Over the last few weeks Mary Conway and Roger Mayhew have been getting feedback on their idea of a collaborative project which would enable writers and actors from the group to work together on a devised play or plays over a period of nine months to a year. The aims of the project would be:
1. To extend opportunities for working together and social interaction beyond Monday nights
2. To entice our playwrights into a collaborative process which mirrors real life play production
3. To work creatively with our actors to develop and produce a play
4. To enable our playwrights to enhance their skills and experience through facilitated sessions in theme, characterisation and structure
5. To enable our actors to enhance their skills and experience through research, improvisation and play development
6. To develop a piece of theatre that showcases a range of skills from Player Playwrights and demonstrates to the wider world our commitment to new writing
Any productions arising from this process would be credited to Player Playwrights but would identify all those who had contributed.
The project will fall into eight stages of development:
Stage One
A facilitated session or sessions with interested playwrights to develop a theme or themes for a showcase play or plays.
Expected outcome: Synopsis or series of ideas for a play or plays; establishment of sub groups for Stage 2
Timing: One or more sessions over an agreed period, beginning summer 2011.
Stage Two
Sub groups meeting to develop the structure of a play or plays with accompanying ideas, potential script samples and character descriptions.
Timing: September-October 2011
Stage Three
Sub group meetings to prepare briefings based on the agreed theme(s) and characters for use in development sessions with actors.
Timing: October 2011
Stage Four
A series of research and improvisation sessions with actors to build the characters and dramatic conflict of the play.
Timing: Agreed number of sessions October 2011-January 2012
Stage Five
Production of a written draft script/scripts based on the actors’ improvisation .
Timing: End February 2012
Stage Six
Intensive script work with the team of playwrights to arrive at the final script or scripts.
Timing: March 2012
Stage Seven
Reading(s) at Player Playwrights.
Timing: May 2012
Stage Eight
Review of progress with PP Committee to identify future potential for the play or plays and to consider possible production.
Timing: June 2012
Conclusion
This project would extend and diversify the work of Player Playwrights and could offer some interesting development sessions for actors and playwrights alike. At any stage of the process, we would review progress and adapt as necessary.
And it's happening. Taking the bull by the horns, the first meeting will be on
Friday 24th June
6.30-9.30
Phoenix Artists’ Club
1 Phoenix Street, Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DT
ALL INTERESTED MEMBERS ENCOURAGED TO COME AND PARTICIPATE
Please bring a pen and notepad.
If you would like to talk to either Roger or Mary, you can contact them on:
rogermayhewplays at yahoo dot co dot uk
mary dot conway3 at btopenworld dot com
Monday 27th June brings us the final date of the summer programme, though of course there's still two meetings of the Conway-Mayhew Collaboration to come, as well as numerous appearances in Camden and elsewhere during August. Being the final night, it's also Competition Time, and this term's theme, Up in Court, seems to have proved more taxing than usual. Perhaps that's because the requirement that each playlet has to be set in a courtroom has restricted the imagination of our trusty writers. There's less wiggle room than before, when we allowed the writers to use the title simply as a basis for whatever he or she fancies. At any rate, there are fewer entries than usual, but that has its virtues. With only six entries, maybe there won't be so much head-scratching among the voters as we all try and remember what on earth that second play was all about, and did we really enjoy it.
