos to release the magic?
A straight issue play may sometimes force the action and seem unspontaneous. It doesn’t always allow the audience the space to make up their own mind.
What helped a playwright to be more of a mad scientist? Not having deadlines meant there was more time to succumb to impulses.
One practitioner reported that 2nd plays by writers occasionally lost the magic, because they had written the first in isolation, without being watched, and this produced a more chaotic approach, with more surprises.
Plays about racism like ‘Sing your Heart out for the Lads’ were discussed. So was Alf Garnett. When a writer weights an issue so that the audience will not sympathize with a morally incorrect character this can sometimes backfire.
Oleana was cited as an example of a play that challenged liberal assumptions about political correctness.
Someone reported their favourite theatrical experience as being a bewildering experience that took place in a shop. The owner had a mental health problem and was re-arranging the shop (constantly destroying and re-building the changing room; playing three TV and radio stations at the same time. ) The effect of disorientation was so extreme, that when the teller of this story left the shop, their thought processes were disrupted to the point where they became receptive to new things, and forgot things they thought they knew. They nearly needed a map to get home. Well, nearly. Is this the effect that theatre can and should have?
This was compared to a story about the hypnotist Derren Brown speaking so much nonsense to a black cab driver, that the driver was disorientated enough to forget where the hell the London Eye was. Even when he was sat in front of it, he couldn’t see it!
When we go to the theatre can we please be put in a trance state, so that a new space opens up in our minds? Some of us agreed this might be quite nice really.
Could this be an ideal audience state? Should this be the effect an experimental play can have? So that the usual narrative signposts are usurped in favour of rugs being pulled. So that our minds don’t comfortably drive down the usual rat runs and come to the usual conclusions.
Can the playwright as mad scientist, play with their test tubes and unknown substances and make this kind of mess? And not close down on an outcome too quickly? And then clean the mess up a litte bit so people can understand it?
Someone talked about their experiences working with Ken Campbell, and suggested reading ‘The Bourne Trilogy’(?) He was adept at playing with audience expectations.
The science of bewilderment was discussed in more detail. Neurons and the brain needing to refer to previous memories as a reference point.
Improbable theatre sometimes experimented by putting plays on before they were ready, so that the audience would affect the way the play shaped itself for the rest of the run.
Stand up comedy was discussed. There was an element of risk-taking, yet maybe the audience was in such a trance state (beer/I already have an expectation that you will make me laugh)
Participants: Allen O’Leary; Ellis Kerkherven;Darren Boulton; Rebecca Gould; Jonathon Petherbridge; Dan Copeland; Liz Chen; Clare Fischer, Susie Ashfield.
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
What happens when the playwright is like a scientist – seeking to discover, rather than prove?
Sometimes issue plays, by closing down on answers too quickly, became about proving rather than discovering. (‘Drugs are bad; bankers are weak-minded; Racism is bad; Tories are bad.)
It could be useful to adopt the persona of ‘mad scientist.’ To explore wildly, to let go of the need to prove a point through a rigid schema.
In this way a piece would be more open and less about the usual narrative signposts. A space would open up for the audience, so that they felt less inevitability about the conclusion. The audience would be more surprised, because the writer surprised themselves in the process, and this was liberating for everyone involved.
David Hare’s ‘The Power of Yes’ was used as an example of a writer/character exposing their own naivity about who ‘the bad guys’ are, and coming to the realization that all of us are involved and responsible – yes, even the liberals.
Macbeth was used as an example of how a playwright experiments, so that rather than one point being made about how power corrupts, many points are raised – including how self prophesy is self-fulfilling.
In Mick Gordon’s ‘On Emotion’ the writer/character is changed by his research as he tries to explain his work (similar to Hare), and we feel we go on a genuine voyage of discovery with the character.
Is there still a thirst for neat, elegant, linear plays? To an extent, yes. It is a human need to have these narrative signposts.
Ah, our Scientist.
