The challenge of change: How can we create a better future for theatre, here, in the West Midlands?

An invitation from Alison Gagen

I’ve been working as Theatre Officer for the Arts Council’s West Midlands office for over 10 years now and I’ve never been so excited or wary about the changes happening around me and on the horizon.

When I talk about changes, I’m thinking about those which physically affect our theatres and arts centres: in 2010 a newly designed mac will re-open; shortly afterwards the Rep will close, working off-site whilst the Library of Birmingham development delivers a new mid-scale auditorium, as well as an iconic new building for Centenary Square; the RSC is due to complete its works by 2011; and the Belgrade and Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry have both recently undergone capital redevelopment. The result will be significantly altered spaces for the making and presentation of theatre in both our major cities and across the region.

I’m also thinking about changes in the economic situation and its impact on resources, on audiences, on the willingness we all have to take risks. I’m thinking about political uncertainty. I’m worrying about cuts.

There’s huge potential for things to get dramatically better for theatre-makers, for audiences, for all those with a stake in theatre here. Changed and improved spaces present new opportunities for artists and better experiences for all those who use them. But as with all change, things could get worse before they get better. We will probably have to think, act and work differently to make the most of the opportunities ahead.

I was at a meeting of the mid*point network in the Summer at which the main topic was ‘Change’. We heard about the changes at mac, at the Rep and about Curve in Leicester. We also listened to a presentation from Seth Honnor at Theatre Bristol. Seth talked about how the Bristol theatre community had started to work differently together. And we got very interested, if not a little envious, and quite excited.

I love the West Midlands – I’ve found it the best and most exciting place to live and work. I’m thrilled by the range of ideas I hear about. I’m often spoilt for choice when I think about what I might go and see. But I’ve always been intrigued by the things we do differently – or don’t do at all here. I’ve wondered why people working in theatre tell me they feel isolated here. Why they talk about what Manchester or London have that we don’t. Why they say they find it so hard to get their work commissioned – maybe harder than people they talk to elsewhere. I’ve wondered about this – as I know this is a place full of generous, interested and inclusive producers, programmers and artists.

At that mid*point event, Seth reflected on the fantastic energy and appetite for change amongst the West Midlands theatre community in the room. What I want to know is can we harness that energy? Can we turn that energy into action?

How can we make a better future for theatre, here, in the West Midlands?

So midpoint has asked Seth back – this time to facilitate an Open Space event.

Although Open Space may be new to you, it has been used productively all over the world. It is an interactive and inclusive way of structuring a meeting that allows you, the participant, to set the agenda. It is a dynamic way of talking about complicated and difficult things and turning talking into action. You will not be talked at or asked to talk about things you don’t want to. By the end of the event the following will have occurred:

• Every issue of concern to anyone will have been raised, if they took responsibility for doing that.
• All issues will have been discussed to the fullest possible extent.
• A full record of issues and discussions will be published online in a format where people can carry on the discussion even after the event.
• And YOU will have taken part in making it happen.

A strength of Open Space is its ability to unite groups of enormous diversity. So, whoever you are, if you’ve ever had any interest in theatre in the West Midlands, I’d like to invite you to join me to see if we can take charge and imagine how we can create a better future for theatre, here in the West Midlands.

The event is free, and we’ll provide good food and make sure you are well looked after. All that we ask is that you tell us that you’re coming. To let us know you’re coming just click http://thechallengeofchange.eventbrite.com/

This invitation is open to everyone, so please pass it on to anyone you think might be interested. I hope to see you there.

With best wishes,

Alison

—-

Alison Gagen is Theatre Officer for Arts Council England West Midlands and a member of midpoint network

This is a mid* point event. mid*point is the network for independent theatre companies in the West Midlands. We aim to build links between companies, venues, agencies and practitioners.

This is a two-day event and will take place at the Crescent Theatre (Sheepcote Street, Birmingham B16 8AE) on 26^th and 27^th November 2009, from 10am – 6pm.

If you require further information please contact David Allen

Tel.: 0121 608 7144

Email: news@midlandactorstheatre.co.uk

Tindal Street Press’s Cine Literate Profile (Professor Roger Shannon)

The month of October marked the tenth anniversary
of publishing for the Birmingham based independent publisher, Tindal Street Press.  To celebrate their decade of astonishing success, Tindal have published a new anthology of short stories, ‘Roads Ahead’, a collection of 22 short stories by young writers edited by Catherine O’Flynn, which re visits the formula of ‘Hard Shoulder’, Tindal’s first publication of ten years ago. Catherine O’Flynn is, of course, the writer whose multi award winning debut novel. ‘What Was Lost’ Tindal St Press published.

