Bringing new life to classic plays
What makes a successful, comfortably off, academic publisher chuck in a safe career and try his hand in the slippery and financially unrewarding world of theatre? Mike Poulton describes how frustration with the style and tone of English productions of classic masterpieces in the past, and persistent neglect of such fine works, drove him to make his successful move into translation and adaptation. He shares his personal golden rules, practical advice and insights.
Becoming an adaptor of classic plays – the motivation
I suppose I became an adaptor of classic plays because, as an avid theatregoer since late childhood, I became increasingly unhappy with what I was seeing and hearing. I had read a lot of Schiller at university and become gripped by it. Why did these powerful epic dramas never, or very rarely, seem to make it into our theatres? Theatre back then was still a going concern, comparatively speaking, and every proud provincial capital supported its producing house. I had also read a lot of Chekhov. On the rare occasions I did see English productions of these Russian masterpieces, they seemed slow, unfunny – sometimes even turgid. Yet in the audiences for them there was an apparent reverence, which seemed unrelated to all the very English over-emoting that was projected woodenly from the acres of silver birch forest on the stage. It was sometimes possible to believe you had wandered out of a Cherry Orchard and ended up in Brief Encounter. My discontent grew and grew. The material was so much livelier – so much more thrilling in the imagination. I felt cheated. And later, with the arrogance of youth, I deluded myself into a belief that I could do better.
At a rare performance of a Chekhov or an Ibsen play it would seem clear to me that what the actors on the stage were saying, and how they said it, bore very little relationship to how people spoke in real life – either now or at the time the plays were written. It was as if the theatre had a style of delivery it reserved unto itself – as did, say, the Church and the BBC. What’s more, in a cast of 20 characters, each of them, whatever their status, spoke in the same way. Generals, postmasters and small children all used the same speech patterns and vocabulary – unless they were clowns (who always spoke Mummerset). But for the most part the cast delivered lines with a single voice, and it wasn’t difficult to work out that that voice must be the translator’s voice. I didn’t have the same problem with English writers; Shakespeare, though of a different age, seemed real and immediate. It was just that, with the Greeks, the Russians and the European greats performed in translation, there was a middleman, an often dry and academic voice, getting in the way. The immediacy and drive of the original was lost – buried under the literalness of the English text.
An example: in Schiller’s great play Don Carlos there’s a scene where Carlos, the Crown Prince, pleads with his father for a military command and is refused. One very old translation says: ‘In this, your refusal, by continually denying my requests you humiliate your son.’ Another even older version says: ‘Whatever I ask, and I ask for only a very little, is met with your repeated refusals.’ It would be difficult for even the most accomplished actor to breathe life into either of those utterances, or even get his tongue round them. So I went back to the original German. What Schiller makes Carlos say ends in the line: ‘Mir alles, alles, alles so verweigern.’ This repetition is a gift to an actor when translated as: ‘Think how you’ll dishonour me, if you refuse me everything – everything – everything! What will the world say of me?’ Schiller knew his trade – he knew what an actor needed. The old translations ignored the needs of the actor, and ignored the spirit and passion of the original, in favour of a pedantic slavery to the literal meaning of words. I also began to notice, particularly in performances of Chekhov, that the old translators imposed a tone on their literal translations – refusing to let the characters speak for themselves – and geared their versions towards the tragic, if not the downright dull. I knew, from reading him, that Chekhov had a wonderfully subversive sense of humour. If you watch a Chekhov play in the original with an audience of Russians, they spend half the evening in tears and the other half doubled up with laughter. In English performances that laughter was absent. I realised that the translator was ignoring, once again, the spirit of the original and imposing his or her own opinions and voice on the play. And it was a solemn voice.
But perhaps my strongest motive for wanting to bring great plays to life was a sense of neglect. European theatre eagerly embraces English drama. In any major town in France, Germany or Italy chances are that there will be a Shakespeare and other English (or Irish) work in the theatre programme during the season. (A couple of years ago, Montauban even had posters for L’éventail de Lady Windermere.) But in the past it was not a two-way street. English-speaking audiences tended to stick to what they knew. They were not very adventurous. Today though, prompted by some adventurous directors and producing houses, things are improving. There is a vast treasure house of forgotten classics waiting to be brought back to life.
Neglect is still rife. We hardly know how to value our own great works, let alone the masterpieces of the rest of the world. We are unlikely to see a production of The Great Duke of Florence, or The Maid of Honour, or The Lie of the Day, The World in a Village, or Tony Lumpkin in Town, or even to remember who wrote them. So what chance do Turgenev’s The Old Bachelor, Goldoni’s The New House, or Schiller’s Maid of Orleans stand of a production? Happily, more of a chance today than 20 years ago, but these neglected works still need a producer and a translator to champion them.
Translating classic plays – some practical advice
My rule when starting out was ... never accept a commission. I preferred to get a version the way I wanted it and only then to start approaching theatres and artistic directors. I only worked with authors I knew and loved, and had befriended. It’s not easy to make a friend of Schiller, say, because he’s been dead for such a long time. But I felt I had to get to know him so well I could reach a point where I could confidently answer on his behalf. I did this by reading and rereading everything he ever wrote. If you want to know how Chekhov thinks, for example, read all his short stories and his letters.
At all costs ... avoid living authors. The dead ones are a lot less trouble and won’t take 50% of your royalties – should there be any. You must believe in the greatness of your author, otherwise why would championing his or her works be a worthwhile expenditure of your time? And, on the question of time, the rule is to work out how long you think you need and double it. When working at full stretch, Ibsen could write a play in a month. To translate that play can’t be done successfully, I believe, in under seven.
Another rule of mine was ... never translate and adapt a play with the object of making money. I could never have begun a career as a translator/adaptor had I not previously had a successful career as an academic publisher. If you’re passionate about the play you want to put before an audience, then some slight financial reward may follow. On occasion you might find you have a smash hit on your hands – but such occasions are, in financial terms, rare. I honestly don’t know how playwrights new to the business support themselves. In my first year – over 20 years ago -I had two plays at Chichester. One went into the West End and both went to Broadway. But that was only after working more than a year for nothing, endless readings and workshops, and more good luck and support from the Chichester theatre than I had the right to expect.
Starting out
Every new translator needs to start somewhere. My starting point was a play by Turgenev called Alien Bread. I read it in a very old and unplayable translation but I had a strong sense that underneath its lines lay a very powerful play – and great roles for two leading actors. With a lot of help from Russian friends I wrote a version of it I called Fortune’s Fool and it won a lot of prizes on Broadway. It was a lucky break – and we all need lucky breaks.
So the first thing an adaptor has to do is to look for and find an extraordinary play by an extraordinary but neglected author. Ignore the ones that are out there already, Chekhov, Ibsen, Schiller even. There are plenty of other great works mouldering unregarded on dusty shelves. A fundamental Christian belief is in the communion of saints and the company of angels. The souls of the righteous, saints and martyrs exist in heaven, conversing with the various orders of angels, and with all those down here on Earth waiting to be redeemed and marked out for higher things. I like to imagine that similar communion exists among the great writers of the past. They no longer move on earth but their voices remain –waiting to be translated into English.
Collaboration
Surprisingly, it would be a mistake to think that adapting a play is a solitary business. It’s not something you ought to try on your own. If, say, you’re working on a Russian play, you have to surround yourself with Russians who will explain to you every layer of meaning in every line. If you are not fluent in the language of the original you have to commission a literal translation – an expensive business – but a good translator is invaluable. I tend to go through the literal translation with the translator in great detail, and then go back to the original and read the two versions together line by line. Only when you are confident that you’ve absorbed every shade of meaning in the original, and understand it in the context of its time, do you begin your own work – which is to translate the ‘spirit’ of the original play. This process has very little to do with the words or the order in which they’re set down on the page.
I work in drafts. When I have the first rough draft in a speakable form I get a group of actors together and hear it read aloud. However much time you spend pacing up and down and reading your own lines, you’ll never accomplish much. You have to sit and listen, notebook in hand, to others reading your work. Then you can begin the serious work of adaptation. For the second draft you’ll probably need the cooperation of a theatre. You might need between 10 and 20 actors to spend a week trying out your material. Most actors are very willing to help, but they need feeding! Unless you have a large private income, you’re going to need a sponsor, or the involvement of a theatre. And you’re only going to get that once you’re past Draft One. You might then need another ‘workshop’ or even two more before you feel you have a script you can confidently take into rehearsal.