Is she/he adult and controlled with their experiments or must there be chaos to release the magic?
A straight issue play may sometimes force the action and seem unspontaneous. It doesn’t always allow the audience the space to make up their own mind.
What helped a playwright to be more of a mad scientist? Not having deadlines meant there was more time to succumb to impulses.
One practitioner reported that 2nd plays by writers occasionally lost the magic, because they had written the first in isolation, without being watched, and this produced a more chaotic approach, with more surprises.
Plays about racism like ‘Sing your Heart out for the Lads’ were discussed. So was Alf Garnett. When a writer weights an issue so that the audience will not sympathize with a morally incorrect character this can sometimes backfire.
Oleana was cited as an example of a play that challenged liberal assumptions about political correctness.
Someone reported their favourite theatrical experience as being a bewildering experience that took place in a shop. The owner had a mental health problem and was re-arranging the shop (constantly destroying and re-building the changing room; playing three TV and radio stations at the same time. ) The effect of disorientation was so extreme, that when the teller of this story left the shop, their thought processes were disrupted to the point where they became receptive to new things, and forgot things they thought they knew. They nearly needed a map to get home. Well, nearly. Is this the effect that theatre can and should have?
This was compared to a story about the hypnotist Derren Brown speaking so much nonsense to a black cab driver, that the driver was disorientated enough to forget where the hell the London Eye was. Even when he was sat in front of it, he couldn’t see it!
When we go to the theatre can we please be put in a trance state, so that a new space opens up in our minds? Some of us agreed this might be quite nice really.
Could this be an ideal audience state? Should this be the effect an experimental play can have? So that the usual narrative signposts are usurped in favour of rugs being pulled. So that our minds don’t comfortably drive down the usual rat runs and come to the usual conclusions.
Can the playwright as mad scientist, play with their test tubes and unknown substances and make this kind of mess? And not close down on an outcome too quickly? And then clean the mess up a litte bit so people can understand it?
Someone talked about their experiences working with Ken Campbell, and suggested reading ‘The Bourne Trilogy’(?) He was adept at playing with audience expectations.
The science of bewilderment was discussed in more detail. Neurons and the brain needing to refer to previous memories as a reference point.
Improbable theatre sometimes experimented by putting plays on before they were ready, so that the audience would affect the way the play shaped itself for the rest of the run.
Stand up comedy was discussed. There was an element of risk-taking, yet maybe the audience was in such a trance state (beer/I already have an expectation that you will make me laugh)
Thursday, 4 February 2010
067 Why are playwrights discouraged from acting in or directing their own plays?
Convener: Suzy Almond
Participants: Anon + 1
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
If a playwright would like to participate in their play once it is completed, this is not always encouraged and sometimes actively discouraged. Why is this?
Play-Right? Not always. A new objectivity needed once rehearsal process begins.
If a playwright can cut the umbilical cord that connects her to a play, and is able to wear a different hat and be objective about her own work, it should be entirely possible for her to adopt other roles within a production. This would involve understanding that her pre-conceived ideas about the production were not necessarily right. Throughout the rehearsal period, blind spots would emerge and new insights would be embraced.
This understanding would involve her being a flexible actor who approaches the job as objectively as possible and is committed to taking direction enthusiastically and being flexible about any pre-conceived notions of how the play should be performed.
Likewise, as a director, she should be willing to embrace input from other members of the rehearsal process.
All of the above are possible as long as the new roles are clearly defined with the rest of a team.
Steven Berkoff, Terry Johnson and Anthony Neilson were cited as examples of successful playwright/actor/director hybrids.
There was a perception from some theatre companies that a writer was not expected to be involved in rehearsal and production issues, and was over-stepping the mark if they wanted to.
There was anecdotal evidence of a playwright who was not allowed to audition to act in their own play, and of a writer who was cautioned for making a suggestion to a crew member.
It was agreed that if the playwright wasn’t able to ‘let go’ of a play then it was definitely better that others directed and acted in it.
