NEW WRITING: HOW DO WE DEVELOP NEW PLAYS?
Panel discussion hosted by the Dramaturgs’ Network in association with Literary Mangers and Dramaturgs of the Americas
at the Albery Theatre, London on the 15th October 2004
Present: Hanna Slättne (literary manager, Tinderbox Theatre, Northern-Ireland), Sara Clifford (playwright), Toby Clarke (student, CSSD), Katalin Trencsényi (freelance dramaturg), Elyssa Livergrant (lecturer in dramaturgy, CSSD) Ken Bentley (freelance director), Matthew Crampton (Old Vic New Voices), Christine Paris (Writers Guild), Susannah White (student), Lucy Linger (director), Richard Shannon (director of new writing, Polka Theatre), Abigail Gonda (freelance script worker), Liz Engleman (president of LMDA, USA), Brian Quirt (Director of Nightswimming, Canada), John Keefe (lecturer in dramaturgy and performance, Queens University ISC, Kingston University), Lyndsay Allison (freelance dramaturg), Ashmeed Sohoye (New Writing Manager, Theatre Royal Stratford East), Frances Stirk, (Literary Manager, Hampstead Theatre), Stephen Castell.
Panel:
Liz Engleman, Abigail Gonda, Brian Quirt, Ashmeed Sohoye
Chair: Hanna Slättne
Posted by Hanna at 09:01 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
A DIRECTOR’S DIAGNOSIS
A Director’s Diagnosis
Thoughts on the discussion at the Albery with the LMDA
By Ken Bentley
I’m a big fan of American writing. It’s my opinion that, currently, the Americans are writing more good new plays than we are in the UK. There, I’ve said it.
I don’t have a patriotic axe to grind. It’s just that the Americans are telling great stories and they’re telling them well. They’ve learnt to create vivid works of fiction and mythology based on their own contemporary culture and society. But why, right now, are they capable of doing this more consistently than we are? What is it about the development process in the USA that fosters so much good new work? What do writers have in the US that they don’t have in the UK? These are questions I’m always searching for answers to and, when the Dramaturgs’ Network announced a panel discussion on new writing in association with the LMDA, I was there with bells on.
Posted by Hanna at 08:54 PM in Articles | Comments (1) |
A DRAMATURG’S DEDUCTION
A DRAMATURG’S DEDUCTION
Thoughts on the discussion at the Albery with the LMDA
By John Keefe
As so often in a ‘seminar-discussion’ situation there are many points and ideas that are raised but not picked up in the subsequent exchanges; the outstanding ‘baton’ that was not grasped was the issue of ‘audience’ and yet this was circled around many times. Thus not only should the question be ‘why is this being written?’ but also ‘for whom’? These are the kind of hard questions that theatre seems so often to avoid.
Posted by Hanna at 08:52 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
A PLAYWRIGHTS’S PERSPECTIVE
A PLAYWRIGHT’S PERSPECTIVE
Thoughts on the discussion at the Albery with the LMDA
By Sara Clifford
I was asked to attend the discussion on new writing at the Albery Theatre by Hanna Slättne from the Dramaturgs’ Network, now working as Literary Manager for Tinderbox Theatre Company in Belfast, and Chair for the event. It was only about halfway through the morning, that I realised that, although I have written around twelve produced plays, I have rarely worked with a dramaturg – usually I work with the director, and have been lucky to have directors who also have these dramaturgical skills. On the couple of occasions that I have had dramaturgical input, I have been fascinated both by the role of the dramaturg within the company – Advocate? Critic? Friend? (sad, we writers, we don’t get out much, get our friends where we can…) – and also the dramaturgical input itself, which is independent of production and, presumably, aimed at facilitating the writer to write the best play s/he can. Whether the play will then be produced is, of course, another matter, with many a Jolly Good Play being consigned to a bottom drawer, as the theatres, with their over-commissioning policies, may only choose one (or even none) of their commissions to actually produce – and you try selling a play that the Soho has turned down. Talk about soiled goods!
