A piece of theatre blog history, Megan Vaughan's book on theatre blogs

-History of theatre blogging cf. economic blogs

-What does a playwright need?

-My own small part in the history of theatre blogs

-David Eldridge vs Chris Goode redux 

There’s a new book on the history and influence of theatre blogs by Megan Vaughan, Theatre Blogging: The Emergence of a Critical Culture. Recommend if you are interested in blogging or have read any of the early days theatre blogs.  

Turns out I’m part of a tiny piece of internet history being amongst the first wave of theatre bloggers. 

Vaughan writes:

“...In 2005, playwrights Benjamin Yeoh (Theatre and Writing) and Stephen Sharkey (O, Poor Robinson Crusoe!) started new theatre blogs, while director Paul Miller (My London Life) decided to concentrate his personal, journal-style blog on theatre. They were joined by Ben Ellis (Parachute of A Playwright), an Australian playwright based in the UK at the time, and Andy Field (The Arcades Project), who was initially a student in Edinburgh but would move down to London within a year. In 2006 they were followed by theatremaker Chris Goode (Thompson’s Bank of Communicable Desire), and David Eldridge (One Writer and His Dog), whose recollections began this chapter. 

While those UK bloggers were all artists of one flavour or another, 2006 was also the year in which two audience members, Andrew and Phil, became so infuriated by the Old Vic’s production of Resurrection Blues that they only went back after the interval because they had ‘always wanted to boo at the end of a show’ (West End Whingers 2006). While the booing was purportedly cathartic in some respects, it didn’t quite relieve the pain of the experience for Andrew and Phil, who started their irreverent review blog, West End Whingers, just a couple of days later. [BY: Quite a few of us ended up meeting up in real life and the WEW ended up coming to my own play - which was nervy as it was my theatre blog friends]  

A month after that, Natasha Tripney, a freshly graduated writer who had begun contributing to The Stage and music website MusicOMH, started her blog, Interval Drinks. The London theatre blogosphere was gradually catching up with New York and Melbourne, just as the New York bloggers were experiencing their first moment in the spotlight…”

This phenomenon was echoed within the Economics blogosphere. 

In 2005, Mark Thoma started his economics blog - that Noah Smith charts, link end - which spawned a similar wave in economics.  That those economics blogs have spawned even wider influence than theatre is mostly to do with the size of the “market” but the shape of the progress is the same.   

A democratisation of ideas, a faster moving debate by interested professionals and amateurs: fierce opinions thrashed in almost real time. 

I think Megan Vaughan argues that blogs are alive and well in their new forms.  I think blogs are alive but that peak blogging in its old form has been eroded by podcasts, twitter and the like. (I think she agrees) 

For me it’s a moderate shame - as I loved blogs so much - maybe blogs will resurge in some form at some time - and certainly they are still valuable - maybe some time of new  forums or smaller communities or the hyper-meta-blogs like Tyler Cowen’s or Star Slate Codex (it’s noticeable to me that Patrick Collison thinks good blogs could need more incentives… see end)

Vaughan selects a number of important blog reviews and debates to include in her book and it’s recommended for that f you are interested (despite the high price of c. £25).

Personally, I would have loved some interviews with the many current bloggers and practitioners who are still around and were blogging at the time.  Maybe there will be a follow up. 

At the time the memories I have most clearly are the intense debates between David Eldridge and Chris Goode about theatre (simplistically) “devised and ensemble” vs “writer-led”. She covers this and the subsequent podcast in 2018 where they somewhat reconcile. But she doesn’t convey the intensity of the debate I felt as a young theatre maker. Two voices I highly respected debating it out and seeing those debates echo in theatres and makers and spaces of the time.  I don’t think I was the only one. 

As a recent arrival in Twitter land, I can see some of that still now - but not in the nuance of before and it seems that it’s more noisy now in an inferior way as oppose to more diverse - which it is as well. 

I will leave you with one of my first 2005 blogs - redux -  May 2005:

I’m studying under Jane Bodie (a great playwright) as part of the Royal Court Writers’ programme. One of the questions we are asking is:

Qualities that that playwrights need?

I think it’s a question writers should come back to, every now and again, whether they write plays or in another medium. Of course, there’s no “correct” answer, and whatever answer one does have will probably change day-to-day, year-to-year, relationship-to-relationship…

We came up with (amongst others):

life, language, experience, imagination, sadness, joy, emotional access, flair,

perception

observation

analysis

commitment

articulation

Interestingly, Jane suggests articulation is the one thing she can teach something of. The rest might be unteachable.

Today I would strongly add:

Empathy

Curiosity

And it almost goes without saying an idea of how people communicate. 

Links:

My £1K microgrants programme

Amazon link to Megan Vaughan’s book @churlishmeg

Noah Smith’s tribute to Mark Thoma and history of economics blogs 

Jane Bodie 

Chris Goode + David Eldridge on podcast, blog here.

Chris Goode on Twitter @beescope

David Eldridge on Twitter @deldridgewriter

Patrick Collinson Questions:

“Could there be more good blogs?

