T he College has always exhibited the finest displays of theatre; however, with the advent of the New Views Competition, an amazing theatrical opportunity befell aspiring English students and dramatic enthusiasts like myself. This exciting project gave us the opportunity to portray our passions and ideas in the form of short plays, with the prospect of the winning script being produced by the National Theatre and staged with a professional cast. As you can imagine, this thrilling prospect sent our minds on a great quest for ideas, which we became completely absorbed in, wholly supported by wonderful weekly sessions held by Miss Cross and Miss Simpson. They became our mentors as we delved into this intriguing but difficult process. As well as learning the basic mechanics of writing for theatre, we were also able to debate and compare our varying thoughts on character and design, and even share views on social and political topics. This, coupled with fantastic trips to view productions of diverse productions at the National Theatre, enabled us to gain inspiration for our own work. Our first trip was to see Nut , held in the Shed at the National Theatre. This provocative piece of new writing was a brilliant example of a powerful yet short play with a limited cast – much like the premise for our own forthcoming plays. Nut revolves around insanity and madness; however, it also delves into a variety of ideas that I found not only very powerful but also inspiring for my own play. Our last trip to the theatre was to see the revival of A Taste of Honey , a play that, despite its age, challenges the ideals of social perceptions of marginalised people while also evoking compelling thoughts on human nature and the problems we face because of it. The views and perceptions portrayed by the two plays inspired my own writing, and the combination of these brilliant nights out and the incredible sessions enabled us to produce a draft of our own plays. Following this, we were given individual tutorials with the playwright Brian Mullen, who not only aided us in reviewing the structure and mechanics of our plays, but also provided us with an insight on how to truly portray our emerging views through our writing. The process, despite its challenges, has been thoroughly enjoyable and exciting. Not only have I been able to produce a full script, but all the participants have also been granted the chance to express the views of a new generation thanks to this amazing project.
“As well as learning the basic mechanics of writing for theatre, we were also able to debate and compare our varying thoughts on character and design, and even share views on social and political topics.”
61
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker