There’s loads of brilliant opportunities for writers open to scripts in early 2020- are you writing for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, or the ETPEP Award? The 2019 Bruntwood Prize live-stream workshops have wrapped up, but why not re-watch the back catalogue of brilliant writers again?

Whether you are totally new to writing for the stage, or an established playwright we hope that the guidance of the brilliant writers who have contributed to the workshop series will support your own writing.

Led by internationally recognised playwrights the livestream workshops are completely free to access and augment our always growing archive of workshops created for the Bruntwood Prize.

 

2019’s sessions include;

 

David Eldridge – Telling story as dramatic action: making backstory active and other tips, notes and thoughts

In our first 2019 workshop playwright David Eldridge discussed how to tell a story as dramatic action, making backstory active and other tips, notes and thoughts on play-writing, using his own multi-award winning works as an example. With the writers in the room, the workshop sets tasks to write along to as you watch.

 

 

Jo Clifford– on Imagery, Metaphor and Meaning

In our second 2019 workshop playwright Jo Clifford discusses Imagery, Metaphor and Meaning and the role of theatre in engendering empathy.

 

 

Patricia Cornelius- Lovely, lovely, sometimes ugly dialogue

Recommended 14+

At the heart of the Bruntwood Prize is collaboration and partnership – to support playwrights, to encourage people to tell stories, to see work on our stages and beyond. With that in mind we partner with international playwrights for workshops too! Here we join Windham-Campbell Prize winner Patricia Cornelius and playwrights supported by Playwriting Australia to explore writing dialogue for the stage.

 

 

Winsome Pinnock on the relationship between the epic and the intimate in writing for the stage

In this workshop Winsome and the playwrights explore the idea of the “big” play. Using discussion, playtexts and exercises you will experience how your work is enhanced when it moves between the domestic and the epic. Starting with character we will examine how “ordinary” people react to and are affected by huge political events.

In this workshop Winsome will ask you to begin with a character who is different to yourself. Some questions to consider:

• What is their age, gender, name,
• What are their physical characteristics?
• How do they make money?
• Where are they at this very moment? What are they doing?
• What do they need?
• Do they have a secret?
• Do they have a problem?
• Do they have a memory?
• What is something they believe?
• What is something they wish for?

 

Naomi Iizuka- Telling Ghost Stories

In this workshop we join the multi-award winning Naomi Iizuka with her playwriting class at the UC San Diego as she discusses the ghost and the ghost story on stage. (You can also spot International Commendation winner Dave Harris in this video! He is a student at UC San Diego)

To begin, think on what is it that haunts you as as a writer. Free write for around 5 mins- Naomi calls this ‘swimming’

 

Tanika Gupta on how you might explore your work to ensure that the story you want to tell is clear, dramatic and theatrical

 

What makes a good story? What is the story YOU want to tell? In this session, recorded live in the Royal Exchange Theatre Studio Tanika and the live writers explore this and more as a group, look at some plays, read a few excerpts and do a few short exercises.

 

 

Also- Check out the 2017 round up of our livestream workshops below, or go to https://www.writeaplay.co.uk/writing-resources/ for the full archive of provocations, tips and writing exercises.

 

2017 Workshop Round-up