Theatre Writing Partnership is a pioneering literary project that started its life in February 2001.
Unique to the East Midlands region, it was set up to enable a greater creative collaboration on the development of new theatre writing across its producing theatres (Derby Playhouse, Leicester Haymarket, New Perspectives, Nottingham Playhouse and Royal and Derngate Theatres, Northampton).
Our uniquely independent position and desire to create greater opportunity for new kinds of work also means we commission and present at least one production of our own a year. This year, we have supported the development of Satin ‘n’ Steel, by Amanda Whittington, which grew from a fifteen-minute short to a full-length play and opened at Nottingham Playhouse in February. We have also commissioned Nottingham-based Julius Ayodeji to write his first full-length play, Natural Breaks and Rhythms, which was presented as part of Decibel Live. We hope to take his play on a national tour in Autumn 05, in a partnership production with Northampton Royal and Derngate Theatres.
Since it was created, TWP has supported the development of a number of new commissions at the theatres. This work includes: Bollywood Jane, by Amanda Whittington, The Palace of Fear, by Philip Osment, The Illustrious Corpse, by Tariq Ali, The Fortune Club, by Dolly Dhingra (for Leicester Haymarket Theatre); Satin n Steel, by Amanda Whittington, Mother Courage and her Children adapted by Dipo Agboluaje (for Nottingham Playhouse).
We have also produced seasons of short plays in collaboration with the theatres, including Get Shortie and Season of Courage. These small-scale productions have sometimes been developed into larger-scale pieces of work (Satin ‘n’ Steel).
This turnover of new productions is also fortified by our commitment to major developmental projects such as the Eclipse Writers’ Lab, a scheme which has enabled ten emerging black playwrights to build their relationships with regional theatres and road-test their ideas for mid-scale productions. At a local level, we have also created a model for a Regional Writers’ Development Programme.
Other schemes, such as the East Midlands Playwriting Competition, our playwriting workshops and courses, have helped us identify the vast community of playwrights we now support, and have evolved into ongoing dialogue with and mentoring of a significant number of regional writers.
Currently we are focussing on the development of young writers from the region, for whom we have created a yearlong scheme called Momentum.
Ultimately, TWP strives to engage both first-time and professional regional writers in a variety of original projects, the aim of which is to make a vital and lasting investment in the region’s future artists.
For further information, please visit our website www.theatrewritingpartnership.com |
