New Writing Part Two: London Playwrights Collective (Theatre503 22/3/10) 2 April 2010

Here we are at part two of my new writing month. I went to Theatre503 - the self proclaimed home of fearless writing and the theatre that was first to put on this years Olivier winning best play The Mountaintop - twice. The first for an evening of new writing from The London Playwrights Collective I figured that I keep going on about new writing and figured I had to make more of an effort to support it. I had been intending to go to Theatre503 for some time and when I went onto the website to see what was on I discovered London Playwrights' Collective - a collaborative supportive ad proactive community for writers. Taking chances is what it's all about, right?



When I first read about this one-off evening of new writing my expectation was to see extracts from new work. I figured it would be about showcasing four new writers by giving a peak at their full length plays. The fact that this ended up only being partially true was not a huge problem but I only wished I had known in advance what I was letting myself in for prior to attending, so I could get into the right frame of mind.

As mentioned, this was my first proper visit to Theatre503 and I have to say it exceeded my expectations. For those who have been to the Gate Theatre is Notting Hill, imagine the same with 10 times the amount of foyer space. After I collected my ticket I received a programme from what I believe to be the organiser. She let me know that there was a questionnaire and asked if I could complete it at the end. I had no problem with that but it sort of took me by surprise. For me to give feedback I would have to quickly adjust my head from punter to critic. I took a look at the programme which gave a good deal of information - play titles, cast lists with biographies, playwright biographies and a bit about the evening. Here it is:

'The Platforms are opportunities for the playwrights to go beyond the relative comfort of the writers' group an get a real taste of the theatre making process. More than a simple showcase, it is a crucial step in the development of the playwrights and their work both through working with directors and cast but most importantly by the immediate response of the audience.

These exciting platform performances are the result of a 4 month development period where our writers came together during specially designed LPC workshops, generously pooling resources and sharing knowledge in order to support each other in the creation of their piece. Once selected, the playwrights we given feedback and recommendations from the Theatre503 selection panel and got rewriting. They were then each paired up with a specifically appointed professional theatre director, who, through proactive feedback and dialogue, provided additional support in the conceptualisation of the piece whilst fully involving them into the directorial process. The directors were selected by the LPC artistic team out of the forty plus who applied!'

It sounds as if a great deal of work and energy went into the evening, but unfortunately I had difficulty seeing that work onstage, much to the detriment of the plays themselves.

The evening started on a promising note. The first piece The Inappropriate Conversation by Reen Polonsky, directed by Jackie Kane was a two hander involving an teenage girl and an older man. What I liked about it was the aspect of not knowing if these two were lovers. It was eventually revealed that the man was the girls god father but the girl obviously really fancied him. This story could be spun off into an interesting dissection not only of Lolita style attraction but, as was hinted at here, the differences between age groups. The actors were off book and although I found the performances to be a little stilted and actorly, not entirely convincing, I could still see see the play beneath.

Next up The Lesson Before We Break by Colin Bell, directed by Alexander Summers. Unfortunately I found this one to be a bit of a disaster.

This play concerned an elderly teacher who it seems in the past was convicted of a relationship with a younger male pupil (we sit through an interrogation scene where it is revealed the male officer knows the teacher). He befriends a young male student who is new to the school while he is reading 'Catcher in the Rye'. During a school assembly the teacher verbally insults a female student after she laughed during a bit about the holocaust. It seems that he had been forced to wear a pink triangle during WW2 (This can't be confirmed as we only really see him putting on an armband with the pink triangle). This young female student is 'inner city tough' and files a complaint in a scene where she, accompanied by another teacher, confronts the elderly teacher. She has knowledge of his prior conviction and threatens him with spilling the beans.

