The Guardian and Observer have put out a useful series of booklets called How to Write. The plays and screenplays one came out on Tuesday 23rd September. If you missed it, it's on their website at www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/howtowrite.
One article stresses the importance of good layout, as the first contact with judges, producers, directors, actors etc is with the written page. It is possible to find downloadable formats (see the BBC Writersroom) but you may prefer to set up your own. The essentials are that the font is of a reasonable size (11/12pt), and that there is a clear distinction between dialogue and stage directions. If you know how to use Styles, you can set them for your layout:
Set Style 1 to have a hanging indent wide enough to accomodate your longest character name.
Set Style 2 with a wider indent and italics for stage directions.
If you keep the formatting panel open as you type you can easily jump between styles.
You can use Autocorrect to set up all your characters' names. Nothing more infuriating when you have a run of quick-fire dialogue if you have to keep typing the name on every line! Give Autocorrect the first letter (or two) and correct it to the full name in Caps. Much faster. You can also set P for Pause or other words than you will use repeatedly.
If anyone has any other more useful tips, please post them.
Jacquie
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Friday, 29 August 2008
State of the Nation?
We have received a number of enquiries about what exactly we mean by 'state of the nation', and in particular why we say your play should reflect 'being alive in Britain today' while we also say it can be set in any period. Isn't this a contradiction? No, it isn't.
Writers have always used historical material as a means of reflecting and commenting on the experiences of their own time. Some would say this distancing is even more effective in getting your point across than a contemporary setting, which runs the risk of quickly going out of date.
Here are some examples:
Euripides wrote 'The Trojan Women' to comment on the horrors of war in his own time, and in particular the policies of his government towards its enemies, but he set it in the distant Trojan war.
Shakepeare's 'Macbeth' is about kingship and power in his own day, but he set it in a vaguely mythical past.
Nearer to our own time, Brian Friel's 'Translations' is as much about the contemporary situation in Ireland (it was written in 1980) as about 1830s Ireland, which is its setting. Caryl Churchill set Act 1 of 'Cloud Nine' (1979) in 19th Century colonial Africa, to make a point about contemporary attitudes to gender and race.
A state of the nation play can of course have a contemporary setting, and it need not be overtly political. A play such as 'Closer' by Patrick Marber, for intance, is much more inward looking and set in contemporary London, reflecting the 90s obsessions with materialism and self.
The best way to find out more on this subject is to see and/or read lots of plays. For example, at the time of writing this there is one more opportunity to see 'Collaboration' by Ronald Harwood. Set in Nazi Germany, it could also be about our own collaboration or otherwise with our government's actions. 'Liberty', also at Chichester in November, is a modern adaptaion of a 1912 novel set in Paris, 1793. This version 'brings a fluidity and immediacy to a story that is both fresh and relevant'. Or you could catch 'West Side Story' at Woking in September - has an old tale of violent death at the hands of rival gangs really nothing to say about the state of the nation today?
Another useful source of ideas is Michael Billington's excellent book 'State of the Nation - British Theatre since 1945', published last year.
Or to put it another way: the historical setting and location of a play do not necessarily define what the play is actually about. Themes and ideas can be expressed in many different ways, including through setting and style.
Jacquie
Writers have always used historical material as a means of reflecting and commenting on the experiences of their own time. Some would say this distancing is even more effective in getting your point across than a contemporary setting, which runs the risk of quickly going out of date.
Here are some examples:
Euripides wrote 'The Trojan Women' to comment on the horrors of war in his own time, and in particular the policies of his government towards its enemies, but he set it in the distant Trojan war.
Shakepeare's 'Macbeth' is about kingship and power in his own day, but he set it in a vaguely mythical past.
Nearer to our own time, Brian Friel's 'Translations' is as much about the contemporary situation in Ireland (it was written in 1980) as about 1830s Ireland, which is its setting. Caryl Churchill set Act 1 of 'Cloud Nine' (1979) in 19th Century colonial Africa, to make a point about contemporary attitudes to gender and race.
A state of the nation play can of course have a contemporary setting, and it need not be overtly political. A play such as 'Closer' by Patrick Marber, for intance, is much more inward looking and set in contemporary London, reflecting the 90s obsessions with materialism and self.
The best way to find out more on this subject is to see and/or read lots of plays. For example, at the time of writing this there is one more opportunity to see 'Collaboration' by Ronald Harwood. Set in Nazi Germany, it could also be about our own collaboration or otherwise with our government's actions. 'Liberty', also at Chichester in November, is a modern adaptaion of a 1912 novel set in Paris, 1793. This version 'brings a fluidity and immediacy to a story that is both fresh and relevant'. Or you could catch 'West Side Story' at Woking in September - has an old tale of violent death at the hands of rival gangs really nothing to say about the state of the nation today?
Another useful source of ideas is Michael Billington's excellent book 'State of the Nation - British Theatre since 1945', published last year.
Or to put it another way: the historical setting and location of a play do not necessarily define what the play is actually about. Themes and ideas can be expressed in many different ways, including through setting and style.
Jacquie
As we said earlier, here is a summary of the competition judging process:
Writers who have entered our competition will want to know that the process is fair and impartial, so here is an outline of the process we are adopting:
· First and foremost we will ensure that the Administrator, who checks and logs entries as they arrive, is entirely separate from the Reading Panel. The Administrator keeps all records of writers’ real names strictly confidential and ensures that the Readers only see anonymous scripts.
· Every play will be read in its entirety at least twice (providing it meets the Terms and Conditions of the Competition).
· There are ten members of the Reading Panel, and they represent a broad mix of age, gender, background, professional and theatrical experience.
· The readers will work in pairs, scoring each play as it is read. Where there is a difference of opinion, the play will be passed to a third reader.
