Some thoughts from our Artistic Director as we start the Young Playwright's Programme 2021

My name is Ali and for those who don’t know me, I am the Artistic Director of Bunbury Banter and I’d like to welcome to our Young Playwright’s Blog. 

Photo by Peter Dibdin

Sitting down to write this blog post has given me time to reflect on the last year through the lens of our Young Playwrights Programme, the content of which inevitably changed dramatically in the light of the pandemic last year. 

I say ‘dramatically’ because I was looking forward to a year of regularly meeting up with our young cohort, seeing theatre, discussing work, developing their skills and inspiring them by giving them access to some of the country’s most exciting playwrights and creatives; and in my head, much of this was dependent on being in person. 

However, three months into our programme, the world closed down and all our creative and educational work with it.

I would have thought that this would stop the programme but thanks to Zoom, some courageous young people and fearless playwrights we quickly found ourselves adapting to the digital world, with our workshops going online and our monthly meetups, morphing into weekly check-ins, as we all grappled with uncertainty and were thankful for some sort of routine. 

We also discovered new benefits such as the streaming of theatre productions from all over the world, enabling our young playwrights’ access to world-class productions and exciting new work created in response to the pandemic, in a way that they would never have been able to before. This was accessibility, unlike anything we could have hoped for and opened up the horizons of our Young Playwrights (who can so often feel like they are detached from the theatre industry because of where they live) inspiring them and fuelling them to see themselves as an equal part of the wider theatre scene. This accessibility is so important, and I passionately believe that all young people should have this access to the creative arts and where they live, shouldn’t impact the choices they have or the opportunities they have to be part of an industry.

There were also other benefits such as the levelling that Zoom offered; one playwright with an illustrious career and plays and productions worldwide, sits in on their sofa chatting to another young playwright sitting on their sofa, here in D&G, equally passionate about theatre and eager to learn from the experience and wisdom on offer. As one of our group put it “because I’m in my own space, I feel like I have a wee bit more confidence and feel less intimidated by the awesomeness of the person in front of me…” It was easy to see that the sessions after lockdown gained a new intimacy and a feeling of being in something together, which I don’t think would have happened had we not moved the programme into an online space.

Royal Court in London - theatre will be back soon

Although that is not to say, I don’t eagerly look forward to the time when we can get our young playwrights together around a table or in a theatre and share the experience with one another in person; I know my team and I long for that day.

And so that brings us to a new year and a new group of budding new playwrights!

After some difficult decisions, I am thrilled that we have four fantastic young women writers for this year’s programme and I’m super excited to be able to champion them all. Each of them brings their own unique experience of theatre to the programme (from musical theatre to political theatre!), with things they want to say to the world and a hunger and ambition to learn and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. It is safe to say we are really excited to be working with all of them!

So, this blog is a place for these Young Playwrights to share their thoughts, ideas and discoveries on the journey that they will take over the next year, as they embark on Bunbury Banter’s Young Playwright’s Programme 2021.

Over the next twelve months they will have mentorship with my team and I, workshops with some wonderful playwrights (many returning from last year alongside a few new names) as well as a half a ton of plays to be read, productions to be watched and of course, things to be written… And whilst it’s likely that much of the plans for this year will take place online, it also looks like meeting up with everyone might still be a possibility in the not too distant future and (fingers crossed) perhaps even getting into a theatre at some point too.

In the meantime, I know you’ll join me in wishing them all the very best for the year ahead; however it happens, I know it will be an exciting and fascinating ride for all of us and I for one, can't wait to get going!

Bunbanter's Young Playwrights Programme 2021 is created in partnership with Theatre Royal, Dumfries and Moat Brae, supported by  the Playwrights' Studio, Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival. It is funded by the The Holywood Trust and Creative Scotland. 

For more information on Bunbanter see: www.bunbanter.com