What was your experience of theatre before you joined the programme? Before I joined the programme, I’d say I was more focused on myself as an actor, I had been accepted to study acting at LSBU and writing was more of a hobby or something I did on the side. I have always loved writing such as poems and stories, but I didn’t get into playwrighting till around August 2020. I was having weekly sessions with my acting tutor, and I read her some writing I did for my Advanced Higher English class at school, pieces I read her were two contrasting essays about the good and bad parts of lockdown. We d ..read more

What was your experience of theatre before you joined Young Playwrights? I have always loved drama and being on the stage ever since I was little. To the point where I used to memorise every film I watched and act it out to anyone who would listen to me – sorry Mum and Dad! So, it was no surprise that I quickly joined a local theatre group and began my journey of being on the stage. As you can tell, my experience with theatre has predominantly been on the stage rather than off it. I absolutely loved the process of auditions, getting a part, rehearsing with a script, having fun playing with ..read more

Why did you decide to join the Young Playwrights Programme? I decided to join the Young Playwrights Programme as throughout the pandemic I had been feeling very lost creatively and also very uninspired.  I have been writing for a few years now and have one finished full-length play and had written some shorter works in progress. My full-length play is called Miles and explores the dynamics of rural life and friendships from the setting of a struggling caravan park. I was also freelancing throughout late 2020 and the first half of 2021, so I had free time that I wanted to channel into my ..read more

10,000 Bad Lines Hello everyone! Long time no…write or read I guess! I hope you are all doing well. I thought it would be good to give you an update on how I am feeling about my final piece of writing for the Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme Showcase. Please take this opportunity to go and make yourself a nice cuppa (or a refreshing glass of something cold if you prefer) and listen to my ramblings. As some of you might have figured out by now, I tend to overthink things. One thing that preoccupies my thinking is the fear of handing in my next draft because it might be awful. However ..read more

New year, new me! Well, that’s the classic saying at least; how much I agree with it is a whole different matter. I think we have all spent this time of year making promises to ourselves about how we’ll eat better, exercise more, and get up early. It’s easy to do, but I think we all know how easily we can forget our goals and how hard it is to change your habits. That’s partly why I’m deciding this year to set myself more manageable goals to strive for, rather than concrete resolutions, which only lead to self-judgement and a feeling of failure. In terms of my writing, this means that instea ..read more

It’s Rosanna here – interim coordinator for our Young Playwrights Project.  Writing is all about keeping good routines and acknowledging working patterns that make getting the gold down on the page as regularly as possible. As our writers get back into the swing of their ideas and push towards getting a full (but it’s allowed to be rough) first draft together, we reflected at our January Gathering on goals. When are goals useful and when do they just stress us out? We agreed that the act of writing something down – an aim, a prayer or an aspiration is the first step in trying to interna ..read more

I really can’t believe that we are midway through December already. And I also can’t believe that we are nearing the end of 2021! For me, this year has completely flown by. It’s been filled with lockdowns, a few big life changes, and also a lot of plays and theatre. Because it has all gone by so fast, I wanted to look back on the plays I have read and the theatre I’ve seen this year, and share some of my highlights.  The Plays: These are some of my top picks of the plays I’ve read this year – some I read as part of the Bunbury Banter programme and a few I read outside of Bunbury Bante ..read more

Every festive season my family struggles on what to get me for Christmas. I’m not that picky! I’m just very content with what I have. However, something which never fails to bring me joy is a new play, either to read or to go and see. So here is a list of plays I’ve encountered which I think are worth a look and suggestions for some other fabulous stocking fillers for any writers in your life.  Meet Me at Dawn By Zinnie Harris This is one of the first plays I read this year and it was my favourite by far. I loved the story, the way it was written, and how it inspired me to keep writing ..read more

I feel like over the past couple of weeks everything has sped up, someone has switched gears and, I don’t like how fast we’re going. I have this weird feeling sometimes, like, I am outside my body watching my own life and I just feel like hitting pause. I feel guilty, because right now… I should be excited, but I’m not. I should be excited that things are opening up again and that COVID-19 restrictions are easing, that I can go out to parties, go to Uni, that I can see loads of people and not worry about it. But I do worry about it, I worry about everything. I turned eighteen last week. When ..read more

I moved to London the day before our most recent workshop – led by the BRILLIANT Douglas Maxwell – and it was a funny feeling to be doing something that is now so embedded into my routine (that is, a Bunbury Banter workshop) in a setting that was still so new and unfamiliar to me. Douglas’s approach to the workshop felt like entirely what I needed on that day – something that was massively engaging and inspiring, yet still very accessible, relaxed, and easy-going.  The way Douglas spoke about playwriting mirrored the way I think about it a lot of the time too. We talked about the fact th ..read more