Transcript of the Web Chat with Jo Combes 28 May 2008
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| Question: | Hi Jo - I'd love to know more about the extent to which last year's winning plays changed between submission to the contest and their subsequent production, I'd also be interested to learn what the quality was like in terms of last year's entries - without doing any of the shortlisted entries a discredit, how easy was it to choose the final three winners? Did all three stand miles in front of the others? How long were the arguments and how many people are in the room for the final vote? Many thanks for your help. |
| Jo Combes: | Hi, All three plays were worked on quite a lot by the writer and director before they went into rehearsals. No new characters emerged, but in PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS the second half was changed quite radically, with characters meeting each other that hadn't met in the first draft, and several new ideas that were responding to the relationship with the designer. All of the shortlisted plays were really exciting, and we would have been proud to stage any of them. They varied so much, from being set in the corridor of an anonymous hotel to post world war two rural Ireland. The three winning plays were the plays that the judges agreed to be theatrically interesting, well written, and had something very strong to say. Without being indiscreet, the judging was certainly heated to say the least, and went on into the night! All the judges were in the room for the final vote. |
| Question: | I read that Linda Marshall-Griffith's new play 'Pomegranate' was sent to you out of the blue and was chosen to be staged at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Her work is excellent but wouldn't I have a better change of getting my worked staged if I just sent it straight to you? |
| Jo Combes: | POMEGRANATE did just land on my desk out of the blue, and made its way all the way up to a production. However, at the moment, because we are reading so many plays for the competition, we aren't taking unsolicited work. Good luck in the competition! |
| Question: | Why did you choose to direct A Taste of Honey? |
| Jo Combes: | I first read the play at school, and loved it, so it's always been one of my favourites. It seemed really appropriate in its fiftieth anniversary year, to stage it in our unique space, and to bring it home. |
| Question: | Where did you direct your first play? What where your best and worst moments? |
| Jo Combes: | I directed my first play at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. It was Women of Troy, so I chose a toughie for my first show! My worst moment was being likened to a school production in a review, and my best moment was making people cry in the audience. |
| Question: | Was is ifficult codirecting Prentend you have big Buildings. did you always agree oneverything? |
| Jo Combes: | It was difficult directing the show, but also very rewarding. I sometimes found it hard when decisions I had made about a scene got changed, but once I had overcome my initial grumpiness, I could begin to see that it was in the interests of the show. The lovely thing about co-directing is that you share the responsibility, so the dreadful weight of directing a show on your own was halfed, which was really nice. We had a lot of fun with the play, as the cast were great, and it was so exciting to premiere that very special play. |
| Question: | What is the most common thing new writers get wrong? |
| Jo Combes: | New writers are often too influenced by their favourite writer, and will emulate their work too much, rather than writing in their own voice, with their own take on the world. |
| Question: | What was Will Young like to work with? |
| Jo Combes: | Will was professional, hard working and very funny, both onstage and offstage. He is a really nice man. |
| Question: | The rules state that the winning play will be under option to the Royal Exchange for a period of 18 months. Can you explain a little more about this? I'm not sure how the option applies. Understanding exactly how options work can be tricky, but is very important. |
| Jo Combes: | This option basically means that the Royal Exchange reserves the right to produce the winning plays in the period of eighteen months after the Awards are announced. If we don't produce the plays after that period, then the play becomes free for performance elsewhere. |
| Question: | Hi Jo, do u think there is a Royal Exchange-type play that is distinct from other theatres? |
| Jo Combes: | Hi Sammy, Very simply, I think the Royal Exchange is just looking for great stories told very theatrically. We don't prescribe what the plays should be about, or what they should say, we just ask that the play will seek to inspire, entertain and challenge the audience over the course of the evening and leave them feeling transformed by the experience. |
| Question: | Why do you ask for your ethnicity, age, etc. on the application form? |
| Jo Combes: | We do this so we can see who is hearing about the Bruntwood Competition. This information is separated from the application form upon arrival and the data goes to the marketing department. The only information the judges get about the author is their pseudonym. |
| Question: | what are you looking for in the winning play? or is it just 'good writing'? |
| Jo Combes: | Exactly! we are looking for great plays, that tell stories in a way that haven't been told before, that care about their characters, have a sense of theatricality and who have something unique to say about the world. Not much to ask! |
| Question: | Hi, i just had a quick question about entry into this competition regarding copyright. If w play has been written by one individual do they have to pay for the copyright of the play or is it enough that it is their own and they have taken sufficient action to prove when it has been written etc? |