Tindal’s staunchly regional stance, swimming against the metropolitan literary tide, has paid off handsomely, as those attending the recent Birmingham Book Festival witnessed at the Booker Trio event, when the three part harmonies of Clare Morrall, Catherine O’Flynn, and Gaynor Arnold were heard.

These three Birmingham based women writers have, respectively for their debut novels, been long or short listed for the prestigeous Mann Booker Prize in recent years. And Tindal published all three novels – Morrall’s ‘Astonishing Splashes of Colour’; O’Flynn’s ‘What Was Lost’ and Arnold’s ‘Girl In A Blue Dress.’ An astonishing splash of award nominations for such a small, independently spirited and regionally reared publisher.

It’s a timely moment to write on such matters, as, firstly, this week BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bed Time is serialising Tindal’s ‘Heartland’ by Anthony Cartwright, a very prescient ‘take’ on the emergence of BNP politics in the Black Country, now made more topical and prescient with the recent furore over the BNP’s appearance on the BBC’s ‘Question Time.’

And, secondly, the country’s premier Screenwriting Festival in Cheltenham took place in October, where issues like adaptation and script development were eagerly debated, chapter and verse, by its attendees, particularly ‘script czar’, Phil Parker, whose recent provocation on the ‘original v adapted’ debate stirred and stimulated.

But what’s all this to do with film, television and the digital media? Well, as Alan Mahar at Tindal St Press once commented to me -

‘When Clare Morrall’s ‘Astonishing Splashes of Colour’ reached the Mann Booker Prize shortlist, we were fielding calls from Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood !’

Writing with original story telling as its rationale and deeply constructed characters at its core provide film and content makers with fantastic source material, and as the screen industries rely so heavily on story telling, it’s no surprise that Tindal and their published repertoire are courted in this way by the world of film and television.

Examples of such are now quite extensive. Clare Morrall’s novel was adapted, though not yet produced, by Olivia Hetreed, the celebrated screenwriter of the movie, ‘Girl With A Pearl Ear Ring.’ And Catherine O’Shea’s ‘What Was Lost’ is in development with Film 4 and Heyday Films, David Heyman’s company. This is the production company that also develops, adapts and produces the big budget Harry Potter movies. It’s also likely that ‘Heartland’ will follow suit and be the subject of a television adaptation.

However, it’s not just the Tindal novels which have been getting the ‘make over’ treatment. Their short story anthologies have also yielded fruit – for example, Paul Green’s adaptation of ‘Mutton’ from ‘Hard Shoulder’ . And reading the gems in ‘Roads Ahead’ it strikes me that we’ll see some of these stories made over for the screen in due course.

Tindal’s emerging cine literate profile isn’t just a one off for the city; it’s part of a wider repertoire and reservoir of story telling talent – innovative, ingenious, urban, contemporary, layered, angular, coolly vivacious – that’s making not just Twentieth Century Fox beat a path to the city’s writers.

Examples are abundant. Helen Cross’s debut novel, ‘My Summer Of Love’, became the multi award winning eponymously titled movie, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. Jim Crace’s ‘Being Dead’ is being prep’d to shoot in Australia by cult director, Ray Lawrence of film noir ‘Lantana’ reputation. Mark Billingham’s crime novels, ‘Sleepyhead‘ et al, will shortly be filmed by Sky 1 in a six part series headed by David Morrissey in the lead role.

Mike Gayle, Mil Millington et al have all got novels in various stages of development with UK and international production companies.   These are all continuing a robust relationship between the city’s writers on the one hand and film and television producers on the other, a momentum exemplified in recent years by novelists such as David Lodge, who has adapted his own work for the screen – ‘Nice Work’ etc – and more recently Jonathan Coe, whose ‘Dwarves of Death’ has already been filmed, and whose ‘Rotters Club’ graced television screens a few years ago. 

It can also be argued that after the achievements of the Edgbaston born movie mogul, Sir Michael Balcon, Birmingham’s greatest contribution to the world of cinema lies in screen adaptations – in Tolkien’s ‘Lords of the Rings’, the literary source for Kiwi director Peter Jackson’s inspired trio of films, and global box office bonanza. 

The recent trend of Birmingham sourced adaptations signals that the city has become a ‘hot spot’ for film executives looking for original stories that can be given the screen ‘make over’ – and certainly giving out the heat is Tindal’s tinderbox of writing talent.

Professor Roger Shannon, Edge Hill University, Liverpool Producer, swish Ltd, Birmingham

Note – Roger Shannon is a Board Member of Tindal Street Press.

Digital Theatre – missing the point?