Along the way, this female student meets the new kid and tries to get him on her side by threatening violence, he is not interested. He gets a lesson in the 'Catcher in the Rye' from the teacher who dissects the books characters names - Holden Caulfield becomes - Hold On (with all that implies) and Caul - the membrane around a baby - blah blah blah. (I think Catcher has already been done to death). Finally, the girls gang beats up the boy and he goes to the teachers home for help. The teacher is afraid that he will be seen as having a relationship with the boy so tries to get him out. At this point the student brings up how he is scarred by his father being in Afghanistan. I can't really remember how it ended. Mind you, this was just an extract. It was very long and everyone was on book and there were a great many 'scene' changes which made it very difficult to watch and follow. Honestly, just two of those issues raised could make for an interesting play but it was all too much.

After the interval came Cold Hands by John Anderson, directed by Anna Brownstead. This one was partially off book, but I really couldn't figure out what was going on. It's hard to say whether a few scenes were shoved together to give a bigger picture of the story or we were just dropped into it. This concerned something about a cryonics laboratory. Here's the description - 'When the Director of a cryonics firm finds his business world shattering into shards around him, he finally confronts his won personal grief.'

There was something very cold and distant about this, as if it was written by someone from the medical profession. It got a bit too technical at times and I really didn't see the personal grief. Again, it seemed very under rehearsed and this got in the way of seeing the play. From what was presented on stage I didn't find it very interesting.

Finally, the best all rounder of the evening - Waterton's Wild Menagerie by David Bottomley, directed by Daniel Burgess. Here's the description - 'Charles Waterton 1782 - 1865, a traveller, naturalist and benefactor to the local poor. He created the world's first nature reserve at Walton Hall, his ancestral home. This extract recalls his encounter with a group of starving beggars and supposes what might have occurred had he invited them back to eat bread with him at Walton Hall.' Although all actors were on book, it never interfered with the story or performances. It was well directed, very simply relying on the actors to tell the story. It was also funny, witty and well observed. The only downside for me was that for an extract, it seemed to go on for quite some time.

I opted out of filling in the questionnaire. I considered starting it during the interval but I didn't have a pen and then when I had a proper look at the sheet I realised it would prove an impossible task. There was only a very small comment space for each play accompanied by a 'rate this' from two to five section. It also asked which of the pieces I would be interested in seeing as a full length version. Because of the presentation I couldn't comment on the play without commenting on the direction and acting. Did I not like the play because of the directing? or were the actors so under rehearsed that it showed the play in a poor light? I didn't know and there wasn't enough room on the sheet to explain.

Although the intentions were honorable I fell this was a good example of why some 'scratch' type performances don't work. I like to know what I'm getting myself into, how I am supposed to experience the evening. I was never made aware, as a punter, that I would be seeing such unfinished extracts. The plays themselves may have been considered finished but the presentations were so fussy, unimaginative and under rehearsed I felt the only people that would have really gotten anything out of them would be the playwright and those also involved in each writers writing group. In fact, I have the feeling the audience was mostly made up of those two groups and those associated with LPC. There was a very 'in crowd' feeling about the evening, as if they all knew what was to come and I was the only one out in the cold.

What would have made this evening work for me?

1. An introduction on stage to each extract - giving a small overview of where it fits within the whole of the play - finished or not.
2. Better rehearsed actors so not to distract from the play itself.
3. Unfussy direction so the audience could concentrate on the play and not get bogged down with fussy blocking and set pieces.
4. Allowing on side of an A5 sheet of paper for each play and a way to either send in your comments later or email them through.

I think LPC were trying to straddle two worlds by trying to make both playwright and punter happy. I can't imagine the average punter being that interested in seeing something so unformed. Although these were works in progress I feel they should have been shown as finished works with more time put into presentation. If this is what is to be expected from scratch performances I can't see myself attending more unless I am associated in some way.

I wonder if what's keeping scratchs from being an integral part of the process is how the writers view their work. This came up during my 'Devoted and Disgruntled' session. Either you can present something as a work in progress or as a finished piece. My feeling is that there aren't many people who are interested in works in progress but as theatregoers are aware that as with all types of art, things can change. It's all about your intention.

In the present format I'm not sure I will be attending another of LPC's evenings. Funny enough they waited until you arrived to let you know what you were in for. Unlike the description on the website, the evening had a title, it was printed on their programme - Crash Test Audience 2. Enough said.

