New writing blog

Sorry for the silence over the last few weeks – Edinburgh and holidays intervened. However, back to a new season and a new start and the headline news is that script reading is back. Yes we ARE accepting scripts again as of now. We are going to try to make the reading system a bit more efficient and manageable. This means that if we think, after reading the first 10-20 pages of your play, that it isn’t something we’d be interested in, then we won’t read the whole play. See back to blog number 2 (What we really want) for an idea of what we think about when considering a play. So dig the scripts out of your bottom drawer or computer files and send them off to me. But before you do so please take a few minutes to read and digest the following Does and Don’ts of script submission.

DO

Put your name and full contact details (address/phone/email) ON YOUR SCRIPT. Not just on the letter that comes with it (even if you have emailed it). Page numbers and legible type are helpful too.

Include a Stamped Addressed Envelope if you want your script returned (NB not just stamps or even worse those irritating international mail order things).

Include a Stamped Addressed Response Card if you want acknowledgement of receipt.

Include the whole script NOT just the first 10 pages.

Print and post the script (ie don’t send by email unless we’ve specifically requested it) to

Alex Chisholm

Associate Director (Literary)

West Yorkshire Playhouse

Quarry Hill

Leeds LS2 7UP

DO NOT

Call after a few weeks. It can take around 6 months for a script to be read and processed, longer if we are busy. We will get in touch once we’ve read it.

Send your only copy. We really try very hard not to lose scripts, but with many plays going through many hands occasionally it does happen.

So that’s it. I look forward to getting your plays and reading (some of) them. If there are any other questions please use comments below rather than emailing me as it’s easier to answer one comment than 20 similar emails.

As you are undoubtedly aware, the British Government is in the process of cutting the budget across all sectors of public sector spending (Health and International Development are exempt but are being asked to do more with same money). Funding for the arts is neither exempt nor protected.  Now  I am not going to re-rehearse in detail here all the reasons I believe that funding for the arts should not be in the order of the 25-40% that is being talked of. Suffice to say that I work in the arts, I believe in and have seen their power to transform lives and that at 0.7% of public spending a 25% cut to the arts budget makes virtually no difference to reducing the deficit but could severely damage the arts sector with consequent damage to communities, artists and the economy. For a more in depth look at the arguments involved look at The Guardian website http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/theatreblog/2010/jun/22/arts-funding-cuts-watch or artsfunding ning http://artsfunding.ning.com

What I want to look at here is, given that there will be less money (probably much less) in the future, how best to use that to help and enable writers. In particular the balance between development, commission and production. The possibility is there that we won’t have the money for any of it  but given that we will have some, however small, where best to put our resources? Mark Ravenhill (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/25/arts-funding-cuts-theatre-galleries) has written that it should be marketing, fundraising and outreach – in which I believe he includes much of ‘new writing development’ – that should go first and he’s not alone.  

What do you think? Now I have to declare an interest – I have a young family and to keep a roof over their heads and food in their mouths I’d rather like to keep my job. But I am well aware that freelance artists are in an even more difficult position and therefore I should be prepared to defend my position and what I do. Without revealing my exact salary if you were to cut me and all new writing development work you would have enough for 3-4 extra commissions a year. But no extra for production. If you were to put all that money into a production you’d have enough for one small production (think Northern Exposure studio style) or slightly less than half a normal full Courtyard show. So the numbers of productions would go up by maybe one. But without any literary person or new writing activities it would just be down to writers and their agents making direct approaches to the the artistic director and him choosing the ones he wants. In my defence, having a literary person here can increase the overall spend on writers, artists and projects. Last year I raised in the region of £28k that went to writers as fees, development grants and on community projects.  

Please let me know what you think – I do genuinely want to know your opinions. Do you want a literary person as part of a theatre – does that make it better for writers? (other theatres in the region don’t have them) Is ‘development’ eg grants, workshops, courses, rehearsed readings, showcases useful or should we just be putting everything into full commissions and productions? If there is a balance where should it be struck?

And if you have an interest in the arts and don’t want to see funding disappear the Select Committee on Funding for Arts and Heritage are inviting submissions. Information on that and other ways to lobby can be found here http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/inquiry-funding-arts-and-heritage-opens/

And finally if you are a writer quick reminder that the deadline for the 2010 John Whiting Award is 20th August all details here http://twp2009.wordpress.com/projects/whiting-award/

Thanks to commentators on blog no 1 – and any other as yet unidentified readers out there.  Makes this feel like a worth while exercise.