I recently adapted Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies from Hilary Mantel’s novels. I could not have done this without the commitment and faith of the Royal Shakespeare Company. And this came because I’d previously worked on six other productions there and the new Artistic Director must have thought I was a good risk. The first draft of Wolf Hall was about two-thirds longer than the draft we took into rehearsal a year later. But without the input of 20 RSC actors we’d have never have got the project off the ground, into The Swan, into the West End and onto Broadway. Nobody said it would be easy. I certainly couldn’t have called on such resources earlier in my career. Patience is everything.
Maintaining the backlist
Once you have a backlist, a great deal of time is spent in maintenance. I would argue that a ‘version’ – as we call a play translated and adapted from a classical original these days –has a life in the theatre of five or six years at most. William Archer, the first great translator of Ibsen, now seems florid and unspeakable. Some time ago Michael Mayer breathed new life into Ibsen and became the translator everybody turned to. Now others have overtaken him. A new translation, after a year or so, needs fine-tuning, an overhaul, or in some cases a complete rebuild. For example, my version of Ibsen’s Ghosts has had six productions in the last 15 years, and for each I have given it a major rethink and a substantial rewrite. Language, we know, is fluid but I wonder if we’re aware of how rapidly it dates. I look at my published versions of Schiller, Chekhov, Euripides and Ibsen on my shelves and I think of them in a very different way from the originals standing next to them. The originals are like fine wine maturing and improving. My translations – all translations – are like bottles of milk, open, and rapidly going sour.
The audience
Finally, the most important consideration of all in any adaptation or translation is the audience. If you want to produce a really successful adaptation of any play, go obsessively to the theatre for 20 or 30 years and study your audience. (What makes them laugh? What makes them freeze? What bores them? What gets them on the edge of their seats?) After that you’re ready to start.
Mike Poulton is a translator and adaptor of classic plays and novels who began writing for the theatre in 1995 after an earlier successful career as an academic publisher. His first two productions, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Turgenev’s Fortune’s Fool, were staged the following year at the Chichester Festival Theatre and later went to Broadway. His adaptation of Schiller’s Don Carlos won an Olivier Award in 2005. Other productions have included Euripides’ Ion, Schiller’s Wallenstein, Malory’s Morte d’Arthur and Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. His Olivier-nominated stage adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies played in Stratford, the West End and on Broadway in 2014/15. In 2016, Kenny Morgan, a biographical play about Terence Rattigan opened in London and Mike’s adaption of the York Minster Plays premiered at York Minister. In 2017 Mike adapted Robert Harris’ trilogy of Cicero novels for the RSC.
See also...
•Literary translation, here
•Writing for the theatre, here
From the perspective of a playwright, David Eldridge describes the process of writing a play, its production, through to a run at a theatre.
Ideas for plays can come from anywhere. Political anger, a riff of dialogue, an image, some experience in your life, a newspaper article, a dream or fantasy, or from a particular actor you admire. As Caryl Churchill says, ‘What’s the difference between an idea for a play [sic]? I think the only difference is that you want to make [it] into a play, the point at which [it] become[s] an idea for a play is when you get some sort of technical or physical way of turning it into a play’. Wherever your ideas for plays come from, the key thing is that you are fired up by your idea.
So you have your idea – a biting political satire or a fantastical farce fuelled by a lost dog – and you’ve decided whether it’s going to be a stichomythic two-hander or a surreally big cast piece. It could be that your story will be told in a form with which an audience is familiar and that inspires you – Chekhovian four-act movement or a fragmented narrative inspired by the plays of Martin Crimp. But what next? Some writers are planners by nature and have everything mapped out on A4 or in notebooks, and spend weeks structuring the drama before any physical action or dialogue is written. Stephen Jeffreys and Simon Stephens are good examples of playwrights who work in this way. But for others, like Robert Holman or David Storey, often even thinking of the possible shape of a play is an anathema, and structuring is a block to them. They like to start with an image or a line, or even a blank page, and find out what ‘it’ is as they go along. I’m somewhere in the middle; I need to do a little bit of planning to get me going and to avoid false starts, but if there’s too much plotting in advance it becomes drained of life. It’s true, too, that each play I’ve written has been made in a different way. So it seems there’s not only as many ways to write a play as there are playwrights.
In the absence of a right way to do it, the best thing is just to get on and do your own thing, what feels right for you – anything really, as long as you write. ‘Don’t get it right, get it written’, is how it goes. I always remind myself that I’m under no obligation to show anyone what I’ve written, so I try not to fear anything. If what I write is rubbish, I can just chuck it away. If what I write is promising but not perfect, I can come back to it later and improve it. The main thing is to write and get to the end. And when you’ve got to the end, you go back to the beginning again and work on it until you can do no more.
Final draft to producer
When you feel your play is complete and that you’ve done all you can on it for now, what next? Resist reaching for the stamps or hitting the ‘Send’ button on your email, and have some time away from it – at least a week or two. Often after the intensive work on a first draft, one comes back to it feeling refreshed both in perspective and in terms of renewed energy. And when you can do no more to improve your script, get one or two (certainly no more than three) people to read it. You need people who will read the script properly and give an honest and generous opinion. They may be a partner, a friend, a colleague or, if you have such a connection, someone who works in the theatre. Choose your readers carefully because you don’t want anyone who will focus solely on criticising your script and consequently demoralise you at this stage, and neither do you want unqualified praise as they think this is what you want to hear.
I tend to send out what is in reality a third draft. I usually do a second draft after leaving it for between two and four weeks and then a third draft, which is provoked a bit by the responses or questions of one or two trusted readers. That’s my practice now as an established writer, just as it was when I started writing. Today, almost all my work is commissioned but when I first began writing and would send out a play unsolicited, I had some wise advice from playwright Mark Ravenhill. He said I should concentrate on submitting my play to two or three theatres where I believed the play might be of interest and welcome, and where I would like to work. I still think that’s good advice. One must be realistic about how few plays that are sent unsolicited actually attract the attention of producing theatres. And plays that are sent unsolicited to too many theatres can often have a feeling of being dog-eared and rejected by everyone, making it harder for those plays to get on anywhere.
Since the mid-1990s, many theatres have grown substantive play development programmes and it is a normal requirement now for new plays to undergo substantial rewrites with the producer’s notes in mind. Readings and workshops often take place to see how the scripts work with actors. There’s a wide-ranging philosophical debate within the theatre about how much theatres ought to be actively involved in the rewriting of plays and what good it does. My feeling is that writers ought to take on the ideas of theatre professionals when they are good, to be unafraid of saying when you are unsure, and to say ‘no’ when you don’t like the proposed changes to your script. While a network of collaboration brings a play to life, writers must take responsibility for their authorship. Active collaboration is good; passive concession is bad. Around this time, it may be appropriate to get an agent. Most theatres will recommend agents and help you meet those who might be sympathetic to your work.
Rehearsals, production and previews
The play is going ahead. Often the first person you hear from is the theatre’s director of marketing as they need to prepare the copy and images for your play for the season’s brochure and other publicity. In new writing theatres it is normal for most elements of the pre-production and production of a play to involve the writer. This includes input on the choice of director and creative team, casting the actors, progress of the set design, the development of a marketing and sales strategy, press and media interviews, and even invitations to attend fundraising events for the theatre.
But of course the most significant contribution that the writer makes is to the rehearsal process, particularly in the first week of rehearsal. The acting company and creative team are hungry to mine the writer for every scrap of useful information which may help the play’s production. The writer is very much at the centre of the process and what he or she says about their play or how it may be acted and staged has great power. I know from experience how invaluable a playwright’s contribution can be to the production of his or her play, both from discussion of the text in rehearsals and from informal discussions during tea breaks, at lunch, or in the pub after rehearsals. Generally, most of what a writer says is useful but care needs to be taken not to squeeze the air from others’ contributions.
Sometimes rewrites in rehearsals can be challenging. Changing the odd word or line isn’t often contentious but when whole scenes are being cut or rewritten, the excitement of making the play better on the rehearsal room floor should be approached with caution.
