A challenge for a playwright who does not have an ‘in’ with a certain company or agent is how to get work read or seen. In many ways that means hawking around material to companies which say they welcome new scripts. The interpretation of ‘welcome’ can be diverse and I have received much of the range on offer: promises of production from directors only for them to lose their jobs; encouragement from senior management teams that change; lost scripts; unspeakable delays which sometimes drag into Bekecttian silences; even downright lies.
Of course, it is tough for producing houses. Budgets are tight. The job of reading and assessing work is often given to an already overworked member of staff or even an intern with very little knowledge or professional experience of theatre, though they are keen to make their mark in it. And they sometimes do.
A number of companies have now taken to declaring an open season to receive plays. They announce dates between which synopses, scenes or scripts can be shot at them. Not surprisingly, no updates are given on the process and, as was the case before, a writer can be left hanging for a response.
It is not always bad news. I have, after long waits, been rewarded with productions on stage and radio. But trying to keep the channels open is always an unequal relationship. Maybe that is how a pheasant feels between October and February.
Of course, it is tough for producing houses. Budgets are tight. The job of reading and assessing work is often given to an already overworked member of staff or even an intern with very little knowledge or professional experience of theatre, though they are keen to make their mark in it. And they sometimes do.
A number of companies have now taken to declaring an open season to receive plays. They announce dates between which synopses, scenes or scripts can be shot at them. Not surprisingly, no updates are given on the process and, as was the case before, a writer can be left hanging for a response.
It is not always bad news. I have, after long waits, been rewarded with productions on stage and radio. But trying to keep the channels open is always an unequal relationship. Maybe that is how a pheasant feels between October and February.
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