Linda Brogan
Linda Brogan’s play BASIL AND BEATTIE won North West Playwrights’ 21st Anniversary Commission, which was produced by Royal Exchange April 2004 before transferring to Liverpool Everyman May 2004. Her other works include: BLACK CROWS, commissioned by Clean Break, produced at the Arcola March 2007, a 2008 finalist of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and WHAT’S IN THE CAT, commissioned by Contact and produced in November 2005 before transferring to The Royal Court December 2005, and nominated for the Manchester Evening News 2006 Best New Play Award. Linda Brogan is currently working on THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU for The Wolsey Ipswich.
For me the old cliches apply:
Write what you know about. I ain’t middle class so I have no idea what happens in their houses. I’m mixed race I have every idea of what happens in them. That was my breakthrough play. But what it also did was empty a lot of stuff that had been upsetting me for a long time. My audiences found it cathartic too whether mixed race or not.
The truth. A good example in WHAT’S IN THE CAT is the dad putting whiskey on his head. I kept saying to myself no one will believe that. But of course others with Jamaican dad’s did. That was the greatest turning point for me. Once I had the courage to commit that to the page I knew nobody could dispute it. I’d seen it happen. I knew what it meant. That simple action said a lot about my character.
Actions speak louder than words. Actions need objects. Give your main character an object they can’t live without: I can’t live without my tweezers. Think of 12 words you associate with that object. Now write a 3 page short story that uses all 12. This is the soul of that character. Do it for each character. A practical way to turn them inside out.
Linda Brogan’s play BASIL AND BEATTIE won North West Playwrights’ 21st Anniversary Commission, which was produced by Royal Exchange April 2004 before transferring to Liverpool Everyman May 2004. Her other works include: BLACK CROWS, commissioned by Clean Break, produced at the Arcola March 2007, a 2008 finalist of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and WHAT’S IN THE CAT, commissioned by Contact and produced in November 2005 before transferring to The Royal Court December 2005, and nominated for the Manchester Evening News 2006 Best New Play Award. Linda Brogan is currently working on THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU for The Wolsey Ipswich.For me the old cliches apply:
Write what you know about. I ain’t middle class so I have no idea what happens in their houses. I’m mixed race I have every idea of what happens in them. That was my breakthrough play. But what it also did was empty a lot of stuff that had been upsetting me for a long time. My audiences found it cathartic too whether mixed race or not.
The truth. A good example in WHAT’S IN THE CAT is the dad putting whiskey on his head. I kept saying to myself no one will believe that. But of course others with Jamaican dad’s did. That was the greatest turning point for me. Once I had the courage to commit that to the page I knew nobody could dispute it. I’d seen it happen. I knew what it meant. That simple action said a lot about my character.
Actions speak louder than words. Actions need objects. Give your main character an object they can’t live without: I can’t live without my tweezers. Think of 12 words you associate with that object. Now write a 3 page short story that uses all 12. This is the soul of that character. Do it for each character. A practical way to turn them inside out.