Posted by Hanna at 08:50 PM in Articles | Comments (0) |
Autumn-Winter 2005
In this double issue of the dramaturgs’ network newsletter we have some articles that summarise a dramaturg’s experience. Frauke Franz, keynote speaker on the Dramaturgy Day at the Birmingham Rep: gives a short summary of the conference. Martine Dennewald, dramaturg: reflects on festival dramaturgy, based on her experiences in London and Budapest, with a particular emphasis on the discursive element of dramaturgical work. John Keefe, lecturer-dramaturg: gives a dramaturgical view of the nature of collaboration and complicity in total theatre. Katalin Trencsényi, dramaturg: gives a personal account of her five years’ experience as a freelance dramaturg.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_winter/autumn_2005.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 01:04 PM in Newsletters |
Spring 2005
Welcome to the spring issue of the Dramaturgs’ Network’s Newsletter!
A theme running across the three articles of this issue is what we may call ‘practical dramaturgy’: how the drama text may be given new life or enhanced by the non-spoken aspects of the theatre event being given equal weight to the dialogue; how the work on new plays in the rehearsal room benefits from the work of a dramaturg.
Phil Smith, playwright, is taking a very personal approach to the task of rescuing the theatricality of drama works, arguing for the centrality of the theatrical in the dramaturg’s work.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_spring_2005.pdf
Posted by David S at 01:00 PM in Newsletters | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |
Winter 2005
A full account of the “New writing: How do we develop new plays?“ discussion organised by the Dramaturgs’ Network and the Literary Mangers and Dramaturgs of the Americas at the Albery Theatre last autumn forms a major part of this newsletter. We also have some other responses to the presentations and material of the morning: provoking thoughts from a director, a dramaturg and a playwright.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_winter_2005.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:58 PM in Newsletters |
Autumn 2004
In this autumns issue of the dramaturgs’ network newletter we are leaving London to focus on dramaturgical activities outside England. There is a personal account from the newly appointed literary manager of the Tinderbox Theatre Company, Belfast, who is the only full-time literary manager in Northern Ireland. Our second trip is to Scotland, namely to Edinburgh to see what kind of training the Queen Margaret University College offers to those who decide to specialise in dramaturgy. There is also information of our upcoming symposium with our sister organisation Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_autumn_2004.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:57 PM in Newsletters |
Summer 2004
Welcome to the Summer Issue of the Dramaturgs’Network’s Newsletter!
In this issue we are reporting from two network events: the first event was held at the BAC in the autumn, and it dealt with the dramaturg’s work in the devising process, and our second was held in the spring and gave an insight into the work of a dramaturg in Germany. We have two personal accounts from these events as well as other news.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_summer_2004.pdf
Posted by David S at 12:56 PM in Newsletters |
Spring 2004
The Dramaturgs’ Network’s first newsletter in 2004 has an article about the National Student Drama Festival, a report from the Dramaturgy Festival at Newcastle Playhouse and an interview with Norhtern Stage’s resident dramaturg Duska Radosavljevic.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_spring_2004.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:50 PM in Newsletters |
Spring 2003
The Dramaturgs’ Network’s third newsletter contains an update on activities, a reflection on the debates at the In-yer-face conference in Bristol last year, notes from the session of ?alternative dramaturgies? at the Writers Expo 2002 and a report on Theatre and Beyond?s second TABSLABS project.
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_spring_2003.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:47 PM in Newsletters |
Summer 2002
In this issue the Network invites you to its first workshop on the role of the dramaturg in devised theatre, reports back on its first activities and presents a thought-provoking article by John Keefe
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_summer_2002.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:45 PM in Newsletters |
Spring 2002
The Dramaturgs’ Network’s first newsletter reports from the inaugural symposium at the Albery Theatre and the talk prepared by Ben Payne
pdf-version for download
dramaturgs_newsletter_spring_2002.pdf
Posted by Hanna at 12:43 PM in Newsletters |
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