Over and Out From Erin
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 the words, learning more about my character, developing my acting abilities, and developing fun little backstage rituals with my fellow cast members! I was definitely more into the practical side of theatre, rather than the development. I guess I was always in awe of how someone actually wrote the script I was holding in my hands, felt it was my privilege to try and bring it to life. I never really considered that I could switch places.
With the pandemic and lockdown, theatre productions were greatly affected, and I began getting used to not performing. I started think about other ways I could express my creativity and I came back to writing. I have always wanted to write a book but could never really figure out how to get started, but then the idea of writing plays came to me one day and I got so excited about the possibility of playing with these things. I realised that I could use my knowledge of what happens on a stage to help me write things that meant something to me – and that’s when the Young Playwrights programme came along. I swear you are all telepathic!
How did you feel about sharing your work with other people when you began the programme? How has that changed?
This might sound silly, but I can honestly say that I never actually considered this until we actually had to share something with each other. However, the cold rush of fear very quickly set in, and I started to overthink everything.
My big fear was people judging me, and thinking that my work was rubbish and stupid. It wouldn’t matter how encouraging someone was, I still thought they were only being nice and were only saying nice things because they had to. Now, what I’ve learned through this programme is that I was somehow linking other people’s thoughts on my work to my own self-worth. So, I had to write something perfect in order to be seen as a ‘good’ writer.
I’ve now learned that feedback is actually what helps me to grow as a writer. It is not a personal attack on me, it isn’t even an attack at all! It’s just someone who cares about your work enough to let you know how they feel about it, and that is such a fantastic thing. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with the feedback, I still learn what is most important to me about my work, and that’s really exciting! So now, I actually welcome feedback and I love learning about how people respond to a written piece. I find it absolutely fascinating!
What do you think were the benefits of having this programme here on your doorstep?
I can honestly say that if this programme was not here, I don’t think I would have ever pursued playwrighting. I didn’t have the confidence in myself to know where to start, or even know how to go about writing a play. Having this programme here has given me a team who encourage me, and also get to know about how I need to fit things around my work and personal life. I guess it makes the experience far more personal and meaningful when you actually get to connect with people who aren’t that far away.
I also think that having this programme based in D&G makes it more relevant to people like me and the resources that we have. I used to think that if you wanted to be successful in this industry, you had to live somewhere like London where there were more connections, and it was more ‘normal’ to have a career like this. I think because we don’t have something like the West End here, it almost normalises these things being far away; something we travel to rather than making it here.
Having this programme here opens the door to the ‘what if?’ scenario for me. What if I could actually become a writer? What if I sent my work to a company? What if I made my work happen here? It is so important for these questions to be close to you as they inspire you to keep going with an idea. It also provides you with a team of people who are there to help you along the way, and I cannot thank you all enough for helping me. You are all amazing!
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