Actors tend to think of the script from their character’s perspective rather than seeing the writer’s whole vision. And, as the point of rehearsal is to practise something until it is right, I’d be wary of actors or directors who want to make changes too quickly.
After the first week or so it is usual and advisable for the writer not to attend rehearsals. Rehearsals can become sticky and actors may grapple with learning their lines. When the writer makes a return towards the end of rehearsals to see bits of the play worked without scripts or a run through, the writer’s fresh perspective is very useful to the director.
As public performances approach, the playwright can make everyone feel good about the work by encouraging the company after rehearsals, buying the first drink in the pub, and making the tea during breaks. However, sometimes the writer has to be brave if things aren’t right and late changes need to be made to adjust a performance or the staging, etc.
Some writers don’t attend all the previews but I do, as most directors continue working and rehearsing the play right up until opening night. You can learn a huge amount by watching the play with an audience, but I have two points of caution. Firstly, you have to be realistic about what is achievable before the opening night. Secondly, while it is important to learn from audience responses, particularly if the storytelling isn’t clear or a joke doesn’t work properly, I’d stay away from the discussion forums of theatre websites which are routinely populated by people who get off on abusing early performances of plays.
Opening nights are nerve-racking evenings for the writer and seeing the critics and guests forming a crush at the theatre bar can prompt the urge to run away, and for this reason some directors and playwrights don’t watch their press night performances. I couldn’t be absent as I feel I have to be there for my actors; it is gruelling and all you can do is will the actors and crew on and keep your nerve.
The working writer
Hopefully, the play is a hit and it’s a great experience. I tend to see the play once a week because you can learn so much from seeing it again and again and experiencing how it changes and grows over its run.
Often, however successful (or not) a first play is, just the fact that it has been produced will attract the interest of other theatre producers, often radio interviews and sometimes television. If your agent is doing their job, he or she will have brought some of these people to see your play with the hope of opening up future opportunities for you. Offers of commissions for rival theatres, finding yourself pitching radio, television and film ideas, and sometimes being approached to adapt an old play, book or film are all commonplace, particularly if your play is a success.
But the most important thing for the working playwright is to focus on the next play. The longer you leave it after your first play closes the harder it gets to begin something new, and the bigger deal it will seem. So my advice is just to start where you began all those months and years ago, and think about something which in some way intrigues you.
David Eldridge is the author of Under the Blue Sky, The Knot of the Heart, In Basildon and many other plays and adaptations, such as his version of Miss Julie by August Strindberg, which ran to critical acclaim at the Royal Exchange Theatre in 2012. His play Holy Warriors was premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2014 and his screenplay of Hallie Rubenhold’s The Woman in Red was broadcast on BBC2 in 2015. In August 2015 BBC2 broadcast his screenplay for a 90-minute film The Scandalous Lady W. David teaches Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. His latest play is Beginning, which prèmiered at the National Theatre’s Dorftman Theatre in 2017 before transferring to London’s West End in January 2018. You can find him on Twitter @deldridgewriter.
Writing about theatre: reviews, interviews and more
Mark Fisher compares popular perceptions of the theatre critic with the realities, and outlines what it takes to succeed in the business.
The critic
In the award-winning movie Birdman, Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson, a mainstream Hollywood actor trying to earn some late-career credibility. He’s banking on people seeing him in a different light if he has a Broadway hit with his adaptation of a Raymond Carver story. As opening night approaches, the stakes are high. He loses his lead actor, his last-minute replacement is an unpredictable maverick and his budget is at breaking point.
As the tensions mount, he comes across Tabitha Dickinson in a bar. Played by Lindsay Duncan, she is the lead theatre critic of the New York Times and seems to exist less as a character in her own right than as a projection of his actorly neuroses.
In the short time she is in the film, this is what we learn about her:
• She is always alone. We first see her perched at the end of a counter having a drink and writing longhand in a notepad. In the theatre, she sits at the end of a row and leaves before the rest of the audience.
• She is prepared to wield the power of the New York Times to shut down a show that she hasn’t even seen – at least, she says she is. Having decided Thomson is indulging in a vanity project, she regards him as a threat to Broadway’s artistic standards. She tells him she will give him a bad review on principle.
• She gets it all wrong. When, finally, she does file a rave review, she appears not to have realised that the onstage violence was a genuine suicide attempt.
Watching the movie as a theatre critic, I naturally tried to weigh this portrayal against my own experience. If I were the sensitive type, I’d be worried. This is especially the case because the majority of fictional critics share the same characteristics. In films, novels and television programmes, my profession is dominated by misanthropic loners, arrogant opinion-mongers, writers who love the sound of their own voice and destructive zealots who detest the theatre – unless, of course, they happen to be having an affair with someone on stage. Variations on this theme include Addison DeWitt in All About Eve, Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner and Moon and Birdboot in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound.
Critical characteristics
For anyone considering a career as a theatre critic, it’s reasonable to wonder not so much whether the characteristics described above pertain to you, but whether you’re prepared for other people to see you in this light. To the theatre profession, you can seem like the only sober guest at the party, the spoilsport who is all head and no heart, the one who’s prepared to break the magic spell that keeps the whole enterprise alive. They may not want to be your friend any more.
In reality, the quality common to nearly all the critics I have known is their love of theatre. The job involves long journeys to out-of-the-way venues, spending evenings at work when you could be with friends and family, and sitting through mediocre shows that were not made for someone like you in the first place. Only someone with blind optimism and a passionate belief in the artform would sign up to such working conditions. I’ve seen cynical critics write entertainingly, but they invariably burn out in a matter of months. In real life, the negativity of a fictional critic is not sustainable.
There is a kind of truth, though, in the solitariness of Birdman’s Tabitha. Theatre criticism suits lone wolves. You may be friendly and sociable in the right circumstances, but when it comes to the job, it’s just you, your opinion and a blank computer screen. It’s not something you can do collectively. You can’t get a friend to help. Everything is down to you. This takes a certain resourcefulness. You need to be self-motivated or, at least, motivated by the pressure of a deadline (and not freaked by it) and happy in your own company. You have to be content to work antisocial hours in sociable circumstances. When those around you are on their feet applauding or wiping the tears from their eyes, you have to be thinking of a catchy first sentence.
Becoming a critic
When I told people I was writing a book called How to Write About Theatre (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama 2015), some questioned my timing. After all, if you read anything about criticism these days, it tends to be about newspapers cutting back on their arts coverage and laying critics off. Shouldn’t I have called it How Not to Write About Theatre? Certainly, it seems unlikely that a journalist starting today would have quite the career trajectory I have enjoyed. I was employed in the late 1980s by the List magazine, then a fortnightly arts and entertainment guide, and now, since 2015, a predominantly online publication. My first job there was as a production assistant, but with my drama degree and previous interest in writing, it was perhaps inevitable that I would start contributing to the theatre section. Eventually I became the theatre editor and then took up a freelance career in which I founded and edited a quarterly theatre magazine, became theatre critic for the Herald in Glasgow and, latterly, Scottish theatre critic for the Guardian.
Even if I add that most of the money I have earned has come from feature writing rather than reviewing, there’s no question that today’s critics have fewer paid opportunities open to them. There are, however, more opportunities than ever for unpaid criticism – and more people than ever writing about theatre. No need for contacts or job interviews, you can just set up a blog right now and start writing. This is having two beneficial effects. One is that a wider range of voices are being heard and the old cultural hegemony – what Nicholas Hytner called the ‘dead white men’ of the critical establishment – is breaking down. The other is that the idea of what constitutes a ‘proper’ review is being upturned: the interactive and responsive nature of the internet is well suited to a discursive form of criticism, one that needn’t be the final word, just an addition to the debate.
The good news for writers is that it’s now possible to make an impression from a standing start. If you have something to say and an arresting way of saying it, you can build up a reputation on the internet without the endorsement of a traditional media publication. The bad news – until somebody comes up with a better idea – is that you’re likely to have to treat your writing as a kind of loss leader, an investment in your future career that may (or may not) pay dividends at some later date. The industrious Matt Trueman (http://matttrueman.co.uk) is a case in point. From being a predominantly on line critic, he has gone on to pick up paid work from publications including the Guardian, the Stage, What’s On Stage and Variety.