It was agreed that writer/performer packages were considered the most acceptable way to combine skills. One man/woman shows were the most suitable format for a writer who wanted to get involved beyond the writing. Daniel Kitson and Ursula Martinez were examples.
But what about straight plays? The above are comedy performers.
There was an anecdote about a writer who went in disguise to an audition for a piece she wrote and was given the part.
Is this the way forward?
Probably not.
There was a suspicion about multi-disciplinary artists sometimes. Producing one’s own work was a possible way forward, but not ideal.
Participants: Anon + 1
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
If a playwright would like to participate in their play once it is completed, this is not always encouraged and sometimes actively discouraged. Why is this?
Play-Right? Not always. A new objectivity needed once rehearsal process begins.
If a playwright can cut the umbilical cord that connects her to a play, and is able to wear a different hat and be objective about her own work, it should be entirely possible for her to adopt other roles within a production. This would involve understanding that her pre-conceived ideas about the production were not necessarily right. Throughout the rehearsal period, blind spots would emerge and new insights would be embraced.
This understanding would involve her being a flexible actor who approaches the job as objectively as possible and is committed to taking direction enthusiastically and being flexible about any pre-conceived notions of how the play should be performed.
Likewise, as a director, she should be willing to embrace input from other members of the rehearsal process.
All of the above are possible as long as the new roles are clearly defined with the rest of a team.
Steven Berkoff, Terry Johnson and Anthony Neilson were cited as examples of successful playwright/actor/director hybrids.
There was a perception from some theatre companies that a writer was not expected to be involved in rehearsal and production issues, and was over-stepping the mark if they wanted to.
There was anecdotal evidence of a playwright who was not allowed to audition to act in their own play, and of a writer who was cautioned for making a suggestion to a crew member.
It was agreed that if the playwright wasn’t able to ‘let go’ of a play then it was definitely better that others directed and acted in it.
It was agreed that writer/performer packages were considered the most acceptable way to combine skills. One man/woman shows were the most suitable format for a writer who wanted to get involved beyond the writing. Daniel Kitson and Ursula Martinez were examples.
But what about straight plays? The above are comedy performers.
There was an anecdote about a writer who went in disguise to an audition for a piece she wrote and was given the part.
Is this the way forward?
Probably not.
There was a suspicion about multi-disciplinary artists sometimes. Producing one’s own work was a possible way forward, but not ideal.
061 The Dreamtime: What do you want to create?
Convener:Andy Harmon
Participants: A group of really wonderful people who included… (please add yourselves to this)
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Motto: The most difficult obstacle to getting what you want is the story you tell yourself about why you can’t have it.
The group looked at that space where Ideas and Projects are born within us. We began with Stella who talked about a project that had been emerging for her for the last 15 years, but had no particular shape yet. She told us some of what she did know about it. (and later broke out the play dough and began to both draw a picture and place little figures on it, playing around with what was coming up for her.)
Then we brought up the issue of sometimes you can create a piece of writing but suddenly lose heart with it. You feel ‘oh what’s the use?’ or ‘I’m not good enough…’
This brought up the value of courage, and the challenge posed by fear. Sometimes fear can help you as in the fear of not meeting a deadline pushes you, but sometimes it can block you. We talked about how fear is endemic to creativity because, in a very real sense, all creativity is a form of rule breaking (or bending). This brings up all sorts of feelings sometimes ranging from not being good enough to being downright wrong! And that these feelings end up stopping you. So how do some people manage to deal with this problem?
Then I, Andy, talked about a play that I’ve been working on for nearly 20 years, and shared a bit of what it was about and how I’ve wrestled with it, knowing both beginning and ending, but being deeply stuck in the middle of it…!
We talked about techniques that can help deal with the fear: Writing on a whiteboard, for example or having a deadline that forces you to finish.
This led us to think about Responsibility. What if you don’t have a producer or theatre company (or TV company) to commission your script and set the deadline? What then?
So what’s stopping you from creating a group of friends/colleagues who you can be responsible to? Not as critics to ‘improve’ the work (there are plenty of those), but actually to support the simple act of creation, when your dream comes into it’s first manifestation – to help you deal with the fear. I mentioned a group my wife Anita started in the USA called ‘The Mentor Group’, to help new writers develop their confidence.
Then we returned back to the central theme which was: What are your dreams, what do you want to create? Dreams are really intimate, so often difficult even to share – sometimes the fear so grips us we won’t even admit our dreams to ourselves. So I began by sharing my dreams for myself for this year and then gradually everyone began to do so. We heard from just about everyone. A chorus. A one woman show. Creating a living from one’s art. A play that’s been in the works a long time. A space where people can share their dreams and inspire others with them. And more… (please add yours!)
One dream of note was coming into reality even as we spoke, The Hackney Rose, just around the corner, a playing and performance space for people to develop THEIR DREAMS.
We talked about the issue of Motivation. Jen shared her idea that there are only two motivators. Fear (that pushes us away from doing something) and Hunger (that draws us in to doing something). Angela amplified this when she talked about learning to wear the ‘dress of Entitlement’. Claiming the right to create! Taking the responsibility in your own hands. And if what motivates you is the hunger to seize the limelight, to show off, to be visible and applauded, what’s wrong with that?
“Your playing small does not serve the world”
Lastly, we looked at the issue of the boundary between dream and manifestation. As one of us asked, should you try to carry the ‘dreamtime’ into real life? My answer is that there is a real difference, but that It’s a question of perspective. Phelim talked about developing the part of the self that’s ‘The Witness’ that can provide the perspective to get a larger view, to step back from the act of creating.
Please feel free everyone to add things I’ve forgotten… (many apologies to all those who made great contributions but I didn’t know your names!)
Participants: A group of really wonderful people who included… (please add yourselves to this)
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Motto: The most difficult obstacle to getting what you want is the story you tell yourself about why you can’t have it.
The group looked at that space where Ideas and Projects are born within us. We began with Stella who talked about a project that had been emerging for her for the last 15 years, but had no particular shape yet. She told us some of what she did know about it. (and later broke out the play dough and began to both draw a picture and place little figures on it, playing around with what was coming up for her.)
Then we brought up the issue of sometimes you can create a piece of writing but suddenly lose heart with it. You feel ‘oh what’s the use?’ or ‘I’m not good enough…’
This brought up the value of courage, and the challenge posed by fear. Sometimes fear can help you as in the fear of not meeting a deadline pushes you, but sometimes it can block you. We talked about how fear is endemic to creativity because, in a very real sense, all creativity is a form of rule breaking (or bending). This brings up all sorts of feelings sometimes ranging from not being good enough to being downright wrong! And that these feelings end up stopping you. So how do some people manage to deal with this problem?
Then I, Andy, talked about a play that I’ve been working on for nearly 20 years, and shared a bit of what it was about and how I’ve wrestled with it, knowing both beginning and ending, but being deeply stuck in the middle of it…!
We talked about techniques that can help deal with the fear: Writing on a whiteboard, for example or having a deadline that forces you to finish.
This led us to think about Responsibility. What if you don’t have a producer or theatre company (or TV company) to commission your script and set the deadline? What then?
So what’s stopping you from creating a group of friends/colleagues who you can be responsible to? Not as critics to ‘improve’ the work (there are plenty of those), but actually to support the simple act of creation, when your dream comes into it’s first manifestation – to help you deal with the fear. I mentioned a group my wife Anita started in the USA called ‘The Mentor Group’, to help new writers develop their confidence.
Then we returned back to the central theme which was: What are your dreams, what do you want to create? Dreams are really intimate, so often difficult even to share – sometimes the fear so grips us we won’t even admit our dreams to ourselves. So I began by sharing my dreams for myself for this year and then gradually everyone began to do so. We heard from just about everyone. A chorus. A one woman show. Creating a living from one’s art. A play that’s been in the works a long time. A space where people can share their dreams and inspire others with them. And more… (please add yours!)
