Duncan MacMillan
Duncan won the Second Prize and the Writer-in-Residence Bursary at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition for his play MONSTER which was staged in the Studio as part of the Manchester International Festival. It was subsequently nominated in the Best New Play category at the MEN and TMA Theatre Awards. He is currently Pearson Playwright in Residence at Paines Plough and completing plays for the National Theatre Studio, Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange. Other plays include THE MOST HUMANE WAY TO KILL A LOBSTER (Theatre 503) and I WISH TO APOLOGISE FOR MY PART IN THE APOCOLYPSE (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play).
The Bruntwood is the best Playwriting Competition in the World. There are several reasons for this:
Having my play produced at the Royal Exchange was just the beginning of a long relationship and I will be sad to leave the theatre where I’ve been Writer in Residence since the last Bruntwood Competition.
I’ve been asked to give a few tips for any first time playwrights out there, so here they are:
Duncan won the Second Prize and the Writer-in-Residence Bursary at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition for his play MONSTER which was staged in the Studio as part of the Manchester International Festival. It was subsequently nominated in the Best New Play category at the MEN and TMA Theatre Awards. He is currently Pearson Playwright in Residence at Paines Plough and completing plays for the National Theatre Studio, Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange. Other plays include THE MOST HUMANE WAY TO KILL A LOBSTER (Theatre 503) and I WISH TO APOLOGISE FOR MY PART IN THE APOCOLYPSE (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play).The Bruntwood is the best Playwriting Competition in the World. There are several reasons for this:
- It is open to everyone. There are no limitations of age, experience, race or region.
- It is anonymous. Your play will be judged purely on its own merits, and may beat plays written by more established playwrights.
- It is read by some of the most experienced and important figures in British Theatre. Every play gets read several times and discussed at length.
- There’s a lot of money up for grabs. This competition will give you the money to write another play, and the security to call yourself a professional playwright.
- It is looking for work that is daring, original and heartfelt. It is open to any genre or form, does not specify cast size, length or number of scenes or settings. It genuinely rewards bravery and imagination, and last year discovered Ben Musgrave’s debut play PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS, a huge, imaginative, daring, funny, subtle and inspiring play.
- It takes place at the Royal Exchange Theatre, for my money one of the most exciting, engaged, intelligent and bold theatres in the world.
Having my play produced at the Royal Exchange was just the beginning of a long relationship and I will be sad to leave the theatre where I’ve been Writer in Residence since the last Bruntwood Competition.
I’ve been asked to give a few tips for any first time playwrights out there, so here they are:
- Write about what you care about. This sounds really obvious, but if there’s no passion in your play, it’s not going to make it through. Write from your heart and your guts as well as your head. What makes you angry? What makes you scared? What gives you hope? What questions aren’t being asked? What do you feel is important?
- Be brave both in content and in form. Theatre should be imaginative, visual, exciting and unpredictable. Find a form which expresses how you feel about the world.
- Character. Invent compelling, complex characters and show them making interesting decisions. What do they want and what do they do to get it?
- Story. What happens? Again, this sounds obvious, but it’s very easy to write a play in which nothing actually happens. Forget about themes, it’s the story you really want to concentrate on. Theatre is about behaviour, not about characters talking about the world.
- Read. Read as many plays as you can, particularly modern plays.
- Go to the theatre. See as many plays as you can. Theatre is completely unlike television, radio or prose.
- Have it read. Find a few people you trust who will be honest about your play. Get them to read it and give you a few thoughts about it before you submit it to the competition. If you’re really lucky you may know some people who will read it aloud for you so you can hear what works and what doesn’t.
- Don’t imitate. By all means, write in response to plays, be inspired by them, but don’t copy. The judges will know. All the judges want is a unique, passionate piece of drama.