Our writer-in-waiting has been on the Royal Court Theatre’s Critical Mass Programme, Invitation and Super Groups and has been informally attached to the Clean Break Theatre. She has had rehearsed readings of her plays at the Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, Young Vic, Young Actors Theatre and Tristan Bates Theatre.
Good news. I was shortlisted for the Theatre503Five writers’ attachment programme. I spent a lovely afternoon in the wilds of Clapham Junction and Battersea Park Road, to be interviewed by the two artistic directors and literary manager in the Latchmere Pub, home of Theatre503.
Felt very EastEnders, but there was no Alfie Moon or Kat Slater behind the bar. When asked what the intentions were behind his characters’ actions, Harold Pinter said: “How should I know.” Unfortunately I handled some of the questions thrown my way in a similar vein. Though not as spiky, I had the same feeling that sometimes my characters take on a life of their own and their actions are generated from within them.
The good news is that although I didn’t ‘officially’ make it onto the programme, I secured a lasting relationship with the theatre, where they will offer one to one dramaturg support for my current and future plays with the artistic directors. The support also includes attendance on writers’ workshops and a week long theatre space to try out any new and emerging work.
Here’s a flavour of the questions I was asked, which you may find handy if you face a similar interview:
• Who do you consider to be your audience?
• What is your writing process?
• What themes, if any, run through your work?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
• What could you bring to the theatre in terms of supporting its direction and output?
• What writer training have you had and how have you applied this to your writing?
• What inspires you to write?
• Who are your favourite playwrights?
• Do you ever envisage a time when the word black theatre would be obsolete?
Now for the bad news. I got nowhere with the Channel 4 writers programme. I didn’t even receive a ‘thanks but no thanks’ email. I’ve also heard nothing from the BBC about my feature film. Their loss as it will be bigger than The King’s Speech.
On the TV pilot front, I had a real uplifting meeting with Gary Beadle before Christmas. I am now steaming ahead with completing the episodes for the first series (okay, I’ve only nearly finished the first episode; it’s been a slow month). My short film Mirror is still in post production (thanks once again to Richard Twyman and Congo Red Films). I will keep you posted.
I’ve had a rethink about my play Take Me 2 Manhattan and want to investigate the possibility of using the week slot at Theatre503 to showcase this work. As for the Tricycle, I’m still waiting for a call back from Indu Rubasingham about Shredder. The killer is the silence, speaking of which, still no word yet from the agents. Meanwhile the novels and radio play are burning on the stove for now.
Thankfully a very exciting writing collaboration has begun to take off. With the support of Clean Break Theatre, I’m working with a powerful collection of black woman, including award-winning actors, who want to see the stories and lives of black women on the stage. We’ve had our first meeting and big things are on the way.
