<Newsletter September 06>


	SCRIPT is the West Midlands agency for dramatic writers.

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

April 2005

May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005