Making Progress, One Step At A Time

So, what’s new with me? Well, I performed on a stage in front of a live audience for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, and Oh My God it felt magical. This was the first play I had written that people were going to see, it was called Wee Yin and it was about my experience being a young person during the pandemic. On both nights the atmosphere was just amazing. It felt so special because it was the first time so many people had properly been out since the pandemic started, it was the first live performance in Moniaive for over a year. It was such an honour to be given that opportunity and it couldn’t have gone any better. Once it was over, I felt so emotional for many reasons, firstly because I always feel like that after performing, there is such a build-up and then for it just to be over, it’s difficult to get over. Secondly, I was just so immensely proud of myself and everyone who supported me along the way. I performed a one-woman show that I wrote about my own experiences, and I was over the moon by the response I got. Writing something for people to watch is scary in itself but when it’s something very personal, you are literally putting yourself out there. I had so many moments of doubt, is my writing good enough? Does it make sense? What if they don’t like it? As soon as I walked on the stage all of the worries and doubts disappeared. I knew the work I created was good and I knew it needed to be heard.

The last workshop we had was with Morna Young. I loved her. She was a very warm, kind person and was easy to talk to. I loved hearing about her journey as a playwright, where she started, where she is now and everything in between. This was so interesting, I was amazed at the fact it was a seven-year process writing her first play. My first play took a year to write, and I thought that was long. Listening to Morna talk to us about language and the way different people speak and the factors which affect that was so inspiring, it made me want to interview people just as she did to really listen to their voices, how they speak, the words used, if they are real sentences, every hesitation and moment. The exercises we did with Morna were very fun and light-hearted, I often find these more engaging compared to ones that maybe require instant thoughts or writing. This allowed me more time to think about how they made me feel afterwards, they stuck with me.

For example, one exercise I found to be very useful were the quick questions Morna gave us about the monologues we wrote for the Young Playwrights Programme, looking back on them and on the comments we received on our monologues from the last Playwright’s gathering really helped me to make quite a bit of progress. They both got me into the flow, you know when you start typing and you don’t stop, the words and ideas just keep coming? It was like that. I had my cup of tea, my candles were lit and my concentration music was on. It was amazing, I got lost in it and I had so much fun.

Onto some plays I have been reading and watching recently. Firstly, Lost at Sea by Morna Young. I read this after the workshop, so it was quite cool to read something by someone you had spoken to not that long ago. I really enjoyed this play which surprised me considering the story and themes it included aren’t very relatable to me. It is very different to what I would say I like or what I would usually pick up. I liked it because it just felt so real. Every word or pause was there for a reason. It reminded me of my own play in a way as it is based on a real story, on real people. I also read The Last Witch by Rona Munro which I also enjoyed but it wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I love witch stories and scary things so I loved the idea of this play and I was so excited to read it. It just didn’t hit where I wanted it to. Don’t get me wrong it was a very enjoyable read but I think I had built it up in my head too much beforehand that I was bound to be disappointed. Iphigenia in Splott by Gary Owen is a play I have watched recently. I like to take notes on a play when I watch it so I can remember what I liked, disliked and didn’t understand. Looking back on my notes it just says, Loved Completely. I was so engrossed in it I couldn’t write anything else. I thought the story was so powerful because it was so real, I think it’s the kind of play you watch, and you see someone you know. Someone that many people don’t like very much but you know who they really are and how they really feel.

In terms of feelings, I am starting to get really excited about going to University in September to study acting, moving to London, meeting so many new and doing what I love. I am nervous because I am doing something have never done before and I have no idea what to expect. I have a small role in a TV drama which I will be filming for soon. I know that it is going to be one of those moments in life, when it happens you just have to grow up a little bit more, right in that second it happens. I think that is all the big news about me. Some small news, I have a newfound love for Chai tea. It reminds me of Christmas which is always a good thing. 

 

Naomi Watson

Naomi is part of the Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme 2020-2021