| Jo Combes: | Hi Natalie, You don't have to pay for the copyright. When we say that a writer needs to own the rights to their play, we want to make sure you haven't sold the play to another theatre yet. If you haven't received any money for your script, chances are, you still own the rights. |
| Question: | I recently listened to the chat with Richard Wilson regarding the contest and he said that at that point 75% of the entries were from male writers. As a female writer I was curious about this but also about the fact that as far as I can see there is only one female judge! Have you any thoughts on this? |
| Jo Combes: | Since Richard encouraged female writers to apply, we have seen that figure go up to over 35% already, so we are hoping to see a radical shift in those figures. Although Brenda is our only female judge, we feel she is such an inspirational figure who will hopefully encourage many female writers to apply. Also, just for your info, all our team in the literary department are female and we are the people who read every script! Although of course the great thing about the competition, is that we don't know anything about the writers when we read the plays, which means that each script is read equally and fairly. |
| Question: | Do you feel you have an 'agenda' when looking for new work. When i say agenda I was equate that with the way the Royal Court seem to decide on plays. |
| Jo Combes: | We have no agenda when we look for new work. We are not seeking plays that have a particular sociopolitical outlook, or that deal with "issues", or a certain style. We just want ambitious, original plays that have something unique to say. |
| Question: | I'm not going to finish my play this time are you doing it again next year? |
| Jo Combes: | We certainly hope to run the competition again in future years, but don't forget that there is still two weeks to go, you can do a lot to a play in that time. Noel Coward wrote Hay Fever in four days! |
| Question: | Jo, would i stand a better chance writing a 'serious play' rather than a comedy? |
| Jo Combes: | Again, we are just looking for great plays, not particular types of plays. Comedy is very hard to write, but it tends to be easier to sell tickets for than "serious" plays! |
| Question: | How does your direction change when staging performaces for 'in the round', as at The Royal Exchange. I find this aspect interesting - both from a writing and directing perspective. For example, if a scene requires two characters to be seated in conversation at a table, then their backs will be facing a good 40% of the audience. Can you tell us which play (if any) was the biggest challenge to direct for a 360 degree audience and why? |
| Jo Combes: | I found the last scene of THE VORTEX very hard to direct in the round, as it was a very still two hander, and had a moment where the plot was revealed through a tiny prop, and that proved difficult to get the story across for all the audience in that moment. ROOTS was hard to direct in the round too, as it was mainly in a kitchen where people behave very naturally but that was quite difficult as people tend not to have round kitchens! |
| Question: | Hi, as a Canadian writer living in the UK, I'm always struggling with the world/setting of my plays as I still am inclined to set my plays in parts of Canada (as it's a world I know well) even though I'm writing with the hopes of being produced for a UK audience. Does where the play is set affect what you produce? In other words, are you more likely to select plays that are in a place more easily recognizable by audiences? |
| Jo Combes: | Hi, PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS was set in Romford in the nineties, which wasn't an obvious choice for a Mancunian audience! We have done a lot of Canadian work in our repertoire too. The setting can be anywhere, and won't preclude a play making the shortlist, and equally, a play isn't more likely tio make the shortlist if it's set in Greater Manchester. |
| Question: | Thank you for the copyright information. I have a few other questions that also tie in again with copyright. The first is in relation to music. The play features music that is sung by a few individuals in the play but it is not required that the original music gets played. Does this matter or would it have to be taken out. Also references to tv themes or a particular phrase or saying, again not originals, would this be ok to use? |
| Jo Combes: | Keep the music choices in, and then if the play gets a production, a license would be obtained by the theatre to use the songs. Phrases or sayings from TV are fine too. |
| Question: | Who makes the decision which Director dierects the winning play if it is produced. And what role does the writer have in the audition process and rehearsal if any? |
| Jo Combes: | The team of Artistic Directors here decide which director is right to direct a particular play. On BIG BUILDINGS, Ben the writer came to all the auditions and helped make the decisions with the director and casting director. Ben also sat in on the first and fourth week of rehearsals, and was instrumental in the whole process - it was really useful to have him there! |
| Question: | I'm sure you've been asked this a million times (and I know there is no one formula!) but I'm wondering about how a play is plit up in performance. The natural 'end of first half' in my play to me is at 60 pages at the moment, so I'm wondering how many pages would make the second half loosely 'balanced' to the first? Maybe from a director's perspective? |
| Jo Combes: | Typically, the first half of a play is equal to or slightly longer than the second half of the show. But you may not need an interval - it depends on what happens in your play. Sometimes it's better for a play not to have an interval, as it can break up tension and focus. For practical reasons, ie a big scene change, you may need an interval at a particular point. We usually say that if a play is longer than ninety minutes in one sitting, the audience will need an interval! |