It seems that they heyday of of blogging is passing. If so, that's unfortunate. Blogs can be a remarkably efficient mechanism for disseminating ideas and facilitating discussion and debate. Twitter is good, too, but there's lots that blogs are great for that Twitter can't replace.

Part of the problem with blogs is that they're less rewarding than Facebook and Twitter: your post may perhaps get some thoughtful responses but it doesn't get immediate likes. And part of the problem is, of course, that writing a good post is much harder than writing a witty tweet.

Are there incentive structure tweaks that yield more good blogging?

Follow me on Twitter below:

• Max Roser @MaxCRoser examines this for @OurWorldInData in this essay: https://t.co/aZcovskaC7 Obesity, opioids, hi… https://t.co/qcq3PArGco

  14 Jul 2022, 9:27 am
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Power of Silence, Performing Thinking Bigly

I am not a performer. I have trained in writing for theater and directing for theater. But I've never trained as a performer. For my most recent work a performance-lecture, Thinking Bigly...

...It turns out. That I am the performer. As typically part of a performance lecture is that you play yourself or a version of yourself. 

Perhaps not strangely. I am quite comfortable being me. I am quite OK at it.

Performing has taught me a few things. Most of which I am still dwelling upon. Many of us won’t put ourselves in a position to perform or speak in front of hundreds, but I think it’s a useful learning.

Now having been involved in theatre making in the writing part and the directing part and the audience part and now the performer part. I did have one observation. About the power of silence. And the power of focus. 

In many a play a or any live performance 

There are often points of silence. Or pauses. Or in particular long pauses. Famously Pinter has these pauses, which practitioners have dubbed “Pinter pauses” a type of pregnant pause so long and full of meaning. 

Sitting as an audience member and being enveloped in a pregnant pause can be both an awkward and exhilarating experience. This communal silence - this waiting for the performer to say... Or do... Some action. 

As a director, I've noted these audience reactions. When to orchestrate it extend it in the text. In the rhythm of a play. And Similarly when writing a piece the power of when to use these pauses. Mostly sparingly. 

Recently as a performer,  I have come to observe the pauses on the other side of the fourth wall. There are no big or pregnant pauses in Thinking Bigly. However, there are mini-pausues between images, between slides between arguments being made. 

In my most recent performance, there was a moment when one mini-pause stretched slightly longer in a proper pause.

In that pause. I could see and feel those same sensations that I felt as an audience. 200 people. In communal silence. In my silence waiting. Waiting. For what I would say or do next. 

I recall. The way Barack Obama speaks. Peppered with pauses or moments filled with an audience sitting in those silences. 

He is a speaker, who has excised all the uuummms and aaaahs of speech and filled them with these pauses instead. 

Pretty effectively if you ask me. 

I've had to work hard to excise those umms. Trained performers  have no unintentional uuuums in their speeches. 

So in the moment where I was performing and I was standing in this small silence, which 200 people were also sitting in. But I was the one who had to make the next move the next sound. The next point. 

It was its own kind of exhilaration  and awkwardness and power being on the other side of this silence. About to make a call to action for the senior management of a university to commit to a sustainability plan. 

I could see how some people might get carried away with their silence. 

The power of it. Holding people in it. 

But I found it slightly daunting. Keeping everybody waiting. Even if it did make the performance more effective. 

Seeing the silence - from the other side - was an interesting experience of being a performer. 

I’m also glad to report that the audience seemed pretty captivated through out.

If you'd like to know more about my interactive sustainability show thinking Bigly, click here next public performance on March 26 in London. 

More information on my micro grants program: Where I'm giving away £1K awards to individuals looking to make a positive impact click here.

State of the National Theatre

Does  the UK’s National Theatre reflect the UK? Divisions over Brexit, elite metropolitans vs countryside; populism/commercial vs artistic; identity wars - gender; state funding vs commercial funding. Leftist vs Rightist. Small state vs large state. [Not so far as to look at State Capacity Liberterians, cf. Dominic Cummings (?) H/T Tyler Cowen]

Helen Lewis takes on these ideas in a review of the National Theatre as an organisation and its conflicts with a dose of the Arts Council (after an interesting take on how the state effectively subsidises the commercial by allowing artists to develop in the state sector first).

Lewis notes the new language at Arts Council of “relevance” instead of “excellence” although with some push back that one can be both excellent and relevant.

Many commentators (theatre practitioners in my feed) on Twitter have critiqued the binary and polarised juxtapositions - which reflect debates on gender, and Brexit; and places David Hare (as a proponent of canon, traditionalists and, supposedly, an elite; remain) opposite Stella Duffy (as community, Leave). 

Comments like: 

NT primarily artistic or social? Can’t it be both?

Excellence or relevance? I write plays to be both.

I think those comments have validity, but I don’t think Lewis was proposing the nuance or spectrum here.

Lewis was asking if the conflicts at the NT reflected conflicts at a nation(s) state level. That the NT itself is a state of the nation play. And in that, Lewis draws some comparisons that do seem to reflect this idea. (Toilets one battle ground). This I think is interesting for non-theatre makers. Or, once you move past the opposing construct, it gives some intriguing insights into the conflicts that an organisation like the NT has.

Do our institutions reflect our society? Often institutions are more ossified and slower moving than where society is, in my observations. So the idea that the NT is of its time (and that some of its debates eg Peter Hall vs the Unions) stretch back in history.

On that idea, if the left did win the battle of culture and the NT is a result of that, but if the right have won the ideas on market economics - a binary that I’m not entirely sure I agree - and are currently re-shaping institutional funding - does the NT survive because it is as cherished as the NHS or as important as science funding; or does it decay attacked by left and right (cf. BBC) for losing of relevance - neither excellent nor popular rather than both excellent and popular?

Given Lewis interviewed some of our major theatre figures like Stella Duffy, David Hare, Rufus Norris, Dan Rebellato - I would have loved longer notes and insights into what they actually thought.

Full article in the Atlantic here.

Lewis’ take on subsidised theatre subsidising commercial.

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My £10K microgrants programme here.

Me on what theatre teaches business.

Zadie Smith Q&A here and her writing tips here.

Hear about the chat with legendary agent, Mel Kenyon.

Some notes from listening to the literary manager of the Royal Court, Chris Campbell. (soon to be at Oberon Books)

Be inspired by Artistic Director, Kate Wasserberg’s Dauntless Theatre.

Theatre teaching business, teaming, trust and speaking up

-what theatre teaches me about elite teams and business 

-speaking up and empowering people 

I work in a high performing team within investing. This is a very competitive “sport”. There are many smart teams also competing and it’s a mix of skill and luck which is complex.  It’s very hard to beat the benchmark and competitors over time. There is a large amount of noise and bias.

In my view the best teams learn from other “sports” and industries. I’m fortunate that I’ve been part of elite teams within theatre. I happen to assess elite management teams within business and healthcare R&D, but that’s another story. 

The three concepts I’d like to discuss are:

Psychologist Safety or SpeakUp

Teaming, or when it’s not possible to do it all

Prosocial, or giving as a way to excel 

I’ve blogged previously on the Amy Edmondson work and the Google studies on the importance of psychological safety within teams. (Link end).   This is the idea that you need to be able to feel free to say anything to your team and when you can’t or don’t feel safe - then a team fails to perform at its best. 

The best theatre teams I’ve worked with always nurture this.  While it’s often led by a director, this doesn’t have to be the case. I’ve seen ensemble and collaborative work, not director led.

These teams encourage all members (including lighting, sound, costume, stage management and so on) to speak up if they have an idea or see something wrong. 

Part of this is the observation that much theatre has no “correct” answer. It’s an act of creation which may be finally somewhat completed or judged by an audience but has no answer.

I’m aware of some directors that lead by sheer force of ideas and personality. On occasion these create spectacular works but the dark side is that teams don’t or can’t speak up and feel safe. 

As I will reflect on giving and vulnerability this has allowed at times a culture of abuse where people didn’t speak up. (cf. MeToo)

I speculate as to how much greater their works might have been with an ensemble vision over a singular vision. As theatre like football is mostly a team endeavour unlike golf which is more singular.

Still there is something special about the rehearsal room. This is a space specifically designed to learn, experiment, practice and “fail”.  It’s accelerated and intense. 

Business teams would benefit from seeing elite theatre makers - directors, actors, backstage, design - in action. 

There is no failure in the best rehearsals because there’s only learning on what might work for this group at this time. Final completion can’t be until audience stage (and that may continue to develop too). There’s no fixed mindset. 

On top of this, theatre is not an activity where you can do it all yourself. Actors don’t work in a vacuum and even solo shows have lights, directors, maybe sound or movement, design or costumes and so on. There is a definitive understanding of this from the start. 

While most businesses today are in an hierarchy, they most often operate in teams and while CEOs might lead them, they rely on numerous sets of teams to keep their businesses running and they themselves - although they might not realise it - are part of a team. 

Rehearsals teach businesses and teams about continuous improvement. In terms of innovation or acts of creation, they teach about how to learn and how no learning occurs without “mistakes, dead ends or failures” - which seem to me be words with the wrong tone for innovation. 

The acts of theatre should remind business people that no one works alone and that we work best in teams. And in reality business people are already leading teams.  

Where do theatre teams go beyond the normal? It’s often in how much the players give.  Of themselves, to others. In theatre, there is (and was) the danger which we now see in MeToo but that is giving without safety - and psychological safety embedded by the whole team must come first.  

But where that is in place then the best theatre is very generous in what the players give. 

Turning to business this is embodied in the idea of servant-leaders.  Leaders who lead by giving back to the whole organisation and help try and raise up everyone else. 

Why does this giving behaviour seem to work? I don’t have solid evidence but my speculation is that what is happening is that the value of the social and relationship “asset” grows from this type of pro-social behaviour. Trust grows. Of course, it doesn’t always pay-off.  The world is complex. But typically giving is a form of investing in our relationships and our social value and humans after all are social creatures and we value that. 

There’s much more theatre can teach, which I may come back to another time, but I will leave it with those observations on the importance of psychological safety, of teaming and of how giving builds trust and that can lead to extraordinary performance.

More? Here’s my blog on what Google found on what makes great teams (Amy Edmondson work).

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Check out my £10K micro-grants for people looking to make positive impact.

Wendell Pierce

…In Pierce’s vision, art “changes people’s humanity, it changes the air in the room, it changes everything. People always ask me, ‘Well, give me an example of that.’” Then, sat in an armchair, with a coffee in one hand, Pierce embarks on the story of Charles L Black, a white lawyer from Texas, who saw Louis Armstrong play jazz in 1931, and two decades later joined the legal team that would help tear down racial segregation. “He always talked about how he had never seen genius in a black man before. I like to think that moment of art was the thing that changed his humanity — that it was not just an intellectual decision.”…”

From FT interview of actor, Wendell Pierce. Pierce is currently (1 Nov) in Death of a Salesman in London.

Sheila Nortley, Associate Director on the Dutchman

Sheila Nortley is the associate director for the DUTCHMAN by Amiri Baraka, presented by Outer Gaea Company and Théâtre Libre 8th - 26th October, Tristan Bates Theatre. Tickets and info here.

Here’s some Q and A with Sheila.

How did you feel about stories of people who looked like you or stories of families like yours - when growing up or now? Were you aware of an absence of stories? I remember watching Desmond’s and Cosby Show when I was really young. There was a definitely a feeling of familiarity with some of the characters but I think we were all so used to the absence of black stories - particularly black British characters in the screen - that it wasn’t really felt. It wasn’t until I was a teenager and Sister Sister and Moesha came on that I realised just how much I wanted to see more of that. 

And so, what do you make of the awareness of Black History Month?

 It’s a beautiful time. It’s a time of reflection where there’s a collective energy towards re-educating ourselves and reminding ourselves of what our ancestors did.  I’m glad to our unique history recognised: celebrated for the triumphs and lamented for the tragedies at the same time.

What would you say to a more dominant culture which may not authentically portray stories about black women, about women? About otherness?

Nothing. I’m not sure it’s their responsibility to do so. If and when they’d like to there are millions of black women who are happy to portray ourselves authentically. They could easily hire blacks people to tell out stories and they’re been a huge incentive towards increasing diversity on and off screen. I think minorities are no longer relying on dominant cultures to reflect us authentically though.. To the dominant culture we might always be feisty, hyper-sexualised or the extreme opposite (asexual nannies and nature’s) through the White gaze. That’s a perception which is valid. Everyone can have their own perception. But when it’s the only portrayal it becomes problematic 

Any thoughts on what has influenced your artistic practice over the years ?

Just life really. Reality is often scarier than fiction and I find real people fascinating and real stories fascinating. No doubt my real life creeps into my work 

What made you want to be in the creative arts?  

If think for many of us we just kinda found ourselves here out of necessity. It wasn’t really a choice as much as it was where we needed to be as creatives. I’m like a fish out of water when I can’t tell stories and make films. It’s more of a thing we can’t help.
 

Are there any difficult lessons that you have learned ? is there any advice you’d like to give others ?

Advice I’d give others is to remain authentic and to be kind to everyone. 

tell me about your current and future projects?

Currently shooting a feature film called Game of Two Halves 

what was the last artistic work that made you cry ?

 Farming by Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje 

if money was no object what projects would you do?

Oh wow, there are so many things I’d like to do. I love history so perhaps some epic historical drama set in ancient times but with some elements of sci-fi and afrofuturism in there. I think that’d be stunning. 

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Sheila has written and produced several international award-winning productions including ‘Zion,’ ‘Victim’ and feature film 'David is Dying.’ In 2013 Sheila shot the independent hit 'Sable Fable' which premiered and won Best Narrative Feature / Director at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, Florida. In 2016, Sheila was invited to Buckingham Palace where she was awarded the Woman of the Future award in Arts & Culture for her work in film. The following year her film 'Limbo' was selected at various international festivals including Cannes Pan-African Film Festival. Following an invitation to 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister, 2018 saw her become an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society for her particular determination in committing to the Society’s mission of promoting the values of the Commonwealth. 

DUTCHMAN by Amiri Baraka, presented by Outer Gaea Company and Théâtre Libre 

 8th - 26th October 

Let’s pretend that you are free of your own history. And I am free of my history.

Dutchman is Amiri Baraka’s award-winning one-act play, revolving around two characters: Lula, a white woman, and Clay, a black man. It lands right at the intersectionality of race, gender and class to present an explosive exploration of white privilege, masculinity, power and sexuality.

For Black History Month we celebrate Amiri Baraka (then known as LeRoi Jones) both for his civil rights activism and as a revolutionary provocateur of African-American poetry; significantly affecting the course of American literature.

Tickets and info here.

Advice from Cormac McCarthy on writing science papers

This from Nature. Aimed at science papers but useful to dwell on for all types of writing. Note his writing has a pared back style, and I sense that underlies his advice. He is world class, so it works!

Use minimalism to achieve clarity. While you are writing, ask yourself: is it possible to preserve my original message without that punctuation mark, that word, that sentence, that paragraph or that section? Remove extra words or commas whenever you can.

• Decide on your paper’s theme and two or three points you want every reader to remember. This theme and these points form the single thread that runs through your piece. The words, sentences, paragraphs and sections are the needlework that holds it together. If something isn’t needed to help the reader to understand the main theme, omit it.

• Limit each paragraph to a single message. A single sentence can be a paragraph. Each paragraph should explore that message by first asking a question and then progressing to an idea, and sometimes to an answer. It’s also perfectly fine to raise questions in a paragraph and leave them unanswered.

• Keep sentences short, simply constructed and direct. Concise, clear sentences work well for scientific explanations. Minimize clauses, compound sentences and transition words — such as ‘however’ or ‘thus’ — so that the reader can focus on the main message.

• Don’t slow the reader down. Avoid footnotes because they break the flow of thoughts and send your eyes darting back and forth while your hands are turning pages or clicking on links. Try to avoid jargon, buzzwords or overly technical language. And don’t use the same word repeatedly — it’s boring.

• Don’t over-elaborate. Only use an adjective if it’s relevant. Your paper is not a dialogue with the readers’ potential questions, so don’t go overboard anticipating them. Don’t say the same thing in three different ways in any single section. Don’t say both ‘elucidate’ and ‘elaborate’. Just choose one, or you risk that your readers will give up.

• And don’t worry too much about readers who want to find a way to argue about every tangential point and list all possible qualifications for every statement. Just enjoy writing.

• With regard to grammar, spoken language and common sense are generally better guides for a first draft than rule books. It’s more important to be understood than it is to form a grammatically perfect sentence.

• Commas denote a pause in speaking. The phrase “In contrast” at the start of a sentence needs a comma to emphasize that the sentence is distinguished from the previous one, not to distinguish the first two words of the sentence from the rest of the sentence. Speak the sentence aloud to find pauses.

• Dashes should emphasize the clauses you consider most important — without using bold or italics — and not only for defining terms. (Parentheses can present clauses more quietly and gently than commas.) Don’t lean on semicolons as a crutch to join loosely linked ideas. This only encourages bad writing. You can occasionally use contractions such as isn’t, don’t, it’s and shouldn’t. Don’t be overly formal. And don’t use exclamation marks to call attention to the significance of a point. You could say ‘surprisingly’ or ‘intriguingly’ instead, but don’t overdo it. Use these words only once or twice per paper.

• Inject questions and less-formal language to break up tone and maintain a friendly feeling. Colloquial expressions can be good for this, but they shouldn’t be too narrowly tied to a region. Similarly, use a personal tone because it can help to engage a reader. Impersonal, passive text doesn’t fool anyone into thinking you’re being objective: “Earth is the centre of this Solar System” isn’t any more objective or factual than “We are at the centre of our Solar System.”

• Choose concrete language and examples. If you must talk about arbitrary colours of an abstract sphere, it’s more gripping to speak of this sphere as a red balloon or a blue billiard ball.

• Avoid placing equations in the middle of sentences. Mathematics is not the same as English, and we shouldn’t pretend it is. To separate equations from text, you can use line breaks, white space, supplementary sections, intuitive notation and clear explanations of how to translate from assumptions to equations and back to results.

• When you think you’re done, read your work aloud to yourself or a friend. Find a good editor you can trust and who will spend real time and thought on your work. Try to make life as easy as possible for your editing friends. Number pages and double space.

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Article available here. Other writing tip blogs:

Zadie Smith: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2017/10/24/zadie-smith-writing-tips

Philip Pullman: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2017/10/19/philip-pullman-writing-tips

Ursula Le Guin: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2017/8/20/writing-craft

Writing Style: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2017/9/3/writing-craft-tools

Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. Caryl Churchill. Reflections.

It’s fair to say there is quite a lot I don’t comprehend about Carly Churchill’s latest four plays. 

I consider her one of  the greatest - if not the greatest living British playwright - so I place it more in myself that I don’t understand.

A few reflections:

The incomprehension seems to be a reflection of where we are in Britain. To me, Churchill has written of the times we are in and reflected that lens - often through a socio-political lens and typically feminist and socialist. 

The actors are serious. Their words and intentions seem serious to me. Their execution is exquisite.

There is a fragility present. A fragility embodied in the first play Glass and continuing through out. The fragility is direct in Glass from the moment you figure out the conceit of what the actors

are playing until the shattering end.

“There should be no attempt to make the glass girl look as if she is made of glass. No effort making her seem invisible etc. She looks like people look.” (Stage direction)

This seems an instruction that suggests directly the fragility of humans. 

In earlier works the incomprehension was embodied in form. Half sentences. Metaphors.

Here the confusion and fragility is more direct in both character and story. Bluebeard. Friends of Bluebeard seemingly can’t comprehend what Bluebeard has done and yet they are a mix of complicit, contradictory, supportive and excommunicatative - as in would preach an excommunication of friendship. 

What friend hasn’t done a bad thing? 

But what does it mean to be almost complicit in misogyny and murders.  We should have known. All of us. (Cf. MeToo) 

Kill.  Places the gods amongst us. I can’t figure out humans.  I definitely can’t figure out gods. Neither can anyone else. Does it reflect the fragility of humanity ? Our need for stories, myths both the mundane and the divine. 

The interludes have a juggler and a form of clowning mildly acrobatic contortionist. 

I’ve juggled probably a few hundred hours in my life.  4 clubs is hard. She has a fifth but after a couple of drops I didn’t see her take it on. Shame as I expect it would have been breath taking. 

It reinforces the fragility of life, a little nudge here or there - a slight over and under spin and boom it drops on the floor in a splat. 

The audience is generous. We’ve all been there before. 

Imp. This is a concentrated piece of life.  Lies. Or not. Fantasy. Hopes. Dreams. 

The older woman - Dot -  is always in her chair. She’s full of rage that she keeps bottled in. Once she let it out - it ruined her life.  Once a nurse she now lives on medications and benefits. She keeps a magical imp in a bottle. It may or it may not exist. 

The older man needs to run constantly to keep his depression at bay.  Related to the woman, they co-exist in a way that reminds me of early Pinter or Beckett.  It’s absurd in that the reality seems so concentrated. 

Their niece has arrived in town and drops in for regular visits. 

A semi-vagrant somewhat nomadic man drops in for tea. 

A story that reflects an atomised city living tangentially commenting on addiction, work, benefits, rage, the lies we tell ourselves, secrets we keep or don’t, the nature of love

And still a fragility and a reflection on who we are. 

Is it clear to me ? No.  But the tangled threads reflects how I don’t understand a lot of what I see around me. That feels true to me. 

A complex work with no easy classical dramaturgy by a writer who has written an astonishing body of work.  That’s important as well in a world looking for simple easy answers this set of work defies that.  

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Want more? This is Churchill’s agent - Mel Kenyon in conversation

Bisola Alabi, Playwright Interview

Bisola articulated some thoughts as to the nature of her creative process below. She is performing her work-in-progress show at the Bush Theatre about mental health, a mythical water deity known as Mami Wata, dealing with loss and trauma while living in an all women’s hostel. Mami Wata will be at the Bush Theatre on 21st and 22nd March 2019 at 3pm on Eventbrite HERE

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How did you feel about stories of people who looked like you or stories of families like yours - when growing up or now? Were you aware of an absence of stories?

When it comes to stories, growing up I was in an interesting position. Although on typical British television I would hardly see anyone who looked like me, except for the typical one dimensional and negative stereotypes. I did grow up in a household where we constantly watched Nollywood films (Nigeria’s version of Hollywood). We had so many tapes and DVDS of these films. My friends and I were obsessed with them and because of having this in my life I could imagine myself as an actor and writer. We did laugh sometimes at the quality of some of those films, especially when they tried to add special affects but I absolutely adored every single one of those films. Seeing beautiful Nigerian women and men on my home screen fuelled my dreams for myself. However, It never permanently fixed the absence I felt when not seeing myself on screen on British TV as I am British and Nigerian. Also, I could not watch many Nigerian films as many of them were spoken in Yoruba (one of the many languages in Nigeria). My family are of the Yoruba tribe and that is our language. Unfortunately, my mother never taught me her language and I have always felt disconnected for that part of myself. This is something I bring up in Mami Wata because is common for Nigerian parents to teach their children their language, especially if they are brought up outside of Nigeria. I would have family members and friends constantly ask me why I don’t speak Yoruba as if I am responsible for not teaching myself, which has at many times left me feeling resentment and more distant from community.

What would you say to a more dominant culture which may not authentically portray stories about black women, about disability about themes which interest you ?

 I would say to the more dominant culture, which who don’t portray more authentic stories about Black women and all women of colour, disability and mental health is firstly, for them to try to imagine being in our shoes and having all the amazing stories that they have created for themselves dwindled down to something that doesn’t truly give you justice, full range and perspective of their experiences and seeing how that greatly affects them in the wider world. Our understanding of the world mainly comes from the media in all its forms. Imagine having all your stories taken away from you.

As part of my Mami Wata project I am working with an amazing charity called the London Black Women’s Project, which is a charity that work with women of colour who are survivors of domestic abuse, young girls, refugees and women with mental health issues. I have listened and helped facilitate writing workshops with some of their clients, who will be sharing their work as part of the Mami Wata sharing. Their stories are absolutely heartbreaking and they are struggling and surviving from hand to mouth in Britain. Their stories are hardly heard and these brilliant charities are underfunded. Theresa May’s words of creating a hostile environment is the stuff of nightmares for these women because they are living that hostile environment.  Words such as hers create apathy, hatred and ignorance, which makes me want to use the privileges and opportunities to help as much as possible, yet I have so much to learn.

