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SCRIPT NEWS - September 2006
NEW!
- INTRODUCTION TO PLAYWRITING WORKSHOPS running
at 5 venues around the region this Autumn...
Your
chance to write a short play in one day!
This is
a workshop that uses a mixture of games and exercises,
to help you build characters and use them to create
dramatic scenes.
Suitable
for beginners as well as those with some previous
writing experience.
Workshops
will be led by Alan Pollock - playwright and television
writer. His recent stage plays include The Death
of Cool and All Tomorrow's Parties . He has also
written for The Bill , A&E and Crossroads.
Click Here to
read this month's Special Feature which has been
written by Alan. 'Making Life Difficult for Myself'
is an insightful article on the choices a writer
has to face.
Introduction
to Playwriting Courses are running as follows:
Saturday
16 September at The Courtyard, Hereford
10am-5pm
£25 (£20 concs.)
Bookings:
The Courtyard Box Office 0870 1122330
Saturday
30 September at Birmingham Repertory Theatre
10am-5pm
£25
(£20 concs.)
Bookings:
Script - email info@scriptonline.net
or call 0121 224 7415.
Saturday
14 October at Hanley Library, Stoke-on-Trent
10am-5pm
£15
Bookings:
Script - email info@scriptonline.net
or call 0121 224 7415.
Saturday
28 October at Gateway, Shrewsbury
10am-5pm
£25
(£20 concs).
Bookings:
Script - email info@scriptonline.net
or call 0121 224 7415.
Saturday
11 November at Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa
10.30am-4.30pm
£25
(£20)
Bookings:
Script - email info@scriptonline.net
or call 0121 224 7415.
STAFF
CHANGES AT SCRIPT
Our
Programmes Director, Sibyl Ruth, will be leaving
at the end of September to pursue her own writing
and freelance career. We wish her all the
best with her future endeavours.
Rachel
Taylor, currently Script's Administrator, will
be taking over the Programmes Director post from
October 1st.
We will be advertising the vacancy
for an Administrator soon - look out for further
news.
TAKE
5 EVENT - PERFORMANCES OF WINNING AND SHORTLISTED
MONOLOGUES FROM THE SCRIPT/RAW EDGE COMPETITION
Earlier
this year Script collaborated with Raw Edge magazine
to find the best new monologues in the region.
One-person plays by Di Neoh, Benjamin Smith, Deborah
Catesby, Rosalind Fox and Stephen Jackson, will
take you on a trip behind the curtains, from cake-making
to the comedy mines of Solihull.
Following
script-in-hand performances, playwright Fraser
Grace ('Breakfast with Mugabe') with join authors
and the audience for an informal discussion.
Thursday
28 September at 7.30pm
Hexagon
Theatre, mac (Midlands Arts Centre, Cannon
Hill Park, Birmingham).
Tickets:
£5 from the mac box office - 0121
440 3838.
'CATHY
AND I' NOMINATED FOR SHORT AWARDS AT THE BFM INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL MIDLANDS
Written
by Ashok Patel and directed by Ekta Walia, 'Cathy
and I' was produced by Script and Light House
as part of the Leap off the Page scheme.
It is also screening at the Spinning
Wheel Film Festival in Toronto this September.
For more information about Leap off
the Page,
click here to visit the archive.
OPPORTUNITIES,
TRAINING AND COMPETITIONS...
STAGE
THE
LITERARY CONSULTANCY SCRIPTWRITING COMPETITION
The
Literary Consultancy's script division has launched
a new competition open to writers of theatre and
radio. The competition is free to enter and the
five winners will receive a full written critique
of their script, and will then meet with one of
the TLC's 'industry insiders' for further professional
advice.
Submissions
will be judged by the TLC's team of script readers,
who have worked previously with the BBC, The National
Theatre and The Royal Court among others.
To enter,
writers should send a hard copy of up to 60 pages
of script (either an entire script or an excerpt)
to Patsy Trench, Play Competition, The Literary
Consultancy, Diorama Arts, No 1 Euston Centre,
London NW1 3JG.
