Category Archives: artists

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – George Orwell, 1984

This month I’ve been getting more and more interested in understanding the process of writing and making art, in the hope of understanding myself and being more comfortable with how I work. When I moved from directing to playwriting I … Continue reading

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The journey of a play

Each play I write takes me somewhere new. It takes me somewhere I hadn’t imagined I was going initially, and I usually end up with something that looks at the world in a way I hadn’t realised. I remembered this … Continue reading

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The future is mine

The more and more I write the more it feels like creating collage rather than writing a story. When I was first writing plays I wrote them from beginning to end, but now, yes, I start working on the central … Continue reading

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Escaping the ice-lock

Or how I’ve been panicking about not writing anything new… I had so many goals this year: I was going to put the final touches to Godless Monsters, I was going to finish the new play I’d started last year and … Continue reading

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‘A play is a backward explosion’, That Face by Polly Stenham, December’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

Part of the Royal Court Young Writers Group, Stenham was 18 when she wrote That Face, the play she submitted at the end of the course that went on to be produced at the Royal Court and the West End. … Continue reading

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Stef Smith looks at the ‘chaotic ways in which we continue’ in Swallow, October’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

A friend of mine saw Stef Smith’s new play Swallow at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year and said I just had to read it! Smith wasn’t a writer I’d heard of and when I discovered she’d won an Olivier … Continue reading

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David Mamet’s tips for playwrights, care of @parisreview #inspiration #learnfromthegreats

There are some great interviews in The Paris Review’s archives, free to read, if you want to hear how some of the great writers create their work. Here are some tips from American playwright David Mamet: ‘Well, you know, Hemingway said … Continue reading

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Taking the audience to new worlds, Alistair McDowall’s Pomona, September’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

I’m a tough customer when it comes to watching a play because I want it to really challenge my views on something and make me think, not just entertain me. So I only tend to go to see shows I’m … Continue reading

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Why make theatre at all? David Lan shares his inspiration @intlifemag

When I’m starting a new project as I am at the moment, I always ask myself WHY is this theatre? HOW can I give the audience a better experience of the story that will unfold in front of them so … Continue reading

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‘I want people shaken up,’ David Harrower on his play Blackbird, August’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

Harrower’s two hander Blackbird was an unexpected winner of an Olivier Award. It’s a concisely written piece that plays out over real time and explores what happens when a couple reunite after about 15 years. This is no ordinary couple … Continue reading

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