New Writing Part One: Eigengrau (Bush Theatre 13/3/10)

This past month has been heavily populated by new things for me. A new play at the Bush Theatre, two evenings of new writing and with the first of the two, the first time I had been to Theatre503. Add to that my finding out that I will be starting a new job in May (Marketing for Arcola Theatre - which now marks a self imposed embargo on Arcola blogs) and it all adds up to a pretty momentous month. My original intention was to discuss each of the three new theatre works individually but in my mind they always seemed to come together as three parts of one conversation so that's how I have decided to approach it this time around.

Back at the end of January, beginning of February I attended Improbable Theatre's Devoted & Disgruntled weekend where, using Open Space Technology, participants set the agenda. If you had a topic you wanted to discuss then you made it, titled it and scheduled it into one of the predetermined time slots. It was your responsibility to act as moderator of your 'session' and take notes as a record of the discussion.

One session I attended has a direct correlation to these new works and the thoughts I've had surrounding them. There was a woman who has been presenting her work at scratch performances for years and felt she was has fallen into a scratch circle. Can you scratch too much? I had never been a part of a scratch evening as a participant or viewer so I thought it would be interesting to hear if it was something I should pursue for my own work and if so maybe I would find out some of the pitfalls to avoid. The one thing that stood out for me was the question - when is your play or work finished and ready for a real production? This one went back and forth quite a few times until one of the participants - an Improbable regular - finally said - when you say it's ready.

That seems an obvious answer but it wasn't something that many had considered - partly because we are all used to having the 'powers that be' tell us when something is finished or possibly we as artists sometimes don't have enough faith in what we produce. Either way it was something to chew on.

Keeping all that in mind, I approached this month of new writing with the thought that all of the artists involved (as well as the powers that be) feel that, unless otherwise noted, the work on show is the finished deal.

Here is Part One.




Production 1: Eigengrau by Penelope Skinner at The Bush Theatre, Directed by Polly Findlay

Following on the heels of the stonking The Whisky Taster , to my tastes, Eigengrau had alot to live up to and on many levels if fell way short. I tend to have a thing about booking the final preview performance before a press night, the reasons being that for larger productions I can take advantage of a preview ticket price and ensure I'm getting the press night quality of performance. Also, I like to see things earlier on so not to be swayed or influenced by word of mouth and reviews. Unfortunately in this day and age, the press performances tend to be a bit fluid so I found myself surrounded by reviewers, the only ones I recognised were Mark Shenton and Lyn Gardner. Oh well.

For those who don't know, Eigengrau tells the story of two men and two women whose lives are intertwined. There's Cassie (Alison O'Donnell) a radical feminist and her flaky flatmate she found through Gumtree, Rose (Sinead Matthews - Our Class and The Women of Troy at the National, The Wild Duck at the Donmar and The Birthday Party in the West End), and on the male side there's Rose's city boy almost one night stand Mark (Geoffrey Streatfeild - Pains of Youth, The History Boys and The Bacchai - all National Theatre, Journey's End in the West End and Henry VI 1, 2, 3, Richard III, Henry IV 1, 2 and Henry V - all RSC) and his slacker flatmate Tim Muffin (John Cummins - A Stab in the Dark at the Kings Head, Edward II at BAC and The Beaver Coat at the Finborough).

Once all the characters and situations have been established, you can see how they will be interacting a mile off. City boy Mark has had a brief fling with Rose and runs into her flatmate Cassie the next morning in the flat. Cassie challenges Mark with her feminist views. Rose who has become obsessed with Mark, goes to his flat and meets Mark's flatmate Tim Muffin who in urn takes a shining to her. Mark starts fancying Cassie and it all gets a bit brit-comesque.

Going one step further each of the characters has a 'thing'. Cassie, as mentioned, is a feminist and is actively involved in the movement. Tim Muffin's grandmother has recently died and he keeps her ashes in a teddy bear shaped urn. Cassie is a flake and early on seems to be the eternal optimist but is revealed to be a bit psychotic in her single visioned pursuit of Mark, against all odds and signs to the contrary. And then there's Mark, the city boy. That's it. He's a city boy with all the trappings that one would expect - a bit laddish, a bit middle class with a dark side of liking to dominate sexually. No surprises there.