One dream of note was coming into reality even as we spoke, The Hackney Rose, just around the corner, a playing and performance space for people to develop THEIR DREAMS.
We talked about the issue of Motivation. Jen shared her idea that there are only two motivators. Fear (that pushes us away from doing something) and Hunger (that draws us in to doing something). Angela amplified this when she talked about learning to wear the ‘dress of Entitlement’. Claiming the right to create! Taking the responsibility in your own hands. And if what motivates you is the hunger to seize the limelight, to show off, to be visible and applauded, what’s wrong with that?
“Your playing small does not serve the world”
Lastly, we looked at the issue of the boundary between dream and manifestation. As one of us asked, should you try to carry the ‘dreamtime’ into real life? My answer is that there is a real difference, but that It’s a question of perspective. Phelim talked about developing the part of the self that’s ‘The Witness’ that can provide the perspective to get a larger view, to step back from the act of creating.
Please feel free everyone to add things I’ve forgotten… (many apologies to all those who made great contributions but I didn’t know your names!)
045 Playful Writing: Writing for theatre without writing plays
Convener: Matilda Leyser
Participants:
Oli Townsend, Hanna Walker, Ben Luke, Katey Woolmer, Gregor Henderson-Begg, Anouk Miskti, Sam Hall, Emma Newborn, Catriona James, Jen Toksvig, Peter Cant, Mary O’Conor, Grict Spanhove, Greg Wohead
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Lots and lots of questions…………
What does it mean to be a ‘writer’? Is it a role that anyone can inhabit?
What would it be like if the writer’s name was left off the credits of everything in the theatre for 6 months?
What is the difference between the (live) experience of reading and seeing a piece of theatre?
What are playful plays?
How would you leave enough space in a theatre show/ play so that, as with a book, the audience had to construct the world in their imaginations?
What makes a text more suitable to be read (silently on page) as against performed out loud?
Why is poetry often painful to hear on stage?
Am I the best person to read out loud/ perform my own work?
How much do you experience the process of writing/ composition to be similar/ different from improvising?
Do you use improvising exercises to write?
Should we just talk about ‘creating’ and ditch the word ‘writing’?
What do an audience need to stay engaged in a bit of writing as they listen to it?
Are different forms of writing inherently different skills? Or is it all the same skill set and if you can write poetry then you can write dialogue too?
Can writing be an extension of movement?
When you write do you take it down from dictation in your imagination or do you see images, or what?
What is the difference, if any, between a monologue performance and a performance poet performing their work?
What makes a play ‘a play’ if there are plays without words?
Participants:
Oli Townsend, Hanna Walker, Ben Luke, Katey Woolmer, Gregor Henderson-Begg, Anouk Miskti, Sam Hall, Emma Newborn, Catriona James, Jen Toksvig, Peter Cant, Mary O’Conor, Grict Spanhove, Greg Wohead
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Lots and lots of questions…………
What does it mean to be a ‘writer’? Is it a role that anyone can inhabit?
What would it be like if the writer’s name was left off the credits of everything in the theatre for 6 months?
What is the difference between the (live) experience of reading and seeing a piece of theatre?
What are playful plays?
How would you leave enough space in a theatre show/ play so that, as with a book, the audience had to construct the world in their imaginations?
What makes a text more suitable to be read (silently on page) as against performed out loud?
Why is poetry often painful to hear on stage?
Am I the best person to read out loud/ perform my own work?
How much do you experience the process of writing/ composition to be similar/ different from improvising?
Do you use improvising exercises to write?
Should we just talk about ‘creating’ and ditch the word ‘writing’?
What do an audience need to stay engaged in a bit of writing as they listen to it?
Are different forms of writing inherently different skills? Or is it all the same skill set and if you can write poetry then you can write dialogue too?