It is important to have full representation not just on screen or stage but also behind the scenes, especially when it comes to the decision-makers aka the gatekeepers. We have lived in a world that has thrived on underrepresentation and misrepresentation in the media that has great consequences. That is why I am a passionate writer and why I’ve written Mami Wata. It is important for me to show people the complexities of being a Black woman in Britain. Women of colour, especially have a higher percentage of mental health issues, many of whom do not seek treatment due to the views and taboos placed on us within our communities. From personal experience, I have found it difficult to have a conversation with my own family about my experience with depression. Brought up in a traditional Nigerian household it is easier for them to blame it on superstition with them prescribing prayer (which can be therapeutic) as the treatment instead of dealing with the medical science of it. If that makes sense.

You’ve switch careers and studied law. How has that influenced your artistic practice? If at all.

I’ve always wanted to work in the arts as a writer and actor but I ended up studying law to please my very traditional Nigerian family and I absolutely hated it.  What was meant to be one of the most amazing experiences in my life (going to University) was a bit miserable because I was studying something that I had zero passion for. During those years was when I realised I had depression. As well as getting medical help, I decided that during every summer break I would take part in as many theatre opportunities as possible. ATC, Ovalhouse and the Young Vic are few of the theatres that gave me those opportunities for escapism and somewhere that I could fully exercise my creativity. Looking back, I’m extremely grateful for those opportunities. I am also grateful for my experience at University because it showed me clearly that if I am going to spend my life working towards something it has to be something that I am passionate for.

Has place, where you were born where you live now, affected you and your work ?

 For sure. In fact I go into great detail about Rotherhthe and Bermondsey in Mami Wata. It definitely shaped how I talk about the world and the people who have left an impression on me growing up good and bad.

What made you want to write and perform?

 I don’t now if I can remember a specific time or place where it really hit me that  I wanted to be a writer/performer. Children are great at creating stories with their dolls and stuffed animals etc. As an only child I remember creating a lot of stories with my dolls and stuffed animals and then that transitioned into me writing in my diaries. I would imagine writing epic and adventurous stories in my head and wish that someone would create them. I finally realised I need to have the courage to start writing these stories.  

What do you find hard to write about?

One of the hardest things I find about writing is when I have an idea and the dread of writing the first sentence this has been the scariest part for me. Then the fear of the first draft, which is what most writers go through. Realising that I am not the only one has lifted that fear a bit.

However, I would say Mami Wata has been the hardest play I have written so far because it is my most personal story I have written so far. Finding the right voice has been difficult and I am still discovering it. It was this process where I really felt the hardcore effects of writers block, it was this story that made we question if I should be a writer, can I write? am I good enough? That little negative voice in my head became louder on this project and because of that I knew I have to keep going and trust the process and my wonderful creative team who have held me up, supported me and believed in this project.

What has brought you the most happiness to write and perform ?

 Mami Wata, when I enter the rehearsal room with my team of wonderful creatives/collaborators I am filled with so much excitement and energy. This was the first project where I received Arts Council funding for and having the opportunity to partner with different theatres and practitioners for this process has been brilliant.

What has influenced your artistic practice?

My experiences growing up in London have influenced my artistic practice, including reading about history, the forgotten stories and people of history. Non-Fictions, like the Miseducation Of The Negro, The Many Headed Hydra, The Black Jacobins, The autobiography of Assata Shakur, The New Jim Crow. Then there are the fictions such as A Thousand Splendid Suns, Americanah, A Brief History of Seven Killings and more. Reading the work of some of my favourite playwrights, like August Wilson and Debbie Tucker Green, who have given me the permission to write in whatever form or style I like. I do not need to subscribe the Europe tradition of the five-act structure. For me I believe if I want to be a great writer and expand my range of story telling then reading must be part of my artistic practice, which is a given for any writer.

Are there any difficult lessons that you have learned ? is there any advice you’d like to give others ?

No matter how much your workload is make sure you have a decent eight hour sleep, that is essential. Sometimes you may feel lonely so get used to your own company. The saying goes once you are at peace with solitude you will never feel lonely. Apply for funding while you still can, learn to produce something, especially if it is your own work it will liberate you.

Tell me about your current and future projects?

Mami Wata my first two hander show. The scratch performances are on at the Bush Theatre on the 21st and 22nd March at 3pm. Tickets must be booked via eventbrite (link below).

I am overjoyed to say that I am an associate Playwright at the Bush Theatre as part of the Project 2036 scholarship, which is a yearlong attachment. I am part of an amazing cohort, which includes an associate Producer and an associate Director and together we are programming our takeover in the Bush Studio from the 10th-22nd June 2019, so watch this space!

What was the last artistic work that made you cry ?

The film Moonlight turned me into an emotional wreak, absolutely stunning.

if money was no object what projects would you do?

I would do international shows and tour various countries in Africa. I would make an epic Afro-Futuristic fantasy television series and movies. I would set up my own theatre and film studio.