Just read an article in today’s Telegraph espousing the merits of the new Digital Theatre initiative, which aims to capture live performances and make them available to download from the web.  Brilliant if, like me, you don’t get down to London as often as you might like. It gives you the option to enjoy the play without the hassle of buying tickets, parking, and generally mingling with the great unwashed.  It definitely serves a purpose, and creates a digital archive that people can dip into at will.  But a revolution of the form? A transformation of how we experience theatre?  Pull the other one.

Theatre is ephemeral.  It’s very appeal lies in its transience.  The anticipation, the experience, the memory.  You can’t just hit rewind to pick up the bits you missed.  You have to focus, and theatre’s job is to hold that attention.  If you feel the need to make a cup of tea half way through, it kind of spoils the moment.

Would there be such a debate about the greatest actor of the generation if you could just do a Google search for Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet? How would that compare to Simon Russell Beale? I’m not sure reputations would stand up to modern scrutiny.

But the one section that really gets my goat is the discussion of the two plays already up on the site.  I saw The Container in Edinburgh in 2007.  It’s a good play, not particularly great, but much of its effectiveness lies in the staging.  The audience (10 max) were herded into the back of a lorry with the door slammed shut behind us.  A functional way of putting us in the heart of the story of asylum seekers.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s Telegraph, describing DigitalTheatre’s rendering of the same play (my emphasis).

Having seen and reviewed both shows, I’d say that the viewing quality is, if anything, enhanced by what digitaltheatre have done. Whereas I was at the back of Richmond Theatre for Far from the Madding Crowd, the video version gave me a front-row seat; and The Container is arguably better than the original, both in its suspenseful camera-work and because you forgo the discomfort and heightened claustrophobia of sitting in a truck-container to concentrate, in the most close-up way possible, on what this unhappy band of illegal immigrants is actually saying.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but THAT WAS THE POINT! The discomfort, the claustrophobia, was an integral part of the theatrical experience.  Without it, the play is a serviceable melodrama with stock characters and a conventional storyline. Taking that away removes the originality and some of the substance from the play. Removing the theatre from the equation lessens the experience dramatically.  It’s not just about being in the same room with people and experiencing a play collectively.  It’s about the visual grammar of the theatrical medium; the 3D experience that you just don’t get when sitting in front of a screen.

The question we should also ask is that will the live audience be treated as second best?  At the Shift 2.0 conference a few months ago, I was in the audience of a play that was being live-streamed on the internet.  I can see the artistic justification for this, as it creates a second, online audience that are engaging and almost participating in the event, with live feedback and conversations creating a whole new experience.  Talawa Theatre are currently experimenting with this as part of Flipping the Script (next on tomorrow).

My problem lies with the experience of the ‘real’ audience sitting in the auditorium. Although the actors were not obviously playing to the camera; you always got the sense it was in the back of their minds. And they wore microphones, which crackled distractingly whenever they moved. It almost felt that the ‘live’ audience was being treated as second best. Which is not good.

Don’t get me wrong; I think DigitalTheatre is a great project, will undoubtedly reach new audiences and make theatre more accessible.  As a resource, it will be invaluable, but I’m reluctant to view it as a revolution in the way we experience theatre.  It’s not just about the “sacred institution of the ‘good night out’”, but about the immersive engagement with a live event. And that cannot be replicated.

Semper Station 2 – call for writers

Semper Station Presents:

Anticipation

As Christmas seems to be coming earlier and earlier every year, Semper Station is going to try and circumvent tradition and celebrate not the event itself (which – lets face it – is usually an anticlimax) but the waiting…

To do this we need (preferably Birmingham-based) writers and actors to submit short scripts that will be performed script in hand on Tuesday November 24^th at the Station Pub, Sutton Coldfield.

Scripts should:

• Be no longer than ten minutes long
• Be suitable to performance in a confined area
• Use no more than 3 actors
• Be linked to the nights theme – ‘Anticipation’

Please include your postcode in the e-mail.

The closing date for entries is midnight on 15^thNovember 2009

All submissions should be sent to semperinfo@gmail.com

3G-3D Storytelling: 7 November 2009

We’ve just been given the go ahead from Hello Digital to run a Fringe Event on Saturday 7th November.  It’s a workshop we’ve been trying to get off the ground for a few months and now really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition. 

It’ll be looking at ‘New Narrative Structures and Writing Opportunities in the Digital Age”, incorporating online drama and computer games.  Here’s the line-up and full details:

 

Saturday 7^th November 2009 (10am-5pm)
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Suite
£50 (£40 concessions*)

TV/film producer:            Claire Ingham
Online Drama writer:       Neil Mossey
Screen & Games writer:  Graham Joyce

From the traditionally structured TV and film stories that attempt to appeal to wide audiences (which ITV controller Peter Fincham termed ‘3G’ – three generations watching together), to the 3D structures of games and online drama, this day-long course looks at new opportunities offered to writers by the rise of digital technologies.  Suitable for writers, film-makers and drama practitioners interested in looking at new ways of telling stories across screens of all sizes.