Deadline:
31 October 2006
For
full submission guidelines visit www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk
or contact
Patsy Trench patsy@literaryconsultancy.co.uk
020
7813 4330.
LARRY
CORSE PLAYWRITING PRIZE
The
Larry Corse Prize for Playwriting is an international
competition run by Columbus State University in
Georgia, USA. The competition is now in its fourth
year, and on offer is a prize of $1,000 and a
'premiere production' by the university's theatre
company.
Plays
submitted should be original, in English and should
not have been previously published or performed;
they should be suitable for 5-10 actors, and between
45 and 120 minutes long.
Closing
Date: 20 October 2006
The
winning playwright may be invited to the university
to give a lecture or workshop related to the production.
For more information visit www.larrycorse.com/playwriting.html
or email Steve Graver at graver_steven@colstate.edu
BURSLEDON
PLAYERS ONE-ACT PLAY COMPETITION
The
winner will have their play produced and performed
at the 2007 Totton Festival. In addition, the
Bursledon Players will publish the play for you
- either this year, in a collection of one-act
plays, with the two runners up, or later, with
two other one-act plays from other years' competitions.
Submitted
plays must be between 20 and 55 minutes long with
no less than three characters and no more than
nine. They may be any genre. Scripts should be
set out in standard theatre script form, with
the name of the play on each page in the header.
DO NOT INSERT THE NAME OF THE PLAYWRIGHT INTO
THE MANUSCRIPT.
Cost:
1st entry £3, further entries £2.
Cheques made payable to The Bursledon Players.
For
further information:
The
Bursledon Players
4 Old
Bridge House Road
Bursledon
Southampton
SO31
8AJ
www.bursledonplayers.org.uk
Deadline: 30 September
2006
MCLAREN
MEMORIAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
The
2007 McLaren Memorial Comedy Playwriting Competition
will accept submissions from 1 December 2006 until
31 January 2007.
All
entries must be comedies for adults, teens or
children; musical comedies no longer accepted.
Work must never have been produced professionally
or published.
Entry
fee: $15 per script.
Prizes:
$400 for winning full-length play.
$200
for winning one-act play.
Staged
readings for finalists in each category.
For
full details: www.mctmidland.org/mclaren
T: 00
1 432 682 2544 for competition guidelines and
required brochure with entry form.
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES 2ND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
WITH $10,000 PRIZE FOR PLAYS ABOUT SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
The
winning script in the Scientists, Technologists
and Artists Generating Exploration (STAGE) competition
will receive £10,000 USD; a staged reading
with a cast of professional actors and simultaneous
participation in an awards event with distinguished
professionals from the world of theatre, film,
science and technology; and the opportunity to
go through the Professional Artists Lab's development
process.
Submitted
plays must explore scientific and/or technological
stories, themes, issues or events. (The competition
is not open to plays written in the genre of science
fiction).
Deadline:
January 15 2007
For
full details and submission guidelines visit www.cnsi.ucsb.edu/stage
or email stage@cnsi.ucsb.edu
RADIO...
THE
ALFRED BRADLEY BURSARY AWARD
Do you
have a fresh radio drama idea? BBC Radio Drama
is looking for talented writers based in the North
of England, with compelling stories to tell. You
could win a bursary of up to £6000, have
your work produced on BBC Radio 4, secure a six
month mentorship with a Radio Drama Producer and
have the opportunity to develop future commissions.
You
can apply if you were born, brought up or are
currently based in the North of England and have
never had a play produced by BBC Radio Drama.
To enter,
send a hard copy of an original 45 minute
radio drama (7,000 words maximum) to:
Alfred
Bradley Bursary Award
BBC
writersroom
379-381
Euston Road
London
NW1
3AU
Further
information can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/alfred_bradley.shtml
Deadline:
3 November 2006
SCREEN...
MARCHMONT
FILMS - 2006 FEATURE FILM SCRIPTS SOUGHT
Marchmont
Films is currently accepting low-budget feature
film scripts with a strong commercial potential
for professional packaging and development. For
full details, including how to submit an entry,
please go to www.marchmontfilms.com/scripts.php
Deadline: 30 September 2006
4LAUGHS
4Laughs
is Channel 4's online area for user-generated
comedy. It will be properly launched in the autumn.