Can writing be an extension of movement?
When you write do you take it down from dictation in your imagination or do you see images, or what?
What is the difference, if any, between a monologue performance and a performance poet performing their work?
What makes a play ‘a play’ if there are plays without words?
029 Solo Show Sharing
Convener: Stella Duffy
Participants: Emma Deakin, David Green, Martyn Duffy, Morvern Macbeth, Emma Newborbn, Natalie queron, Dan Copeland, Liz Porter, Mark Trezona, Beccy Owen, Rupert Jones, Angela Clerkin
And others
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Lots of questions and then a festival!!!
- Applying for (funding, a space, a festival) first, before making show, is a good provocation to get it made! Deadlines very useful.
- What do we make our stories about?
- When are we ‘allowed’ to make a show? At start of our career? Only at end of our career when we have ‘something’ to say?
- solo shows are not necessarily autobiographical
- where does it come from? – for some of us theatre is the place to process the big questions – disease, illness, death, life babies, birth, divorce, marriage etc & solo show a good form to do that.
- it’s useful to ask people (people we trust/like) to watch us, work with us, while making – so we know what interests them as well as what interests us.
- is there a predjudice against solo shows? What brings audiences in? name? subject matter?
- it can be useful to find a way to talk to audience, to include them
- if the show is autobiographical, it doesn’t also have to be fully ‘truthful’
- for a singer it makes a difference to talk (or not) between songs, how the singer presents themselves is also a ‘show’ (or not!)
- when it’s just you on stage, the audience project hugely on to you, about who and what you are
- how do we physicalise our characters in making a solo show? Do we need to? Can just sitting and talking be enough? If not, are we sure fully physicalised other characters are useful/the right thing? Is somewhere in between useful?
- the value of design/sound to ‘hold up’ the performer
- solo shows are cheaper to tour!!
- is it ok to make it purely for yourself? Do you need to worry about what the audience wants/thinks/how they react? How concerned are we about being self-indulgent?
- we like AUDACITY rather than self-indulgence!
- what is the smallest number of audience you’d do a solo show for? 1? 2? 4?
- is it ok just to sit on a chair and tell a story? Can that be ‘theatrical’ enough? Is it ok to add in loads of stuff (sound, lights, screen, projection) or is that too scary?
- Angela : ‘what I don’t like is thinking I could hear this in a pub, what I want is something that lifts it’
- the value of trying things out, time to play, very useful, hard to keep perspective alone
- Mark Trezona : ‘the audience relationship is at its most compelling when there is only one performer’
- all good theatre is a conversation
- then a longer discussion about using other media in solo shows, and can it interfere or be useful? Angela said the bits that feel like conversation need to be live, the stuff that feels like atmosphere can be video, useful to identify what’s best to be screened/recorded/live.
- it’s possible to stretch a 40 min show to a 60 min show (when required!) by adding 20 mins of great conversation with the audience!
And then ….
- what if there was a festival of solo shows? Have there been any? If there was one, would people go? Would we?
- Several people might want to make solo shows together, maybe sharing designers, directors etc, supporting each other
- We might well make a group and make a festival of solo shows! Natalie is (probably) actionning this on Monday …
Participants: Emma Deakin, David Green, Martyn Duffy, Morvern Macbeth, Emma Newborbn, Natalie queron, Dan Copeland, Liz Porter, Mark Trezona, Beccy Owen, Rupert Jones, Angela Clerkin
And others
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Lots of questions and then a festival!!!
- Applying for (funding, a space, a festival) first, before making show, is a good provocation to get it made! Deadlines very useful.
- What do we make our stories about?
- When are we ‘allowed’ to make a show? At start of our career? Only at end of our career when we have ‘something’ to say?
- solo shows are not necessarily autobiographical
- where does it come from? – for some of us theatre is the place to process the big questions – disease, illness, death, life babies, birth, divorce, marriage etc & solo show a good form to do that.