Graham Joyce is the author of fourteen novels and has won numerous awards for his writing, including five British Fantasy Awards and the 2003 World Fantasy Award. He has also written screenplays of his novels and has recently been hired by the creators of Doom 4 to help develop the storyline potential of the computer game.

Neil Mossey grew up in Central London, and worked solely in television and radio before writing on Season 2 of the daily interactive web drama KateModern (storylining over 26 weeks, and scripting 74 webisodes). The series ended in July 2008 clocking up 66 million video views, the largest UK online production to date. As a comedy producer at the BBC he was responsible for developing new formats and drama in the Comedy Entertainment department with writers and performers. His freelance writer, script editor, and producer credits include My Parents Are Aliens (ITV1), Freefonix (BBC One), Blackout (Channel 4), SuperNormal (ITV1), The Worst Witch (ITV1), Hedz (BBC One), and The Morning After Show (Channel 4).

Claire Ingham is a producer and film and television script developer. She works on projects at all stages of development – currently ranging from the adaptation treatment of Eoin Colfer’s bestselling novel The Wishlist to the final draft of Helen Cross’ original feature Stratford Road. Claire has previously worked for a number of film and television companies in development roles. She was Head of Drama Development at Impossible Pictures for four years where she headed a small team, commissioning and developing a range of TV and film projects for all the major broadcasters, including Jed Mercurio’s contemporary retelling of Frankenstein and Michael Chaplin’s family film Pickles.

*Concessionary rate also available to early bird bookings received BEFORE Friday 30^th October.

For booking and further information, please visit www.scriptonline.net/screen.html

Or email catherine.edwards@scriptonline.net

Look forward to seeing you there.

Semper Station – Winners Announced!

Name: Semper Station
What: New theatre writing showcase
Where: Station Pub, Sutton Coldfield, B73 6AT
When: 9pm Tuesday 20^th October 2009
How much: Free!

Contact details:
semperinfo@gmail.com
www.sempergroup.wordpress.com
Phil on 07988790035

On Tuesday the 20^th October Semper Station makes its debut at the Station Pub, Sutton Coldfield.  Showcasing new writing from around the Midlands performed script in hand by volunteering actors the event gives writers a chance to see their piece performed in front of an audience.  All the pieces performed will be under ten minutes in length to ensure a large variety of work.

The night starts at 9pm and features plays by competition winners Rachel Taylor, Angela Gallagher, Claire Given and Louise Stokes accompanied by pieces from Semper regulars Alexander Mack and Philip Hurst. 

Rachel Taylor is the former Programmes Director at Script and Angela Gallagher recently attended a TENacity workshop on writing for radio drama.

The night’s theme of ‘Human Nature’ is given a thorough examination over the hour long run time.  After each reading there will be chance for audience members to grab drinks or watch the open mike night, which will run downstairs as normal.

Hope to see you there.

Birmingham Book Festival

There are a number of exciting events happening around the city this month as part of Birmingham Book Festival.

Here are just a few of the things you could sample:

David Edgar presents his new book, How Plays Work. In conversation with playwright Steve Waters, join one of the UK’s finest dramatists for an evening of great discussion about making good drama. Tuesday 13 October, 7.30pm, Birmingham Conservatoire. Tickets : £5 (£3.75)

Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (now a major motion picture) author John Boyne in conversation with novelist Janette Jenkins. Wednesday 7 October, 7pm, Birmingham Conservatoire.

Nick Hornby talks about his new book, Juliet Naked. Thursday 15 October, 8.15pm, Birmingham Conservatoire.

Focusing on the mother-daughter relationship and all its ups and downs, Some Girls’ Mothers is a live telling of short stories about mothers and daughters. Wednesday 28^th October, 7.45pm, Birmingham Conservatoire.

Writing The Archers – an evening with the team behind Birmingham’s best loved radio show, and introducing The Archers Miscellany, by writer Jo Toye. Tuesday 27 October, 7pm, Birmingham Conservatoire.

Let Me Tell You – an Ophelia story with a difference. Author Paul Griffiths has rewritten Ophelia’s story using only the words Ophelia uses in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. With readings by Helen Monks (The Archers’ ‘Pip’). Wednesday 7 October, 7.30pm, Birmingham Conservatoire.

