OPENING LINES - Hall for Cornwall

Opening Lines was conceived to pro actively develop new theatre writers in Cornwall. It followed on from the Hall for Cornwall’s strong commissioning policy, and a five day residency project in collaboration with The Royal Court Young Writers Programme, The Works: Dance & Theatre Cornwall, Kernow Education Arts Partnership and Creative Partnerships Cornwall.

The inspiration of the Royal Court and the subsequent fallout allowed HfC’s programme to further expand in 2004/05 with the broad aim of helping to develop the most promising stage writers in Cornwall – both emerging and established.

Project Description

OPENING LINES began in the form of a short play competition, open to any writer of any experience level over 15 living and working in the south west region – or with strong and proven connections to Cornwall.

The task was to write a monologue, duologue or three-handed play for stage. Participants were encouraged to place emphasis on the written word, an empty space and characters, rather than large and ambitious stage sets.

We did not want this to be a ’dry’ application process, so workshops and related activities were developed alongside including one-to-one ‘script surgeries’, delivered on a first-come, first served basis, as well as bespoke personal feedback on draft submissions. A comprehensive Resource Pack, including guidelines on submitting a script, formatting, web resources, dramaturgy and playwriting exercises was also developed and sent to over 60 individuals.

The most exciting works, chosen from all the submissions won a four-day professional rehearsal period (with rehearsals spaced over a month) and a live performance at HfC in July 2005.

We wanted to give the writers an opportunity to work practically with professional directors and actors, to experience the depth of activity that happens in the rehearsal room, and to experience the effect of their work on a live audience.

Of the three winners, only two had experience of writing a play before. Henry Darke’s HIGHFLIERS has already had performances at HfC and a rehearsed reading at the Royal Court, and Jane Pugh’s ORAL FIXATION was in development by Cornish Theatre Collective. Both had received mentoring from HfC in the past. The only professional published writer of the three, the poet Victoria Field, had never written play before and wrote BLOOD in a single sitting.

In addition to practical rehearsal and workshop time, each successful play was offered one-to-one script development time with a director. The final performance was made open to the general public, and we invited promoters and special guests to the staging, which was attended by 321 people. 

Feedback

One of the positive relationships to emerge through the project was that with our readers, who were drawn from across the south west. The written and verbal interaction with this group of 24 helped the reading process to be exploratory and gave us a number of insights into the standard of work elsewhere, the range of work being generated by the region and the varying tastes and styles of work that the readers chose.

…there ARE things here and you HAVE been doing this whole thing right and you will find MANY writers to develop who have a feel or a passion for the medium (if not the experience, yet)......it's a great project you've done here - and you have got high quality scripts…sterling work. Kaite O’Reilly, MA in Playwriting, Exeter University

Our principal motivation for giving each writer the chance to see their work developed and performed by professionals was to give the writers much needed experience of practically making theatre – to be able to interact with trained actors and experience a live audience’s reaction to their work. This was productive; all three writers found the learning curve steep, insightful and useful.

The whole project was impeccably organised and genuinely accessible – the idea of having a competition
open to both experienced and new writers, together with a programme of workshops, was immensely encouraging.

I have been writing poetry, fiction, essays and book reviews seriously for several years now but had never attempted a play. The ideas for Blood had been hanging around my head for a while. It was perhaps fortuitous that I kept seeing Opening Lines leaflets at the time when I hit on the idea of using the story of Dvorak’s early years as the vehicle for those themes… If it hadn’t been for the competition, I might otherwise have written it as a story rather than a play.

I can’t thank you (together with everyone at Hall for Cornwall and the sponsors) enough for your vision in setting up this opportunity. For me personally, it has been a huge confidence booster and has greatly motivated me to do more dramatic writing. Being able to work alongside such a professional and talented team has been a real privilege. I really hope to be able to continue to participate in the process of producing exciting theatre in Cornwall. Victoria Field, winning participant (Blood)

• Improvements and Recommendations
• More and sustained financial resources to generate more time for workshops, preparation and rehearsals
• More dialogue with arts partners to create a better sense of advocacy and profile of the work
• Funding and nurturing more skilled readers who needed more time and a greater level of intervention with us
• Better support for the actors and artists involved (e.g. planning time)
• More permanent administrative support for the work
• At least two readings for every play need to be given in order to ensure consistency

The Future

It has taken HfC’s new writing work forward – the scheme now affords writers working at a range of levels the opportunity of advice, tutoring and practical application of their craft from within Cornwall, rather than having to travel further afield.

OPENING LINES has had significant fallout. Not only has it allowed us to build a greater awareness of who and what is there, but it has given us insight into what is needed, and the inspiration to provide this on a rolling basis.

More significantly, it has triggered a range of opportunities for the participants, with many going on to develop further work. HfC has also seed commissioned two writers directly as a result of the project.

HFC’s new writing programme continues alongside specific projects such as this, and now includes more confident delivery on a year round basis.
Our next project – an intensive playwriting residency which marks our second collaboration with the Royal Court – is underway and has directly involved 7 Opening Lines participants. By 2006 we plan to engage at least 10 new stage writers - both young and established - in the process of making exciting work for stage .

By engaging with individual writers we hope to contribute significantly to the development of stage writing in Cornwall in the coming years. Opening Lines has helped us to clarify where we are at and the project has been instrumental in allowing us to see what needs to be done, and how to go about doing it.

Conclusion

We now need to move the programme forward by rigorously engaging those writers who have come into our orbit, and developing their skills and abilities further through specialist projects and ongoing mentoring.

We will do this not only through the provision of ongoing resources such as mentoring and tutorials, but through specialist projects, using the best elements of the Opening Lines and Royal Court models.

We now see HfC’s role as a development agency for emerging and established playwrights. Our job as a theatre is to reinforce the indigenous culture of Cornwall and provide opportunities that are not otherwise available. Provision for the development of new playwriting is limited in Cornwall, so our programme fulfils an important need.

The need for more resources is now paramount if this work is to continue.

If you are interested in this project you can obtain the full report from Anna Coombs at Hall for Cornwall on annac@hallforcornwall.org.uk or tel 01872 321964