There's not much else to say about the actual storyline other than things happen and you can't really figure out why because they're never explored or brought up again. After a night of domination sex Cassie never speaks of feminism again. We learn that Rose has a history of not paying bills but is that a reason for her excessive behaviour? She refuses to see reason in regards to her pursuit of Mark, justifying every action in her favour, she debases herself by giving Mark the longest onstage blowjob ever (complete with the spitting out of sperm) to help secure their relationship, then goes onstage at a karaoke club and sings a complete song off key which concludes with self mutilation, only to bounce back at the end to her almost original self. And there's Tim Muffin, the only character with two names, (most likely for the humour factor) who we find out at the end has been devastated by the death of his grandmother. How that gives reason for his pursuit of Rose and his general slackerishness is beyond me.

Basically nothing seemed to add up. Yes, there were some wonderful comic touches and lines which the audience ate up but when you got to the end you just weren't sure what you just saw and why you saw it. At the end, two things came to mind - either the characters were poorly written or the director (Polly Findlay - Thyestes at Arcola, Romeo and Juliet at BAC) or the actors didn't assist enough in the creation of the characters.

Kind of sidestepping for a moment - I was working at a theatre in Los Angels during their pre Broadway run of August Wilson's Seven Guitars. At that point it was still a work in progress and I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on a discussion between the actors a group of young people for one of the theatre's outreach programmes. They told the eager listeners about all the cuts that had been made throughout the production.

The actors performed the previous version of the script for quite a while but it became evident that the play was running too long and many of the scenes were dragging down the pace. As a result, there were some major cuts - mostly involving character backstory. Some of the kids wondered if the cuts made the actors work more difficult. The reply was that it made their work easier because although they didn't perform those scenes anymore the information that they imparted became part of their performances, they informed how the characters acted and reacted within the scenes. It was something I hadn't considered before and has since stayed with me. (Unfortunately to the extent that I have issue with seeing replacement casts for long running productions). Having that much information is a luxury and that the majority of actors (and directors) have to get that sort of information on their own. It may be difficult at times to figure out but I think it's a necessity to gaining well fleshed out characters.

With Eigengrau I would say the lack of fully fleshed out characters are a result of the writer, the actors and/or the director not realising that something was missing. The writer introduced many elements that were either dropped without explanation or not explored beyond one or two lines. There is the possibility that the actors had worked on their characters stories but unfortunately this work never appeared in their performances (with the exception of Sinead Matthews who gave a wonderfully heartfelt performance which in fact revealed the flaws of the text). If they had worked on their back stories then I would say it was the director who failed to realise that the physics of cause and effect were not in play here.

Physically, the space itself was just a small traverse with audience on both sides. With the exception of a fast food stand where Tim Muffin briefly works, four chairs were used in various configurations to determine settings with a shelf on one wall for the teddy bear urn to indicate when they were in Mark's flat. The scene changes were a little clumsy and there were times when I had to think a little too much about where the characters were supposed to be. It mostly wasn't as obvious as it should have been.

Afterwards, I thought about Eigengrau, not for the good reasons that stimulating theatre can do but wondering what determines a finished play? Does it read better than it plays? Who could have read it and not seen all the missing pieces? Have I missed something? Am I crazy? I don't know. The audience I saw it with laughed up a storm, I didn't find it funny. A little humorous but too obvious for my tastes. Most of the reviews were glowing but I did read one that had the same questions about not following through with storylines. It is almost a deja vu situation. It reminds me a little about a certain play I blogged twice that was pipped to the post of a major award. It's almost like the title of the play exclaims - eigengrau: the colour seen by the eye in perfect darkness. Like the character of Rose it may seem the world only wants to see the good. I can excuse alot but I love theatre too much to wear rose tinted spectacles.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the new writing discussion with London Playwrights Collective and Box of Tricks' Word:Play 3 at Theatre503.