How typical this route will be in the future remains to be seen, although, as a former editor, I would expect anyone with a serious interest in becoming a professional theatre critic to be doing the job without waiting to be asked. Whether you get published in a student newspaper, a zine, your own website or someone else’s, you’ll never get a foothold on the critical ladder unless you first do it of your own volition. Without that, you will have no opportunity to develop your writing skills, learn how to translate a live experience into words and extend your knowledge of contemporary theatre. It’s also a way to advertise yourself. If you can’t show an editor examples of your work, he or she will have nothing to go on and no reason to employ you.
For the first-time critic, the question of authority comes into play. ‘Who do you think you are, passing comment on other people’s work – what makes you so special?’ Your self-confidence is the only adequate answer to this question, especially as there is no expected qualification for the job. Yes, you can study drama, yes, you can take a course in journalism and there’s a strong case to say you should – but nobody will ask to see your certificates. Criticism is a practical occupation and the evidence of whether you can do it or not is in your writing. Taking a course will widen your knowledge, develop your skills and give you confidence, but it will be your passion for communication and passion for theatre, as well as an insatiable desire to get better at both, that will make you a good critic.
Features, interviews and other writing
If you have such a passion, there’s no reason you should confine your writing to criticism. On the contrary, there are many more opportunities for writing about theatre – and at greater length – than in reviewing it. For the keen-eyed journalist, the theatre is a rich source of material. The people who work in it, the relationship it has with the wider community, the ideas it deals with and the pragmatics of putting it on all offer potential stories.
Feature writing can range from interviews with the theatremakers to research-based pieces inspired by the themes of a production. If one of the creative team has a fascinating story to tell, you may be able to write a human-interest piece that is only tangentially connected to the show. You may find outlets for think-pieces and blogs about theatrical issues or news stories about artistic fall-outs and funding problems. Think too about publications aimed at special-interest groups such as lighting designers, educationalists and marketing managers. You may also find other ways to exploit your specialist knowledge – I have given seminars to theatre students and led cultural tours for foreign visitors, for example.
Staff or freelance?
My assumption underlying all this is that you will be working freelance. That’s not entirely fair because, of course, there are many full-time staff with some responsibility for theatre, whether it be a BBC arts reporter, a theatre editor on a national newspaper or an in-house critic. I worked as an editor back at the List magazine from 2000 to 2003, but have been freelance for the majority of my career. Staff jobs have the advantage of relative security, a team of colleagues, pension schemes, wage rises and some kind of career structure. Unsurprisingly, there is tough competition to get one.
It takes a particular temperament to cope with the freelance life. You have to be resilient, thick-skinned and comfortable with unpredictability. If you can’t stomach the thought of not knowing where next week’s money is going to come from, it probably isn’t for you. But in uncertain economic times, when increasing numbers are shifting into portfolio careers, your adaptability can be an asset. It’s also a little more likely that you’ll be able to spread your knowledge of theatre around a number of publications than to find one publication that can sustain a single theatre-related job.
If that’s a life you’re happy to lead, then be prepared for a few knocks, keep on generating the ideas and say yes to anything that comes your way (worry about practicalities later). As with any journalistic writing, you need to be accurate, reliable and punctual. If you have a dazzling turn of phrase, your editors will like you even more, but most important is being easy to work with. And as far as the theatre community is concerned, the more you can let your passion and erudition show through, the better they will appreciate you and the more you will enjoy yourself.
Mark Fisher is one of Scotland’s foremost commentators on the arts. With over 25 years’ experience, he is the Scottish theatre critic for the Guardian, a former editor of the List and a freelance contributor to Variety, the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. He is the author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama 2012) and How to Write About Theatre (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama 2015), and editor of The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls (Mark Fisher Ltd 2017).
See also...
• FAQs for writers, here
• Income tax, here
• National Insurance contributions and social security benefits, here
This list is divided into metropolitan theatres (below), regional theatres (here) and touring companies (here). See also the articles in this section, which start here and Literary agents for television, film, radio and theatre here.
There are various types of theatre companies and it is helpful to know their respective remits. Many of those that specialise in new writing are based in London (for example, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre), but also include the Royal Exchange Manchester, Everyman Theatre Liverpool, West Yorkshire Playhouse etc. Regional repertory theatre companies are based in towns and cities across the country and may produce new plays as part of their repertoire. Commercial production companies and independent producers typically are unsubsidised profit-making theatre producers who may occasionally be interested in new plays to take on tour or to present in the West End. Small- and/or middle-scale companies are companies (mostly touring) which may exist to explore or promote specific themes or are geared towards specific kinds of audiences.
Individuals also have a role. Independent theatre practitioners include, for example, actors who may be looking for interesting plays in which to appear, and independent theatre producers such as young directors or producers who are looking for plays to produce at the onset of their career. There are also drama schools and amateur dramatics companies. See the Actors and Performers Yearbook (published annually by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama) for further information.
LONDON
The Bridge Theatre
3 Potters Fields Park, London SE1 2SG
tel 0333 320 0052
email info@bridgetheatre.co.uk
website www.bridgetheatre.co.uk
Twitter @bridgetheatre
Founders Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr
The home of the London Theatre Company. Commissions and produces new shows, as well as staging occasional classics. Can seat up to 900 in its adaptable auditorium.
Bush Theatre
7 Uxbridge Road, London W12 8LJ
tel (admin) 020-8743 3584
email info@bushtheatre.co.uk
website www.bushtheatre.co.uk
Twitter @bushtheatre
Artistic Director Madani Younis
The Bush has produced hundreds of groundbreaking premieres since its inception in 1972 – many of them Bush commissions – and has hosted guest productions by leading companies and artists from around the world. Check the website for the unsolicited submissions policy and guidelines on when and how to submit.
Michael Codron Plays Ltd
Aldwych Theatre Offices, Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
tel 020-7240 8291
Finborough Theatre
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
tel 020-7244 7439
email admin@finboroughtheatre.co.uk
website www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/FinboroughTheatre
Twitter @finborough
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
Presents new writing, revivals of neglected plays from 1800 onwards, music theatre and UK premieres of foreign work, particularly from Ireland, Scotland, the USA and Canada. Unsolicited scripts are accepted, but see literary policy on website before sending. Founded 1980.
Robert Fox Ltd
6 Beauchamp Place, London SW3 1NG
tel 020-7584 6855
email info@robertfoxltd.com
website www.robertfoxlimited.com
Twitter @RobertFoxLtd
Independent theatre and film production company. Stages productions mainly in the West End and on Broadway. Not currently accepting submissions. Founded 1980.
Hampstead Theatre
Eton Avenue, London NW3 3EU
tel 020-7449 4200
email info@hampsteadtheatre.com
website www.hampsteadtheatre.com
Twitter @Hamps_Theatre
Literary Manager Will Mortimer
The company’s theatre, built in 2003, was designed with writers in mind, allowing for flexible staging within an intimate main house auditorium and a second studio space. The theatre accepts unsolicited plays from UK-based writers via email only at certain points in the year. See website for full details of the submission process and new writing initiatives.
Bill Kenwright Ltd
BKL House, 1 Venice Walk, London W2 1RR
tel 020-7446 6200
email info@kenwright.com
website www.kenwright.com
Twitter @BKL_Productions
Managing Director Bill Kenwright
Award-winning commercial theatre and film production company, presenting revivals and new works for the West End, international and regional theatres. Productions include: Blood Brothers, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Cabaret and The Sound of Music. Films include: Another Mother’s Son, Broken, Cheri and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
King’s Head Theatre
115 Upper Street, London N1 1QN
tel 020-7226 8561
email alan@kingsheadtheatre.com
website www.kingsheadtheatre.com
Twitter @KingsHeadThtr
Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher
Off-West End theatre producing premieres of plays and musicals.
Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Square, King Street, London W6 0QL
tel 020-8741 6850
email enquiries@lyric.co.uk
website www.lyric.co.uk
Twitter @LyricHammer
Artistic Director Sean Holmes (stepping down Oct 18), Executive Director Sian Alexander
West London’s largest producing and receiving theatre. Unsolicited scripts for in-house productions not accepted.
Neal Street Productions Ltd
1st Floor, 26–28 Neal Street, London WC2H 9QQ
tel 020-7240 8890
email post@nealstreetproductions.com
website www.nealstreetproductions.com
Twitter @NealStProds
Founders Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Caro Newling
Independent film, TV and theatre producer of new work and revivals. No unsolicited scripts.
