One Year Later…
On the 25th of June 2024 I was sat in a bar in Avignon tucking into a very delicious glass of champagne, after abandoning potentially the worst margarita I’ve ever tasted. It was the last day of a really spectacular holiday around Europe and I was soaking in the last moments of sunshine before heading back to Oxford. I knew the day after I would be finding out whether or not I had been successful with my DYCP application and I certainly wasn’t expecting an email that night.
Back in April of 2024 I had applied for my DYCP very much on a whim and feeling cheeky about everything I was asking for…. ‘No way are they going to sign off on this… it’s too much’ is what I would say to everyone who asked what my proposed project would entail. And what I hope it would entail was this:
6 days of shadowing and reflection/general mentorship from Kate Golledge.
Reading and offering feedback on 17 plays from early career writers who had taken part in Mike Bartlett’s How to Write a Play course at the Old Fire Station.
Spend 10 days working with writer Simon Castle, offering him bespoke and responsive dramaturgy.
5 days of a script development R&D for Rattlesnake a new musical written by Harvey Badger
Whilst the project didn’t entirely look like this, I adapted and moulded the project to respond to the development that I felt I needed at the time.
Shadowing Kate was essential to the process it gave me space to sit back and watch and ask question and be curious, our zoom calls always left me feeling so powerful. I was able to shadow her across auditions, her work as the head of new writing with NYMT and readings of brand new musicals. Key to the relationship was just knowing that I had someone at the end of text who I could turn to at any moment (any there were many moments).
The 17 plays turned into 20 and the writers from How to Write a Play turned into a range of writers from seasoned professionals to students trying to stage their first piece. Each script was a lesson; for me, for the writers and for my process. This work felt invaluable and over the year I honed my approach, I’m still honing, but I think I’m much closer now than I was!
Working with Simon is where this all began. After sitting with him at breakfast one day, whilst we were taking part in the Catalyst residency run by the North Wall Arts Centre, I told him I was applying for a DYCP and what my project would entail, his eyes lit up and our partnership formed. Since then notes have been sent backwards and forwards over plays, radio plays and concepts (with a few glasses of wine for good measure). My partnership with Simon has continued since the grant ended and it continues to be utterly joyful.
And finally Rattlesnake, this was the week to end all weeks. What initially started as a script development week turned into a eight days where Harvey and I, and later Ryan whipped this script into shape. Thanks to the support of the Oxford Playhouse we were able to host a rehearsed reading for friends and colleagues with the aim of gathering feedback to take into the next draft. Rattlesnake felt like the perfect place to end the project and I left the whole experience feeling like 10x the dramaturg I had entered into it as.
I can’t really describe what the project meant to me but at the time it felt like a lifeline. It was money (which I sorely needed), it was connection (which I was crying out for) but most importantly it was validation; it was proof that someone in charge of handing out the grants saw mine and thought, ‘yeah, she sounds worth it’ which is something I am still trying to remind myself of well over a year later.
DYCP is one of the most valuable things which has happened to me so far in my career, the confidence it has given me is second to none and I have found a real love and passion for dramaturgy and working with writers which I never quite knew I had. Now looking to the future, it’s kinda tipped my career on its axis which is both thrilling and terrifying… but I can’t wait to see what the next part has to offer.