| Question: | i noticed in a previous question you mentioned that Ben helped on some of the process. Is this something that can happen on various occassions or do you prefer to keep the writer seperate from the rest of the process? |
| Jo Combes: | Usually on a new play, the writer is part of the collaborative process, as the director and actors are desperate to get inside their heads as the play is being worked on for the very first time, and it's essential to understand the writers' intentions. |
| Question: | What is your all-time favourite play? |
| Jo Combes: | Hi Sammy, My desert island play is MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, hands down. |
| Question: | Are any of the plays submitted worked on or workshopped by the theatre before a decision on the winner has been made? |
| Jo Combes: | No, and we don't accept new drafts before the judges decide, as it wouldn't be fair. Although the judges are really good at seeing where a play can be developed, and understanding how problems can be solved in a play. |
| Question: | Hi Jo Does the Royal Exchange look at only the play or does the background, age, sex etc of the writer also matter? I say this because some theatres only look at writers from certain backgrounds or within certain age groups. |
| Jo Combes: | Dear Kate, The only thing the judges receive are a copy of the script with the writer's pseudonym on it. They have no idea about the person's age, gender, race, etc, so the plays are judged purely on their artistic merit. |
| Question: | how much are you looking for a finished work, ready to be staged? or would you almost prefer something that might not be so polished but is the germ of a good idea, and require dramaturgical input and development from the theatre/director? |
| Jo Combes: | We ask writers to try to "finish" the play as best they can, so the scripts should feel complete in the sense that the writer knows the vague shape of the play. But the play then goes on a journey with the director, designer and actors. Often a writer will have written something knowing that there are flaws in the play, and it's our job to try to solve those flaws for production. |
| Question: | I'm thinking about submitting an autobiographical play about an accidental meeting I had with a cleric on the cliffs of the south coast. Is this appropriate? |
| Jo Combes: | Sounds like a great setting with a really interesting hook, definitely submit it! |
| Question: | I know the deadline is Friday the 13th but what time that day does the competition close. If needed can I hand it in on the day dressed in disguise? |
| Jo Combes: | Hmm, cutting it close, are we? Hand it in by 6 pm to the front desk, that way the judges won't know who you are. |
| Question: | Like Agent_Q, I am puzzled by the Arts Council monitoring form (dare I say, I find it both puerile and offensive). I have been asked to fill in countless of these forms over the years. Theatres are adamant that they bare no relation to the selection process. If so, why are we asked to fill them in? (I'm white, lower middle class - but my brain looks much like anybody else's). This "equal opportunities monitoring form" is an insult to humanity, and, in complete contradiction to it's purpose, is more like a Nazi ethnic cleansing document! I always think work should be judged on quality alone, not assessed according to the ethnic background of the artist. Surely, the Arts Council of Great Britain do not distribute funds according to some quasi weighted ethnic percentage of productions produced. (I come from a mixed race family with two black brothers – so there!) Royal Exchange, God bless you all, but I refuse to fill in this form! |
| Jo Combes: | The forms are to make sure that we are doing our jobs properly in reaching people and it is standard practice by Arts Council funded theatres. The forms are stored separately from the scripts, and when the scripts are read, the only thing known about the writer is their pseudonym. Our competition is unique in the fact that we do NO PROFILING at all when we judge the scripts. It is your right not to send in the Equal Opportunities form if you do not wish to do so, and will not affect how we read your play. |
| Question: | How do you think contemporary theatre can draw in bigger audiences when reality TV in all its forms still seems to flood most people's living rooms? (I'm guilty of watching the current Oliver! one) With that in mind do you think that other forms of theatre should embrace the TV reality route? |
| Jo Combes: | I must admit that I'm also a fan of programmes like I'd do Anything. There is a lot of snobbishness surrounding TV in the theatre world, but secretly I think we are all a bit jealous that people love shows like Strictly Come Dancing so much! I think theatre needs to learn some lessons from the Saturday TV shows and offer more family oriented work, so that three generations of a family can come to see plays. |
| Question: | Do you have a favourite Theatre space (in the UK) besides the Royal Exchange? |
| Jo Combes: | The Globe in London is amazing! And I like the new Courtyard Theatre in Stratford. |
| Question: | In your opinion Jo, what are the 3 most important elements a piece of drama should have (apart from a beginning, middle and end). Enjoy your lunch and thanks for being so helpful and informative. |
| Jo Combes: | Here's my (subjective) take on the three most important things in a play. I hope they make sense. Three dimensional characters that have a past, present and future, and hopes and fears. A story where something suspended is at stake, and that something is resolved or not by the end of the play. Dialogue that is about what the characters don't say as much as what they do say. Good luck in the competition, don't forget the deadline is at 6pm on Friday 13th June! |