Difficult Teenagers: Writing For The Teenage Market
Friday 9^th October 7pm
Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth,  Birmingham B5 5SE

Three practitioners share their experiences and discuss the issues around writing for teenagers.

Chris O’Connell from Theatre Absolute, Coventry, author of the award-winning Street Trilogy and the recent plays Hang Lenny Pope & Zero, will talk about the connections the company’s work has made with teenage audiences.
David Calcutt has recently written two critically-acclaimed novels for young people, Crowboy & Shadow Bringer and will talk about his writing for this age group.
Marcus Romer of Pilot Theatre Company (winner 2008 TMA Best Show For Young People Award for Looking For JJ), will look at the use of digital media alongside theatre to appeal to a teenage audience.

Free to Writers’ Guild Members, otherwise £5 (£3.75)

Non-members book through the Festival website or on 0121 303 2323

Workshops, Seminars and Surgeries galore!

Semper Station Call for Submissions

Midlands writer’s group Semper is putting on a new writing night at the Station pub, Sutton Coldfield on the 20^th October 2009. It will consist of six or seven short scripts being read script in hand in front of an audience.  The purpose is to celebrate and promote forward-thinking writing in the area.

The theme is for the first night is ‘Human Nature’

If you wish to submit, please ensure…

• The script is linked to the night’s theme.
• The script is no longer than ten minutes.
• The script can be performed in a small area.
• The script uses no more than four actors.
• You include your home postcode in the e-mail.

Each person should submit one script only and all submissions need to be sent to the below e-mail no later than midnight on October 10^th 2009.

For more details consult the website www.sempergroup.wordpress.com

All submissions should be sent to semperinfo@gmail.com

Hollywood Screenwriting: Jumping the First Hurdle

7th November 2009 (11am-5pm)
The Artrix, Bromsgrove
01527 577330
£50

Writer and journalist James Bartlett will lead this forthcoming lecture/workshop on how to avoid the most common pitfalls made by screenwriters hoping to catch the attention of Hollywood producers.

In Hollywood, thousands of scripts land on the desks of producers, agents, actors and studio executives every day – how can you make sure yours makes it past the first hurdle?

This lecture/ workshop will give you industry information and tips that will make your script a more professional and sellable product.

James Bartlett offers a few tips:

Readers, and for that matter executives, producers and actors, are all looking for a script that grabs their attention straight away – and never lets go. So be aware of your genre and impress them with a driving narrative, dialogue that distinguishes the characters, plenty of conflict, drama and action, and a solid structure.

That said, in the course of reading hundreds of scripts every year, all readers and story editors regularly come across a whole host of errors, ranging from the basic to the teeth-grinding. Here are examples of three common mistakes:

1. The Mills & Boon Approach
   EXT. DESERT TOWN – DAY
   The rays of the hazy early morning bring hope to this border town as it comes to life, the inhabitants wishing that perhaps today’s the day something will change. Still thinking about last night’s bad dream, SHERIFF JOHN tastes bitter coffee as he drives to work.

   What does the audience see on screen? They see a non-descript town and a Sheriff drinking coffee and driving his car. It’s over-written, literary, fluffy romantic stuff that is more suited to a novel.

2. Notes to the Reader
   Any attempt to curry favour or show off usually backfires. It breaks the wall between the reader and the writer, and takes the reader right out of the story:
   INT. BAR – DAY
   John enters a bar. You know the type – it’s the kind you went after you finished your school exams, met your friends and got wasted.
   
3. The sub-Tarantino
   Finally, I always cringe when I see other actors, movies or songs listed in scripts as a comparison or to evoke atmosphere. Not only can it date a script, there always the chance the reader doesn’t know whom or what you are referring to, so your implication is lost, and the reader might feel inadequate or stupid.

Overall, just remember to write a professional script; amateur mistakes will always hurt the read and can even stop the work jumping the next hurdle.

If you would like to book a place on the workshop, please contact The Artrix Box Office on 01527 577330.

North West Playwrights: Going Live!

Thursday 1st October 7.30pm
MMU Capitol Centre, Cavendish St.
Manchester, M15 6BR

Launch of NWP’s new website
An introduction to their fresh online facility, including lots of interactive options, downloadable resources, photos and videos.

And sample some of NWP’s work with script-in-hand performances from two exciting new plays:

The Sin
by David Whalley
Old relationships, new relationships…always getting in the way of each other. An intriguing, disturbing drama about love, loss and memory.

The Package
by Tam Hinton
A bizarre pitch-black comedy thriller encompassing dismemberment, wild pigs and a dab of metaphysics.

Free event, but please reserve tickets at: 0161 237 1978, newplaysnw@hotmail.com