Founded 2003.
The Old Red Lion Theatre
418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
tel 020-7837 7816
email info@oldredliontheatre.co.uk
website www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk
Twitter @ORLTheatre
Executive Director Damien Devine
Interested in contemporary pieces, especially from unproduced writers. No funding: incoming production company pays to rent the theatre. All submissions via email.
Founded 1977.
Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2SA
tel 020-8940 0141
email literary@orangetreetheatre.co.uk
website www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Twitter @OrangeTreeThtr
Artistic Director Paul Miller, Literary Associate Guy Jones
Producing theatre presenting a mix of new and rediscovered plays in an intimate in-the-round space. Unsolicited work is not accepted throughout the year. Writers should visit www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk/about/writers for up-to-date information about opportunities. Enquiries can be addressed to the Literary Associate at the email address above.
Polka Theatre
240 The Broadway, London SW19 1SB
tel 020-8543 8320
email stephen@polkatheatre.com
website www.polkatheatre.com
Twitter @polkatheatre
Artistic Director Peter Glanville
Theatre of new work, with targeted commissions. Exclusively for children aged 0-14, the Main Theatre seats 300 and the Adventure Theatre seats 70. Programmed 18 months to two years in advance.
Founded 1967.
The Questors Theatre
12 Mattock Lane, London W5 5BQ
tel 020-8567 0011
email enquiries@questors.org.uk
website www.questors.org.uk
Twitter @questorstheatre
Executive Director and Chief Executive Andrea Bath
Largest independent community theatre in Europe. Produces around 20 shows a year, specialising in modern and classical world drama. No unsolicited scripts.
Royal Court Theatre
(English Stage Company Ltd) Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS
tel 020-7565 5050
email info@royalcourttheatre.com
website www.royalcourttheatre.com
Twitter @royalcourt
Literary Manager Chris Campbell
Programmes original plays that investigate the problems and possibilities of our time. Looks for outstanding plays which are original in form or theme and unlikely to be produced elsewhere.
Royal National Theatre
South Bank, London SE1 9PX
tel 020-7452 3333
email scripts@nationaltheatre.org.uk
website www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
Twitter @NationalTheatre
Artistic Director Rufus Norris, New Work Administrator Sarah Clarke
New Work Department considers submissions from the UK and Ireland. No synopses, treatments or hard copy submissions; full scripts can be sent as pdfs or Word documents to the email addess above.
Soho Theatre
21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
tel 020-7478 0117
email deirdre@sohotheatre.com
website www.sohotheatre.com
Twitter @sohotheatre
Artistic Director Steve Marmion
Aims to discover and develop new playwrights, produce a year-round programme of new plays and attract new audiences. Producing venue of new plays, cabaret and comedy. The Writers’ Centre offers an extensive unsolicited script-reading service and provides a range of development schemes such as writers’ attachment programmes, commissions, seed bursaries and more. Three venues: the main Soho Theatre has 150 seats; Soho Upstairs is self-contained and seats 90; and Soho Downstairs is a 150-seat capacity cabaret space. Also theatre bar, restaurant, offices, rehearsal, writing and meeting rooms.
Founded 1972.
Tabard Theatre
2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW
tel 020-8995 6035
email info@tabardtheatre.co.uk
website www.tabardtheatre.co.uk
Twitter @TabardTheatreUK
Hosts a variety of live entertainment, from classical adaptations to revivals and new musical works. Also produces in-house shows.
Theatre Royal, Stratford East
Gerry Raffles Square, London E15 1BN
tel 020-8534 7374
website www.stratfordeast.com
Twitter @stratfordeast
Artistic Director Nadia Fall
Middle-scale producing theatre. Specialises in new writing, including developing contemporary British musicals. Welcomes new plays that are unproduced, full in length, and which relate to its diverse multicultural, Black and Asian audience.
The Tricycle Theatre Company
Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR
tel 020-7372 6611
email info@tricycle.co.uk
website www.tricycle.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/TricycleTheatre
Twitter @tricycletheatre
Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham
Presents at least six productions per year, aiming to provoke debate and engage the audience. Many of these are commissioned and written specifically for the theatre, or are programmed in collaboration with national or international companies. Unable to accept unsolicited submissions.
Unicorn Theatre
147 Tooley Street, London SE1 2HZ
tel 020-7645 0560
email hello@unicorntheatre.com
website www.unicorntheatre.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/unicorntheatre
Twitter @unicorn_theatre
Artistic Director Purni Morell, Executive Director Anneliese Davidsen
Produces a year-round programme of theatre for children and young people under 21. In-house productions of full-length plays with professional casts are staged across two auditoria, alongside visiting companies and education work. Unicorn rarely commissions plays from writers who are new to it, but it is keen to hear from writers who are interested in working with the theatre in the future. Do not send unsolicited MSS, but rather a short statement describing why you would like to write for the Unicorn along with a CV or a summary of your relevant experience.
White Bear Theatre Club
138 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DJ
tel 020-7793 9193
email info@whitebeartheatre.co.uk
website http://whitebeartheatre.co.uk/
Twitter @WhiteBearTheatr
Artistic Director Michael Kingsbury
Metropolitan new writing theatre company. Welcomes scripts from new writers: send queries to whitebearliterary@gmail.com. Founded 1988.
Young Vic Theatre Company
66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
tel 020-7922 2922
email info@youngvic.org
website www.youngvic.org
Facebook www.facebook.com/youngvictheatre
Twitter @youngvictheatre
Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah
Leading London producing theatre. Founded 1969.
REGIONAL
Abbey Theatre Amharclann na Mainistreach
26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin D01 K0F1, Republic of Ireland
tel +353 (0)1 8872200
email info@abbeytheatre.ie
website www.abbeytheatre.ie
Twitter @AbbeyTheatre
Directors Graham McLaren, Neil Murray, New Work Jesse Weaver, Patricia Malpas
Ireland’s national theatre. Produces new Irish writing and contemporary productions of classic plays.
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Management Ltd
Millbrook, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3UX
tel (01483) 440077
email yat@yvonne-arnaud.co.uk
website www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk
Twitter @YvonneArnaud
Producing theatre which also receives productions.
The Belgrade Theatre
Belgrade Square, Coventry CV1 1GS
tel 024-7625 6431
email admin@belgrade.co.uk
website www.belgrade.co.uk
Twitter @BelgradeTheatre
Artistic Director Hamish Glen
Repertory theatre producing drama, comedy and musicals. Does not accept unsolicited scripts; email short synopses first to the address above. See also Word document on script submissions, posted online.
Birmingham Repertory Theatre Ltd
Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP
tel 0121 245 2000
email stage.door@birmingham-rep.co.uk
website www.birmingham-rep.co.uk
Twitter @BirminghamRep
Artistic Director Roxana Silbert
Producing theatre company and pioneer of new plays whose programme includes new versions of the classics as well as contemporary writing. Recently refurbished alongside the Library of Birmingham, the theatre now includes a 300-seat studio theatre. Founded 1913.
The Bootleg Theatre Company
23 Burgess Green, Bishopdown, Salisbury, Wilts. SP1 3EL
tel (01722) 421476
email colinburden281@gmail.com
website www.bootlegtheatre.com
Contact Colin Burden
New writing theatre company whose recent productions include Girls Allowed by Trevor Suthers, A Rainy Night in Soho by Stephen Giles, and The Squeaky Clean by Roger Goldsmith. Also produces compilation productions of monologues/duologues: these have included 15 Minutes of Fame, Tales from The Street and Parting Shots with contributions from Mark Bromley, Annie Cooper, Nick Le Mesurier, Sarah Ryan and Paul Townsend. 2018 productions include The Other Half of Me by Sarah Ryan, a compilation based on true crime cases; the company is also co-producing two short filmed documentaries.
Founded 1985.
Bristol Old Vic
King Street, Bristol BS1 4ED
tel 0117 949 3993
email admin@bristololdvic.org.uk
website www.bristololdvic.org.uk
Twitter @BristolOldVic
Artistic Director Tom Morris
Oldest theatre auditorium in UK (opened in 1766). See website for more details. Founded 1946.
