The Write Stuff
It is every writer's dream to see one's work in print; to see the novel on the shelves of every bookshop from Land's End to John O'Groats. Top that with a decent advance, and life can't get any better. Budding playwrights, on the other hand, want to see their work performed. Thanks to the OUDS New Writing Festival, now in its seventh year running, student-written dramas are making the leap from page to stage.
The Festival aims to identify quality writing from students and puts on the winning plays in a number of key venues at Oxford: the Burton Taylor Theatre, the Old Fire Station and the O'Reilly Theatre at Keble College. The opportunity to have a live audience watching and reacting to the play, as well as to be judged by professionals, has attracted a high standard of entries. This year, 31 playwrights submitted scripts, from which Suzanne Bell, Literary Manager at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, drew up a shortlist of eight. From that shortlist, Ruth Little, Literary Associate at the Young Vic, selected a winner and three runners-up. Jem Bloomfield's Bewick Gaudy came first, whilst Under My Skin by Marianka Swain, Good Night Tony Martin by Mark Jenkins, and Next Please by Alice Wood were joint runners-up.
Jem Bloomfield, winner of the Cameron Mackintosh Award for New Writing, is thrilled to have Bewick Gaudy produced. Although the idea for a play set in a fictional Oxford college - "pitting idealism and nostalgia against the gritty realities of student life" - had been brewing since his first year, Bloomfield only finished the script "a half-hour before the deadline." He recalls cycling across town, puffing and panting as he handed in his work. Bloomfield's efforts paid off, and he has since received contacts from theatre professionals. OUDS President Chip Horne enthuses about the doors opening up to the writers. "I've had a lot of interest, particularly from the Soho Theatre, one of the most important theatres for new writing," he says. In addition, Jessica Dromgoole, head of the BBC New Writing initiative, intends to contact the student playwrights, and RSC playwright Paul Sirett is running a workshop for them.
One of this year's runners-up, Marianka Swain, is no stranger to writing for the theatre. Under My Skin, which tackles the emotionally charged relationship of a divorcing couple, might be her first full-length play, but she has been putting pen to paper since the age of 14. "In London, I live in Notting Hill, home of the Gate Theatre. There, young writers are encouraged to get involved. They are hooked up with playwrights, and can see what it feels like to have a play performed, complete with actors and director."
If producing a play requires dedicated teamwork, what do those on the other side of the curtain make of the Festival? Mary Lee Costa, who plays 30-year-old seductress Jeanie in Bewick Gaudy, auditioned "because the concept of looking in on the lives of Oxford students seemed reminiscent of a more serious version of P.G. Wodehouse." She sees the Festival as a "very good opportunity" for everyone involved. Teachers from top drama schools, such as RADA, LAMDA, and the Central School of Speech and Drama, watch the plays then give awards to the best actors and directors, who might just get that lucky break they've been searching for.
David Cochrane, on the other hand, takes a light-hearted view. He says he applied to direct Bewick Gaudy "on a whim." Not expecting to get anywhere in his application, Cochrane turned up to the director's interview hung over, but his seemingly flippant attitude belies the fact that from 1999 to 2002 he wrote and directed two plays each summer in Glasgow, his home city. Next term he is looking to have his own one-man play, Faust of the Colonnade, performed.
For every playwright who enters the Festival, there are many more seeking to stage their work. Jem Bloomfield believes that writing without the chance of production is "pointless". Putting on a play outside the New Writing Festival is relatively straightforward, though it can be time-consuming. But a little initiative can go a long way - Chip Horne estimates that between six and ten student-written plays are produced each year.
Horne tempers the optimism of the winning writers with a hint of caution; nevertheless, the New Writing Festival presents a way to get noticed and the experience of writing a play for production can be an interesting, rewarding, and amusing one.
26th Feb 2004