In the meantime you can check out the current
site and enter their Send-a-Sketch competition.
Send them a funny pitch for a sketch in no more
than 160 characters and every fortnight they'll
pick the best, give the winner £250 and
turn their idea into a fully-fledged sketch.
To find
more information or to complete the online submission
form go to www.channel4.com/4laughs
EVENTS
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
REHEARSED
READING OF ROB SWINTON'S NEW PLAY - 'THE MARRIAGE
OF TRUE MINDS'
Tuesday
10 October 2006 - The Custard Factory, Digbeth,
Birmingham at 2.30pm
Tickets:
£5 on the door, or can be reserved in advance
from Darren Cheek on 0207 633 9958 to be collected
on the day.
Also
to be performed at the London Baptist Centre on
Thursday 12 October.
The
play is a savage analysis of the current relationship
between press and politicians, and questions the
integrity of our current political system and
those who take responsibility under it. It emplys
the medium of a political whodunnit, a complex
web of personal relationships, and a parallel
story of the lawyer who defended Louis XVI in
his trial before the Constituent Assembly during
the French Revolution, a period when the press
first discovered its ability to dictate the political
agenda through the use of polemic. It's a brain
teaser, a jigsaw puzzle, cruel, funny and very,
very rude about the people you love to hate.
We'd
love you to come and support the first reading
of a challenging new piece of theatre, and to
give us your feedback after the reading, when
we will provide refreshments.
The reading will be directed by Darren
Cheek, who has worked extensively in the field
of new writing as director, writer and dramaturg.
WRITERS
GUILD PUBLISH GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS APPLYING
FOR ARTS COUNCIL GRANTS
Visit
www.writersguild.org.uk/public/005_WritersGuil/063_Guidelines.html
to download
the document.
AUDITION/REHEARSAL/PRODUCTION
SPACE AVAILABLE FOR HIRE - BIRMINGHAM CITY CENTRE
Only
£5 per hour (minimum 4 hours).
1000sq
ft rehearsal space situated within the city centre
- just minutes from New Street Station.
The
Jubilee Centre has easy vehicle access, goods
lift and car parking.
Heating,
lighting, seating and refreshment facilities provided.
Call 0871 871 0300 or 07812 795 537.
WRITING
WORKSHOPS AT THE BIRMINGHAM BOOK FESTIVAL 2006
Friday
6 October - The Pen is Mightier - A Creative Writing
Workshop Using Traditional Writing Tools.
Catherine
Byron will explore what happens to our creativity
when we can't hit the delete key and when the
marks we are making - as well as the words - have
a beauty and permanence.
Friday
6 October - Off the Beaten Track - A Birmingham
Travel Writing Workshop.
Join
travel writer Polly Evans for a workshop experience
with a difference as she discovers the city with
new eyes - travel around the sights of Birmingham
(the well-known and the obscure!), writing along
the way with expert tuition.
Saturday
7 October - A Day of Creative Writing Workshops
(morning and afternoon sessions), from writing
prose to writing about food and all points in
between.
This
will be followed by an all-night writing workshop
- Night Writer - from midnight to 6am (followed
by breakfast), on the 18th Floor of the new Radisson
SAS Hotel and lead by the novelist and Guardian
columnist Mil Millington.
For
more information or to join the mailing list visit
www.birminghambookfestival.org
or call 0121 246 2770.
DISCLAIMER
Script
asks you to note: These listings are drawn from
varying sources, all current at time of publishing.
Script
endeavours to investigate and validate all information
and opportunities listed here. We advise you to
make contact with companies before submitting
scripts.
ARCHIVE
To view
previous editions of Script News, please click
on the links below
June
2004
August
2004
September
2004
October
2004
November
2004
December
2004
January
2005
March
2005
April
2005
May
2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September
2005
October
2005
November/December
2005
January
2006
February
2006
March
2006
April
2006
May
2006
June
2006
July/August
2006
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