Chichester Festival Theatre
Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6AP
tel (01243) 784437
website www.cft.org.uk
Twitter @chichesterFT
Artistic Director Daniel Evans
Stages annual Summer Festival Season April–Oct in Festival and Minerva Theatres together with a year–round education programme, autumn touring programme and youth theatre Christmas show. Unsolicited scripts are not accepted.
Contact Theatre Company
Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA
tel 0161 274 0600
website www.contactmcr.com
Twitter @ContactMcr
Artistic Director Matt Fenton, Head of Creative Development Suzie Henderson
Multidisciplinary arts organisation focused on working with and for young people aged from 13 and above.
Creation Theatre Company
tel (01865) 766266
email boxoffice@creationtheatre.co.uk
website www.creationtheatre.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.co.uk/CreationTheatre
Twitter @creationtheatre
Chief Executive Lucy Askew, Producer Ginny Graham, Education Manager Crissy O’Donovan
Produces site-specific adaptations of classic texts all over Oxford in unusual spaces, from castles to antique mirror tents, college gardens, bookshops and factories. Also stages summer productions of Shakespeare and eccentric family shows at Christmas, as well as a wide range of education events and workshops. No unsolicited manuscripts.
Curve
Rutland Street, Leicester LE1 1SB
tel 0116 242 3560
email contactus@curvetheatre.co.uk
website www.curveonline.co.uk
Twitter @CurveLeicester
Chief Executive Chris Stafford, Artistic Director Nikolai Foster
Regional producing theatre company.
Derby Theatre
Theatre Walk, Westfield, St Peter’s Quarter, Derby DE1 2NF
tel (01332) 255800
email tickets@derbyplayhouse.co.uk
website www.derbytheatre.co.uk
Twitter @DerbyTheatre
Artistic Director Sarah Brigham, Creative Learning Director Caroline Barth
Regional producing and receiving theatre.
Druid
Flood Street, Galway H91 PWX5, Republic of Ireland
tel +353 (0)91 568660
email info@druid.ie
website www.druid.ie
Twitter @DruidTheatre
Artistic Director Garry Hynes
Producing theatre company presenting a wide range of plays, with an emphasis on new Irish writing. New submission window for scripts: July–November (see website for details). Tours nationally and internationally.
The Dukes
Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1QE
tel (01524) 598505
email info@dukes-lancaster.org
website www.dukes-lancaster.org
Twitter @TheDukesTheatre
Artistic Director Sarah Punshon
Producing theatre and cultural centre. Its Young Writers scheme was launched in January 2017. See website for up-to-date information about the theatre’s productions and programming approach.
Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre Limited
Tay Square, Dundee DD1 1PB
tel (01382) 227684
email info@dundeereptheatre.co.uk
website www.dundeereptheatre.co.uk
Twitter @DundeeRep
Artistic Director (Dundee Rep) and Joint Chief Executive Andrew Panton
Regional repertory theatre company with resident ensemble. Mix of classics, musicals and new commissions.
Everyman Theatre Cheltenham
7 Regent Street, Cheltenham, Glos. GL50 1HQ
tel (01242) 512515
email admin@everymantheatre.org.uk
website www.everymantheatre.org.uk
Twitter @Everymanchelt
Creative Director Paul Milton
Regional presenting and producing theatre promoting a wide range of plays. Small-scale experimental, youth and educational work encouraged in The Studio Theatre. Contact the Creative Director before submitting material.
Exeter Northcott Theatre
Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QB
tel (01392) 722414
email info@exeternorthcott.co.uk
website www.exeternorthcott.co.uk
Twitter @ExeterNorthcott
Artistic and Executive Director Paul Jepson
460-seat producing and receiving venue offering a varied programme of shows and touring productions.
The 42nd Theatre Company
Blyth Court, Blyth Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 3RY
email literary@the42ndtheatrecompany.com
website www.the42ndtheatrecompany.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/the42ndtheatrecompany
Twitter @The42ndTheatreC
Artistic Director Adam Bambrough
Small theatre company dedicated to developing new plays by writers who have never had their work produced before. Submissions welcome all year; see website for guidelines. All work commissioned will be compensated. Founded 2013.
Harrogate Theatre
Oxford Street, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 1QF
tel (01423) 502710
email info@harrogatetheatre.co.uk
website www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk
Twitter @HGtheatre
Chief Executive David Bown
Predominately a receiving house, Harrogate Theatre rarely produces productions in-house. Unsolicited scripts not accepted.
HOME: Theatre
2 Tony Wilson Place, First Street, Manchester M15 4FN
tel 0161 200 1500
email info@homemcr.org
website www.homemcr.org
Twitter @HOME_mcr
Artistic Director Walter Meierjohann
World classic drama, international and new writing, adaptations and cross-art projects. Formed following the merger of Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company. HOME’s purpose-built centre for international contemporary art, theatre and film opened in Spring 2015.
Live Theatre
Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DQ
tel 0191 232 1232
email wendy@live.org.uk
website www.live.org.uk
Twitter @LiveTheatre
Artistic Director Joe Douglas, Operations Director Wendy Barnfather
New writing theatre company and venue. Stages three to four productions per year of new writing, comedy, musical comedy, etc.
Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse
Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust Ltd, 5–11 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BH
tel 0151 708 3700
email info@everymanplayhouse.com
website www.everymanplayhouse.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/everymanplayhouse
Twitter @LivEveryPlay
Executive Director Deborah Aydon, Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz
Produces and presents theatre. Looks for original work from writers based within the Liverpool city region: email scripts@everymanplayhouse.com with a pdf or Word document along with a completed submission form (see website for this and further details of submission specifications).
Mercury Theatre Colchester
Balkerne Gate, Colchester, Essex CO1 1PT
tel (01206) 577006
email info@mercurytheatre.co.uk
website www.mercurytheatre.co.uk
Twitter @mercurytheatre
Artistic Director Daniel Buckroyd
Active producing theatre in East Anglia, aiming to put theatre at the heart of the community it serves and to make work in Colchester that reaches audiences regionally and nationally. Runs a comprehensive Creative Learning & Talent programme to support artists and theatre-makers at all stages of their development.
The New Theatre: Dublin
The New Theatre, Temple Bar, 43 East Essex Street, Dublin D02 XH92, Republic of Ireland
tel +353 (0)1 6703361
email info@thenewtheatre.com
website www.thenewtheatre.com
Artistic Director Anthony Fox
Innovative theatre supporting plays by new Irish writers and others whose work deals with issues pertaining to contemporary Irish society. Welcomes scripts from new writers. Seats 66 people. Founded 1997.
New Vic Theatre
Etruria Road, Newcastle under Lyme ST5 0JG
tel (01782) 717954
email admin@newvictheatre.org.uk
website www.newvictheatre.org.uk
Twitter @NewVicTheatre
Artistic Director Theresa Heskins, Executive Director Fiona Wallace
Europe’s first purpose-built theatre-in-the-round, presenting classics, musical theatre, contemporary plays and new plays.
The New Wolsey Theatre
Civic Drive, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2AS
tel (01473) 295900
email info@wolseytheatre.co.uk
website www.wolseytheatre.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/NewWolsey
Twitter @NewWolsey
Chief Executive Sarah Holmes, Artistic Director Peter Rowe
Mix of producing and presenting in main house and studio. Hosts annual Pulse Festival. Founded 2000.
Northern Stage (Theatrical Productions) Ltd
Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RH
tel 0191 242 7210
email info@northernstage.co.uk
website www.northernstage.co.uk
Twitter @northernstage
Executive Director Kate Denby, Artistic Director Lorne Campbell
The largest producing theatre company in the north east of England. Presents local, national and international theatre across three stages and runs an extensive participation programme.
Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse Trust Ltd, Wellington Circus, Nottingham NG1 5AF
tel 0115 947 4361
website www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Twitter @NottmPlayhouse
Artistic Director Adam Penford
Works closely with communities of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Seeks to nurture new writers from the East Midlands primarily. Will accept two submissions a year per writer but asks that the second one is not sent until feedback has been received on the first. Scripts should be sent as a pdf or Word document to the email address above, or can be posted; a completed submission form (see www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/about-us/script-submissions/) should also be included.
NST, Nuffield Southampton Theatres
University Road, Southampton SO17 1TR
tel 023-8031 5500
email info@nstheatres.co.uk
website www.nstheatres.co.uk
Twitter @nstheatres
Repertory theatre producing straight plays and occasional musicals. A mix of re-imagined classics and new plays.
Octagon Theatre
Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB
tel (01204) 529407
email literary@octagonbolton.co.uk
website www.octagonbolton.co.uk
Twitter @octagontheatre
Chief Executive Roddy Gauld, Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman
Fully flexible professional theatre. Year-round programme of own productions and visiting companies. The Bill Naughton Studio Theatre for outreach, children’s theatre, new work and emerging artists. The theatre is closed from May 2018 to Autumn 2019 for extensive remodelling: see website for information on town-centre venues during this time.
The Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Fairbottom Street, Oldham OL1 3SW
tel 0161 624 1731
email mail@coliseum.org.uk
website www.coliseum.org.uk
Twitter @OldhamColiseum
Chief Executive and
Artistic Director Kevin Shaw
Interested in new work, particularly plays set in the North. Alongside the programme in its Main Auditorium, the Studio programme aims to support and showcase the best in new writing and emerging talent to explore issues that affect the local community. The theatre’s learning and engagement department runs a variety of outreach programmes and courses for young people, adults and schools.
Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch
(Havering Theatre Trust Ltd)
Billet Lane, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 1QT
tel (01708) 462362
email info@queens-theatre.co.uk
website www.queens-theatre.co.uk
Twitter @QueensTheatreH
Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul, Executive Director Mathew Russell
500-seat producing theatre serving outer East London with a permanent company of actors/musicians presenting eight main house and two Theatre in Education (TIE) productions each year. Unsolicited scripts may be returned unread. Also offers writers’ groups at various levels.
Royal Exchange Theatre Company Ltd
St Ann’s Square, Manchester M2 7DH
tel 0161 833 9833
email suzanne.bell@royalexchange.co.uk
website www.royalexchange.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/rx
Twitter @rxtheatre
Executive Director Mark Dobson, Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom, Dramaturg Suzanne Bell
Varied programme of major classics, new plays, musicals, contemporary British and European drama. Focus on new writing, writer development, creative collaborations and community participation.
Royal Lyceum Theatre Company
Royal Lyceum Theatre, 30b Grindlay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AX
tel 0131 248 4800
email info@lyceum.org.uk
website www.lyceum.org.uk
Twitter @lyceumtheatre
Artistic Director David Greig
Scotland’s busiest producing theatre, creating a diverse year-round programme of classic, contemporary and new drama in Edinburgh. Interested in work of Scottish writers.
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks. CV37 6BB
tel (01789) 296655
email literary@rsc.org.uk
website www.rsc.org.uk
Twitter @TheRSC
Artistic Director Gregory Doran, Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman, Literary Manager Pippa Hill
On its two main stages in Stratford-upon-Avon, the RST and the Swan Theatre, the Company produces a core repertoire of Shakespeare alongside new plays and the work of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. In addition, its studio theatre, The Other Place, produces festivals of cutting-edge new work. For all its stages, the Company commissions new plays, new translations and new adaptations that illuminate the themes and concerns of Shakespeare and his contemporaries for a modern audience. The Literary department does not accept unsolicited work but rather seeks out writers it wishes to work with or commission, and monitors the work of writers in production in the UK and internationally. Writers are welcome to invite the Literary department to readings, showcases or productions by emailing the address above.
Salisbury Playhouse
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, Wilts. SP2 7RA
tel (01722) 320117; box office (01722) 320333
email info@salisburyplayhouse.com
website www.salisburyplayhouse.com
Twitter @salisburyplay
Artistic Director Gareth Machin, Executive Director Sebastian Warrack
Regional producing and presenting theatre with a broad programme of classical and contemporary plays in two auditoria. Does not accept unsolicited scripts. The Playhouse is committed to a programme of original drama with a particular focus on South-West writers. Please check website for current information on script submission.
Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Westborough, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 1JW
tel(01723) 370540
email scripts@sjt.uk.com
website www.sjt.uk.com
Twitter @thesjt
Executive Producer Amanda Saunders, Artistic Programme & Literary Coordinator Fleur Hebditch
Regional repertory theatre company presenting approx. eight productions a year, many of which are premieres. Submissions should be emailed to the address above.
Sheffield Theatres
(Crucible, Crucible Studio & Lyceum) 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 1DA
tel 0114 249 5999
website www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Chief Executive Dan Bates
Large-scale producing house with distinctive thrust stage; studio; Victorian proscenium arch theatre used mainly for touring productions.
Sherman Theatre
Senghennydd Road, Cardiff CF24 4YE
tel 029-2064 6900
website www.shermantheatre.co.uk
Twitter @shermantheatre
Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan
Produces new work and revivals. Seeks to stage high-quality and innovative drama with a local, national or international perspective. Develops work by Welsh and Welsh-based writers, both in English and Welsh. Supports writers through the New Welsh Playwrights’ Programme. Participatory work with youth theatres (age 5 to 25), community engagement, and mentorship of new artists. Currently unable to read and respond to unsolicited scripts. Founded 2007.
Show of Strength Theatre Company Ltd
74 Chessel Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 3DN
tel 0117 902 0235
email info@showofstrength.org.uk
website www.showofstrength.org.uk
Twitter @Showofstrength
Creative Producer Sheila Hannon
Small-scale company committed to producing new and unperformed work. Founded 1986.
Swansea Grand Theatre
Singleton Street, Swansea SA1 3QJ
tel (01792) 475715
email swansea.grandmarketing@swansea.gov.uk
email paul.hopkins2@swansea.gov.uk
website www.swanseagrand.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/swanseagrandtheatre
Twitter @swanseagrand
Theatre Manager Paul Hopkins, Marketing Manager Helen Dalling
Regional receiving theatre.
Theatr Clwyd
Mold, Flintshire CH7 1YA
tel (01352) 756331
email william.james@theatrclwyd.com
website www.theatrclwyd.com
Twitter @ClwydTweets Arts centre and producing theatre company producing up to fourteen productions each year, including work for young people, in English, Welsh and bilingually. Plays are a mix of classics, revivals, contemporary drama and new writing. Considers plays by Welsh writers or with Welsh themes and have resident writers on many productions: see website for details.
Theatre Royal Bath
Sawclose, Bath BA1 1ET
tel (01225) 448815
website www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Twitter @TheatreRBath
Director Danny Moar
One of the oldest theatres in Britain. Comprising three auditoria – the Main House, the Ustinov Studio Theatre and the Egg theatre for children and young people – the Theatre Royal offers a varied programme of entertainment all year round.
Royal Parade, Plymouth PL1 2TR
tel (01752) 668282
website www.theatreroyal.com
Twitter @TRPlymouth
Artistic Director Simon Stokes
Specialises in the production of new plays. Its creative learning work engages young people and communities in Plymouth and beyond. The award-winning waterfront production and learning centre, TR2, offers extensive set, costume, prop-making and rehearsal facilities.
Theatre Royal Windsor
32 Thames Street, Windsor, Berks. SL4 1PS
tel (01753) 863444
email info@theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
website www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/TheatreWindsor/
Twitter @TheatreWindsor
Executive Producer Bill Kenwright, Theatre Director Robert Miles
Regional producing theatre presenting a wide range of productions, from classics to new plays.
Traverse Theatre
10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED
tel 0131 228 3223
website www.traverse.co.uk
Twitter @traversetheatre
Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin
Produces and presents new theatre work from Scotland and internationally. Scripts submissions are accepted at certain points throughout the year; see the website for submission guidelines and further information.
Watford Palace Theatre
20 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts. WD17 1JZ
tel (01923) 235455
website www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk
Twitter @watfordpalace
Artistic Director Brigid Larmour
Regional theatre. Produces and co-produces seasonally, both classic and contemporary drama and new writing. Accepts unsolicited scripts from writers in Hertfordshire.
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UP
tel 0113 213 7700
website www.wyp.org.uk
Twitter @WYPlayhouse
Artistic Director James Brining, Executive Director Robin Hawkes, Associate Director Amy Leach, Literary Associate Jacqui Honess-Martin, Youth Theatre Director Gemma Woffinden
Twin auditoria complex; community theatre. Has a policy of encouraging new writing from Yorkshire and Humberside region. Its Furnace programme for artistic development allows writers at different stages of their professional journey to test out new ideas. See website for full details. The Playhouse Youth Theatre runs weekly sessions for young people aged from 5 to 19, commissions new plays for young audiences, and helps them develop a range of performance skills.
York Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal, St Leonard’s Place, York YO1 7HD
tel (01904) 658162
website www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/yorktheatreroyal
Twitter @yorktheatre
Executive Director Tom Bird, Artistic Director Damian Cruden
Repertory productions, tours.
TOURING COMPANIES
Actors Touring Company
ICA, 12 Carlton Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
tel 020-7930 6014
email atc@atctheatre.com
website www.atctheatre.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/actorstouringcompany
Twitter @ATCLondon
Artistic Director Ramin Gray
Small- to medium-scale company producing international new writing.
Eastern Angles
Sir John Mills Theatre, Gatacre Road, Ipswich IP1 2LQ
tel (01473) 218202
email admin@easternangles.co.uk
website www.easternangles.co.uk
Twitter @easternangles
Artistic Director Ivan Cutting
Touring company producing new work with a regional theme. Stages three to four productions per year. Welcomes scripts from new writers in the East of England region. Founded 1982.
Graeae Theatre Company
Bradbury Studios,
138 Kingsland Road London E2 8DY
tel 020-7613 6900
email info@graeae.org
website www.graeae.org
Facebook www.facebook.com/graeae
Twitter @graeae
Artistic Director Jenny Sealey MBE, Operations Director Kevin Walsh, Finance Director Charles Mills, Marketing and Development Manager Richard Matthews, Head of Marketing & Development Richard Matthews, Access Manager Lizzy Leggat, General Manager Kate Baiden, Literary Manager Chloe Todd Fordham
Small- to mid-scale touring company boldly placing D/deaf and disabled artists centre stage. Welcomes scripts from D/deaf and disabled writers. Founded 1980.
17 Risborough Street, London SE1 0HG
tel 020-7633 2090
email info@headlong.co.uk
website www.headlong.co.uk
Twitter @HeadlongTheatre
Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin
Mid-/large-scale touring company presenting a provocative mix of new writing, reimagined classics and influential twentieth-century plays.
Hull Truck Theatre Co. Ltd
50 Ferensway, Hull HU2 8LB
tel (01482) 224800
email admin@hulltruck.co.uk
website www.hulltruck.co.uk
Twitter @HullTruck
Artistic Director Mark Babych
Producing and receiving theatre with a national reputation for new writing. Premieres of new plays, including own commissions, have included works by Tanika Gupta, Amanda Whittington, Bryony Lavery, James Graham and Richard Bean.
The London Bubble
(Bubble Theatre Company)
5 Elephant Lane, London SE16 4JD
tel 020-7237 4434
email admin@londonbubble.org.uk
website www.londonbubble.org.uk
Twitter @LBubble
Creative Director Jonathan Petherbridge
Aims to provide the artistic direction, skills, environment and resources to create inspirational, inclusive and involving theatre for the local community and beyond. Also runs a number of groups for children and young people from the age of 6 upwards, as well as an adult drama group, an intergenerational group and the Rotherhithe Shed initiative.
M6 Theatre Company
Studio Theatre, Hamer C.P. School, Albert Royds Street, Rochdale, Lancs. OL16 2SU
tel (01706) 355898
email admin@m6theatre.co.uk
website www.m6theatre.co.uk
Twitter @M6Theatre
Artistic Director Gilly Baskeyfield
Touring theatre company specialising in creating and delivering innovative theatre for young audiences.
New Perspectives Theatre Company
Park Lane Business Centre, Park Lane, Basford, Nottingham NG6 0DW
tel 0115 927 2334
email info@newperspectives.co.uk
website www.newperspectives.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/newperspectivestheatrecompany
Twitter @NPTheatre
Artistic Director Jack McNamara
Touring theatre company, staging up to four productions a year, many of which are new commissions. The company tours new writing and adaptations of existing works to theatres, arts centres, festivals and rural village halls around the country. Founded 1973.
Northumberland Theatre Company (NTC)
4 Dovecote St, Amble, Morpeth NE65 0DX
tel (01665) 602586
email admin@northumberlandtheatre.co.uk
website www.northumberlandtheatre.co.uk
Twitter @NTCtheatre
Artistic Director Gillian Hambleton Performs a wide cross-section of work: new plays, extant scripts, classic and modern. Particularly interested in non-naturalism, physical theatre and plays with direct relevance to rural audiences.
Out of Joint
3 Thane Works, Thane Villas, London N7 7NU
tel 020-7609 0207
email ojo@outofjoint.co.uk
website www.outofjoint.co.uk
Twitter @Out_of_Joint
Touring company producing new plays and occasional revivals. Welcomes scripts. Founded 1993.
Paines Plough
4th Floor, 43 Aldwych, London WC2B 4DN
tel 020-7240 4533
email office@painesplough.com
website www.painesplough.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/painesploughHQ
Twitter @painesplough
Joint Artistic Directors George Perrin, James Grieve
Commissions and produces new plays by British and Irish playwrights. Tours at least six plays per year nationally for small- and mid-scale theatres. Also runs The Big Room, a concierge-style development strand for professional playwrights: see website for further details. Welcomes unsolicited scripts and responds to all submissions. Seeks original plays that engage with the contemporary world and are written in a distinctive voice.
Proteus Theatre Company
Proteus Creation Space, Council Road, Basingstoke, Hants RG21 3DH
tel (01256) 354541
email info@proteustheatre.com
website www.proteustheatre.com
Twitter @proteustheatre
Artistic Director and Chief Executive Mary Swan
Small-scale touring company particularly committed to new writing and new work, education and community collaborations. Produces three touring shows a year plus several community projects. Founded 1981.
Real People Theatre Company
37 Curlew Glebe, Dunnington, York YO19 5P
tel (01904) 488870
email sueann@curlew.totalserve.co.uk
website www.realpeopletheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Sue Lister
Women’s theatre company. Welcomes scripts from women writers. Founded 1999.
Red Ladder Theatre Company
3 St Peter’s Buildings, York Street, Leeds LS9 8AJ
tel 0113 245 5311
email rod@redladder.co.uk
website www.redladder.co.uk
Twitter @RedLadderTheatr
Artistic Director Rod Dixon
Theatre performances with a radical and dissenting voice. National touring of theatre venues and community spaces. Commissions one or two new plays each year. Runs the Red Grit Project, a free theatre training programme for over-18s.
Sphinx Theatre Company
email info@sphinxtheatre.co.uk
website www.sphinxtheatre.co.uk
Twitter @Sphinxtheatre
Artistic Director Sue Parrish
Specialises in writing, directing and developing roles for women.
Talawa Theatre Company
Rich Mix, 35–47 Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 6LA
tel 020-7251 6644
email hq@talawa.com
website www.talawa.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/TalawaTheatreCompany
Twitter @TalawaTheatreCo
Artistic Director Michael Buffong
Script-reading service available three times a year. Visit the website for further details of submission windows.
Theatre Absolute
Shop Front Theatre, 38 City Arcade, Coventry CV1 3HW
tel 07799 292957
email info@theatreabsolute.co.uk
website www.theatreabsolute.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/TheatreAbsolute
Twitter @theatreabsolute
Contact Julia Negus
Independent theatre producer of contemporary work. Opened the Shop Front Theatre, a 50-seat flexible professional theatre space for new writing, performances, script development, theatre lab and other live art events, in 2009. The company is funded project to project and unfortunately not able to receive unsolicited scripts. Founded 1992 by Chris O’Connell and Julia Negus.
Theatre Centre
Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
tel 020-7729 3066
email admin@theatre-centre.co.uk
website www.theatre-centre.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/TheatreCentreUK
Twitter @TClive
Artistic Director Natalie Wilson
Young people’s theatre company producing plays and workshops which tour nationally across the UK. Productions are staged in schools, arts centres and other venues. Recently produced work includes The Muddy Choir by Jesse Briton, Advice for the Young at Heart by Roy Williams, The Day the Waters Came by Lisa Evans and Layla’s Room by Sabrina Mahfouz. Keen to nurture new and established talent, encouraging all writers to consider writing for young audiences. Also run creative projects and manages writing awards: see website for details. Founded 1953.