- it’s useful to ask people (people we trust/like) to watch us, work with us, while making – so we know what interests them as well as what interests us.
- is there a predjudice against solo shows? What brings audiences in? name? subject matter?
- it can be useful to find a way to talk to audience, to include them
- if the show is autobiographical, it doesn’t also have to be fully ‘truthful’
- for a singer it makes a difference to talk (or not) between songs, how the singer presents themselves is also a ‘show’ (or not!)
- when it’s just you on stage, the audience project hugely on to you, about who and what you are
- how do we physicalise our characters in making a solo show? Do we need to? Can just sitting and talking be enough? If not, are we sure fully physicalised other characters are useful/the right thing? Is somewhere in between useful?
- the value of design/sound to ‘hold up’ the performer
- solo shows are cheaper to tour!!
- is it ok to make it purely for yourself? Do you need to worry about what the audience wants/thinks/how they react? How concerned are we about being self-indulgent?
- we like AUDACITY rather than self-indulgence!
- what is the smallest number of audience you’d do a solo show for? 1? 2? 4?
- is it ok just to sit on a chair and tell a story? Can that be ‘theatrical’ enough? Is it ok to add in loads of stuff (sound, lights, screen, projection) or is that too scary?
- Angela : ‘what I don’t like is thinking I could hear this in a pub, what I want is something that lifts it’
- the value of trying things out, time to play, very useful, hard to keep perspective alone
- Mark Trezona : ‘the audience relationship is at its most compelling when there is only one performer’
- all good theatre is a conversation
- then a longer discussion about using other media in solo shows, and can it interfere or be useful? Angela said the bits that feel like conversation need to be live, the stuff that feels like atmosphere can be video, useful to identify what’s best to be screened/recorded/live.
- it’s possible to stretch a 40 min show to a 60 min show (when required!) by adding 20 mins of great conversation with the audience!
And then ….
- what if there was a festival of solo shows? Have there been any? If there was one, would people go? Would we?
- Several people might want to make solo shows together, maybe sharing designers, directors etc, supporting each other
- We might well make a group and make a festival of solo shows! Natalie is (probably) actionning this on Monday …
028 Playwrights: A dying species?
Convener: Sarah Grochala – sarah at widsith.org.uk
Participants:
Andy Harman, Allen O'Leary, Suzy Almond
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Discussion
Two strands: Financial and Artistically. Original question posed referred to the difficulty of financially supporting yourself as a playwright and also the extent to which playwrights need to evolve in order to expand their role in a changing theatre environment.
Financially: Agreement that it is virtually impossible to support yourself financially from playwrighting. Theatre makes nothing therefore playwrights also make nothing. Having another job is essential. Plus side is that this gives you more freedom to write but the downside is that it decreases the amount of time that you have available to write. Difficulty of getting into the industry through the traditional model, especially if you’re over 26. Need to be pro-active in producing your own work and building an audience for it. The need to produce your own work, however, decreases access to the profession. Building doors rather than banging on them. Not being British and polite in your approach, but instead asking for what you need. Means that most playwrights are inevitably from a wealthy or middle class background. Playwrighting having a high cultural value in UK (related to legacy of Shakespeare), but commercially its value is low. Better position for playwrights financially in the UK than in New Zealand or in the USA. Need for some kind of agency to replace writernet as a supportive body for playwrights. Some to ask for advice about funding etc. from.
Artistically
Need for playwrights to build more of a community network and set their own terms. Nature of playwright’s role is isolated so building a community seems difficult at times. We don’t know who the other playwrights are. D&D providing that forum for a weekend, but could this be extended.
Recommendations – To set up a stronger network of playwrights. Possibility of forming a playwrights support group from interested people at D&D?
Participants:
Andy Harman, Allen O'Leary, Suzy Almond
Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:
Discussion
Two strands: Financial and Artistically. Original question posed referred to the difficulty of financially supporting yourself as a playwright and also the extent to which playwrights need to evolve in order to expand their role in a changing theatre environment.