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Mami Wata, A work-in-progress sharing of a new play by Bisola Alabi 

Fifi is staying in an all-women hostel not far from the Thames. Estranged from her mother and in shock from the death of a loved one, she receives an unexpected letter from her absentee father. Dare she read it? As if that weren’t enough, the mysterious malevolent water god Mami Wata just won’t leave her alone…

A play exploring womanhood, non-western mythology and mental health issues amongst women of colour. As part of the performance, a few participants from the playwright’s writing workshops with the London Black Women’s Project will share a short excerpt from their work, and there will be a post-show Q&A.

DETAILS: Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd March, 3pm

Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush, W12 8LJ

Access info here | Book tickets here ( £5+booking fee)  | (Door tickets are £7 CASH ONLY)

You can follow her on Twitter @elizaalabi

50 playwrights on Their Craft

-An excerpt from a playwright interview book

I’m a little bit suspicious on some “top tips”. I still read them like a bowl of open chocolates I find it hard to resist. The “morning routine” or the “business day” categories are so far away from what a typical person does or can do.  On top of that, what works for one person often doesn’t work for someone else especially if that person is a CEO.

Yet, I make exceptions for writer interviews. While  I still may not be able to practice how other writers practice there’s often thoughtful ideas in the answers they give on why they write what they write. 

This is a set of interviews by Caroline Jester and Caridad Svich on 50 playwrights (half US, half UK more or less) on their Craft.

Fascinating in the variety of craft and thinking from playwrights.

From the first chapter:

“WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM AND HOW DO THEY BEGIN THEIR TRANSFORMATION INTO PLAYS? 

Surely playwrights know what they are going to write about before they put pen to paper, or fingertip to keypad? This chapter investigates where they find their ideas and how they follow them on the journey as they become plays. Each writer was asked whether their ideas come from a sudden conceit or if they are more planned. There really doesn’t appear to be one clear route to follow. 

José Rivera finds it hard to separate inspiration from craft when writing for theater but feels playwrights are always looking for that “riveting metaphor” to help a deepening understanding of our times. He writes plays not to understand himself but rather to understand an idea. It is through the craft of playwriting and the toolkit of conflict, spectacle, language, and story that he carves an idea, or “maps an obsession.” 

Steve Waters can look back on his body of work and notice the aspects of himself that keep popping in. He believes playwrights carry around instincts and experiences that make them alert to particular stories they want to write about. But he has to wait for those instincts and experiences to come into view. Once he senses character or a scene, everything starts to fall away. But once he imagines place, he can write the play. 

Charlene James usually gets an idea from hearing a conversation, watching a documentary, or seeing a headline. It is an impulse, a reaction to something, but the idea needs to sit there and “marinade” before it starts to talk through her characters.

 Quiara Alegría Hudes is interested in the inward battles we face and is open to inspiration from anywhere, waiting for the seed that has been planted to take root. She responds to the work of her predecessors as well as witnessing the changing landscape around her. It might be “feng shui,” but what are the truths that have been hidden underneath? 

Alecky Blythe uses the words of real people to create her plays and seems to follow their lead once an idea has struck. Casting her net as wide as possible before crafting the play ensures an authenticity to the story that doesn’t come from a desire to write about an issue. And her dictaphone gives her a license to go to areas she hasn’t been before. 

Steven Sapp’s ideas come from where he is in his life at that time. But he is part of an ensemble, and how ideas develop always begins in collaboration with others. He started in the poetry and open mic scenes in New York City, where there were no rules, and that organic process did not stop when the ensemble “arrived” in the theater scene. 

Chris Goode is suspicious of an idea that seems to be complete. He will carry it around with him until something largely unconnected finds a space to lodge inside his head as well. When the differing strands entangle, a traction occurs and an idea begins its journey into a play. 

Sylvan Oswald lets ideas stew inside for a long time. And the ingredients that make up the stew are disparate elements that have been chopped, with spices added, sealed in a jar, and buried in a hole. It is ready when it is ready, and thoroughly ingested before giving fuel to the play. 

Naylah Ahmed can have a desire to address something that is unpindownable and it can be with her for many years before the writing begins. But how do you unravel what is unpindownable into a play that others can share? 

Paula Vogel writes to share her concerns about the world we inhabit and her plays are written with a sense that she is trying to understand what disturbs her. And as a dialectical artform, the responsibility of playwriting is to “explore the gray areas and eschew the black and white.” 

As you enter the chapter, be ready to be taken on a journey. But there isn’t one path to follow. Be open to many twists and turns along the way as ideas emerge and the creative processes begin. As with any creative process, it is usually best to acknowledge that it is a trip into the unknown…”

Amazon link here. 

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Check out Stephen Jefferies book on writing plays.

Zadie Smith Q&A here and her writing tips here.

Hear about the chat with legendary agent, Mel Kenyon.

Some notes from listening to the literary manager of the Royal Court, Chris Campbell. (soon to be at Oberon Books)

Be inspired by Artistic Director, Kate Wasserberg’s Dauntless Theatre.