So. The question has come up about ‘what sort of plays the Playhouse wants’. I get asked this a lot in workshops as well so it’s a good place to discuss it. To start with it isn’t as easy as simply asking for a kind of play, getting it and putting it on. If it were I’d be out of a job. In fact I can think of several instances over the years when a good, experienced writer has been asked for a play on a particular subject only for it to be rejected or never delivered at all. But there are some qualities we do look for in plays and it may be helpful to discuss them.

First – are we interested in it as an idea. Sometimes that’s about whether its on an important or currant topic – we’ve done plays on the Iraq war, Eastern European immigration and about to do one on the credit crunch. But could also be fresh and interesting take on more of a ‘human drama’. For instance I have just read two lovely plays, one a cleverly told and touching play about a divorced father and his son, and the other a more straight forward but witty play about divorced couple in their 50s (hmmm both about divorce…please no more divorce plays)

Second - size. We have two large theatres, although the Courtyard is a great space that can feel intimate even at 350 seats. However, there is no escaping that at the back of the auditorium you are a long way from the stage and there are some plays that simply don’t work in that environment. When looking at a play we’re looking for a big enough subject or idea or action or emotion to fill the stage. That doesn’t mean it has to be a large cast size.

Third – cost. I hate this one but it is an inescapable fact. Cost and in particular cast size is a huge factor. The larger the cast the more money it costs the harder it is to produce if it is a new play. I hate it because it means writers self censoring. It means it becomes almost impossible to write plays about communities – they are all about families or friendships ie stories that can be told with few characters. I am thinking about ways round this but for the moment you should know that the second question that gets asked after ‘What’s it about?’ is ‘How many is in it?’

Fourth – audience. We do spend a lot of time talking about audience – who they are, who we are reaching, who we are not reaching. So we do consider who we think the play will appeal to when we read it.

Fifth – and final – taste. Ultimately it comes down to which plays Ian Brown wants to programme. There have been plays which I have been wildly enthusiastic about which haven’t happened for various reasons. It doesn’t mean they’re bad plays just not right for here right now. As to what that taste might be it is, of course, quite broad. This can be a frustrating one for writers thinking ‘how can I write a play to suit someone else’s taste?’ and to an extent you can’t; it suits or it doesn’t. But the good news is if your play doesn’t fit here it may well do somewhere else.

And after all of that I am looking for a good, funny, new play preferably northern set for no more than three actors. NOT for the Playhouse but for a possible independent touring production next year. If you have something send it to me by email. I’m NOT taking general submissions yet – will announce in September what we are doing on script reading (hopefully by then I’ll know!)

Just starting my third week back at the Playhouse and, having got the really difficult stuff out the way (remembering what it is like to be a working person not a 24hour mother), my thoughts are turning to what happens next in new writing here.

So, to begin with, welcome to this the new writing blog. Rather than have a web page with mostly defunct, out of date information, I will aim to write weekly and update all those interested on what is happening in the world of new writing at the Playhouse, including script reading, courses, competitions and events. It will also be a place for proposals, reflections and, I hope, discussions around issues that matter to the new writing people in the region. I will also invite other people to blog here from time to time.

While I’ve been on maternity leave it’s been quiet on the new writing front, so we’re taking time over the summer to think about what we have been doing and what kinds of projects and programmes we might want to do in the future. If you have been part of any Playhouse new writing programme (So You Want To Be A Writer, Lock-In, Light Night) and want to say what worked or didn’t for you, that would be helpful. If you haven’t and have a suggestion of what you’d like to see, that would be good too.

In the meantime and until further notice, we are not accepting script submissions. PLEASE DON’T send scripts in. They’ll only go into a big pile in my office and you’ll have wasted a stamp. I promise I will notify everyone when and if script reading returns. Script reading is one of the things we are considering whether or not we want to do it in the future. It takes up a lot of resources and very, very few plays ever are picked up for development. In eight years only one has made it into production. Should it continue or should we find a different way of reading scripts – a competition maybe? If you have strong opinions either way do post a comment.

Beginnings, as we all know, are the most important and usually hardest part of any work. Hope you’ll help me make this a strong one.