· The scoring will be used to arrive at a long list.
· We are unable to acknowledge receipt of scripts or return them, but we will post list of plays received (by title only) at intervals on the website. If you have sent a play that does not appear on the list, you could contact the Competition Administrator to check at ruth@benchtheatre.org.uk .
Writers who have entered our competition will want to know that the process is fair and impartial, so here is an outline of the process we are adopting:
· First and foremost we will ensure that the Administrator, who checks and logs entries as they arrive, is entirely separate from the Reading Panel. The Administrator keeps all records of writers’ real names strictly confidential and ensures that the Readers only see anonymous scripts.
· Every play will be read in its entirety at least twice (providing it meets the Terms and Conditions of the Competition).
· There are ten members of the Reading Panel, and they represent a broad mix of age, gender, background, professional and theatrical experience.
· The readers will work in pairs, scoring each play as it is read. Where there is a difference of opinion, the play will be passed to a third reader.
· The scoring will be used to arrive at a long list.
· We are unable to acknowledge receipt of scripts or return them, but we will post list of plays received (by title only) at intervals on the website. If you have sent a play that does not appear on the list, you could contact the Competition Administrator to check at ruth@benchtheatre.org.uk .
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Coming soon
With five months still to go before the play competition deadline in January, there is still plenty of time to get writing. Two script have already arrived, and we're looking forward to the arrival of plenty more. The next meeting of the reading panel is next week, and we will post further details of the reading and judging process so that people know what is happening to their scripts. If you are thinking of entering, do read the FAQs, Terms and Conditions and other information available on the website - there are useful Links as well.
Just some reminders: the competition is being run by members of Bench Theatre, a non-professional company - people with day-jobs who are therefore pressed for time. This is why we are not acknowledging receipt of or returning scripts. So please don't send us the only copy of your beloved play, and you may want to get receipt of postage when you send it. Depending on the level of response, we may be able to post list of titles received, so you can check whether yours has reached us.
And some recent news - if the winning play is performed in September 2009 aas we hope, it will conicide with, and be part of, the 2nd (now annual) Havant Literary Festival, which is good news for the competition winner, the Bench and the Festival.
Happy writing
Competition Organiser.
Just some reminders: the competition is being run by members of Bench Theatre, a non-professional company - people with day-jobs who are therefore pressed for time. This is why we are not acknowledging receipt of or returning scripts. So please don't send us the only copy of your beloved play, and you may want to get receipt of postage when you send it. Depending on the level of response, we may be able to post list of titles received, so you can check whether yours has reached us.
And some recent news - if the winning play is performed in September 2009 aas we hope, it will conicide with, and be part of, the 2nd (now annual) Havant Literary Festival, which is good news for the competition winner, the Bench and the Festival.
Happy writing
Competition Organiser.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Bench Theatre Play Competition
Bench Theatre is perhaps not a terribly conventional amateur theatre company and we like to appeal to our audience's sense of theatrical adventure; we have after all just performed Sarah Kane's "Crave" and Phillip Ridley's "Ghost From A Perfect Place" over a two week stint. Some of us thought that staging "His Dark Materials" just before Christmas two years ago (a six hour epic split over two shows, featuring everything from flying witches to the physical manifestations of souls) might be the height of our ambition for a few years, but a few months ago we decided to run a play competition.
In 2009 the company celebrates it's fortieth year of staging plays, and to celebrate will be offering a whole season under the banner 'State of the Nation'. This will feature one play from each decade of our existance, each one selected by our usual democratic process from proposals put forward by potential directors. Although there are many plays around reflecting Britain in the 00's, we've opted to try and find a completely new piece, never before performed, by means of an open competition.
The winning play will be staged for 1 week at Havant Arts Centre (the small box theatre where we perform most of our productions) in September 2009. We hope that our search will attract plays from far and wide, and so have started this blog so that anyone may follow us where our adventures take us. Taking theatre to new places is a big part of what we try and do, so we welcome you whether you are an old-hand theatrically speaking, or completely new to the whole game.
Along the way we'll try and let you know what we're up to and what's been happening, and some of those involved will share their thoughts and feelings. We're all different, and we can't promise that we'll all agree with each other, but we hope you'll find us interesting enough to stop by again some time and catch up. I get to go first as current Secretary of the company, but you can expect to meet the people most heavily involved in getting the competition off the ground very soon, and no doubt many others who are taking part in one way or another, right up to the point where those acting in the piece let us know how they're finding it.
Thankyou for your company!
In 2009 the company celebrates it's fortieth year of staging plays, and to celebrate will be offering a whole season under the banner 'State of the Nation'. This will feature one play from each decade of our existance, each one selected by our usual democratic process from proposals put forward by potential directors. Although there are many plays around reflecting Britain in the 00's, we've opted to try and find a completely new piece, never before performed, by means of an open competition.
The winning play will be staged for 1 week at Havant Arts Centre (the small box theatre where we perform most of our productions) in September 2009. We hope that our search will attract plays from far and wide, and so have started this blog so that anyone may follow us where our adventures take us. Taking theatre to new places is a big part of what we try and do, so we welcome you whether you are an old-hand theatrically speaking, or completely new to the whole game.
Along the way we'll try and let you know what we're up to and what's been happening, and some of those involved will share their thoughts and feelings. We're all different, and we can't promise that we'll all agree with each other, but we hope you'll find us interesting enough to stop by again some time and catch up. I get to go first as current Secretary of the company, but you can expect to meet the people most heavily involved in getting the competition off the ground very soon, and no doubt many others who are taking part in one way or another, right up to the point where those acting in the piece let us know how they're finding it.
Thankyou for your company!
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