Financially: Agreement that it is virtually impossible to support yourself financially from playwrighting. Theatre makes nothing therefore playwrights also make nothing. Having another job is essential. Plus side is that this gives you more freedom to write but the downside is that it decreases the amount of time that you have available to write. Difficulty of getting into the industry through the traditional model, especially if you’re over 26. Need to be pro-active in producing your own work and building an audience for it. The need to produce your own work, however, decreases access to the profession. Building doors rather than banging on them. Not being British and polite in your approach, but instead asking for what you need. Means that most playwrights are inevitably from a wealthy or middle class background. Playwrighting having a high cultural value in UK (related to legacy of Shakespeare), but commercially its value is low. Better position for playwrights financially in the UK than in New Zealand or in the USA. Need for some kind of agency to replace writernet as a supportive body for playwrights. Some to ask for advice about funding etc. from.
Artistically
Need for playwrights to build more of a community network and set their own terms. Nature of playwright’s role is isolated so building a community seems difficult at times. We don’t know who the other playwrights are. D&D providing that forum for a weekend, but could this be extended.
Recommendations – To set up a stronger network of playwrights. Possibility of forming a playwrights support group from interested people at D&D?
019 Why are only 17% of plays produced in the UK by women?
Convener: Sam Hall, founder 17percent
Maddy, Dee, Jo Faith, Leila Crerar, Angela Clerkin, Gehane Stehler, Helen Pringle, Sarah Grochala
17percent is a new organization to promote and support female playwrights. This discussion was a pre-launch discussion to see what people felt.
What are the issues?:
Although it was felt that there is a change in the air as of the last year, the situation still merits discussion and will do until as many plays are produced by women as by men.
It was felt the National, Royal Court and RSC are committed to commissioning women – but the commissions do not translate into productions for whatever reason. There has been a slight shift recently with the Lucy Prebbles and Polly Stenhams BUT – they are still the exceptions, and how long will it last?
- Is it because women’s writing is not considered to have enough commerciality?
- Is it because there is a misconception that women will only write about ‘women’s issues’ (equally domesticity) and they do not have a mass audience? Some work to shift this misconception needs to be done. (Eg: There are plenty of popular male and female writers writing about every day life on TV – so why is it a problem in theatre?)
- Good writing is good writing no matter who has written it.
Historically over the years, there have been less women writing plays than men – but the number of women on writing courses has shot up in the last 5 or so years. Anecdotally, women make up the larger percentage (around 80%) of those on courses, yet are not represented in the plays being staged now.
Females at the top of the writing tree are somehow in a ‘non-space’:
Caryl Churchill – is somehow ‘outside’ the writing canon – why is she not our most respected living playwright?
Is it quality or discrimination? There was a feeling in the group that there was a kind of unspoken discrimination occurring.
And whilst the younger playwrights are getting work on – what happened to all the women in the 1980s and 1990s who may have given up, or not got plays on? There was a feeling from one regional theatre producer in the session that there may be a whole generation of lost women playwrights out there.
- Actually how alienated by ‘female issues’ are males?
- And are issues ‘male and ‘female’? Surely it’s in the way it is told and it shouldn’t matter who the writer is. A play about abortion was given as an example – just as big as issue for both people involved.
- What sort of plays are theatres looking for – 17percent will talk to the producers and theatres to see if we can open the dialogue.
- And within the plays women write – where are the roles for women? Why are there more male roles? And where are the roles for older women?
- One bone of contention – no male participants! Come on fellas! As playwright Emma Adams said this morning ‘we’ve got to stop viewing things as competitions and start viewing things as conversations’. We’d like a dialogue with the audience - male and female.
17percent is a new organisation to promote and support female playwrights. http://17percent.co.uk/index.php
Follow us on Twitter @17percent
Facebook: 17percent
Launch event: 11 and 12 March 2010, The Red Hedgehog – see website for details
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