This July, our city-centre Barnfield Theatre hosted two South West-based writers for a week-long residency. Read on to hear from the playwrights, Ali May and Hattie Collins, about their experiences on the residency.
Ali May
Writing has always been my life. For 20 years, it’s been the cornerstone of my career as a journalist, documentary maker and, most recently, a drama series writer.
However, I had never ventured into theatre. It felt like a sacred temple, with plays as the scriptures of literary life.
When I finally gathered the courage to apply for a residency at the Barnfield, I didn’t expect to be selected. But I was – and I had the privilege of being chosen alongside the talented playwright Hattie Collins.
We had complete creative freedom during our week-long residency, with occasional meetings with Northcott staff, who generously shared their expertise on everything from marketing to engaging with communities and youth audiences.
Photo by Lillie Sherry
Photo by Ralph Whitehead
Writing my first play, I found external inspiration to be the push I needed to experiment with new forms. A conversation with Sam Parker, who oversees artist development, on the first day gave me the license to expand my story beyond personal history and explore broader, more universal themes. Another chat with Hattie about the freedom of playwriting compared to other forms inspired me to incorporate an unusual visual element I hadn’t considered before.
The spirit of the theatre itself was inspiring. Mostly empty during the week, we had the run of the place and quickly found our own corners. Mine was the dressing room at the end of the building; an enchanting space known as Sonny’s dressing room, named in honour of the theatre’s technical manager who has used sheer initiative and love to bring the dressing room to life.
The generosity I experienced from everyone at the theatre propelled me forward. I arrived with an idea and left a week later with the first draft of a full-length play. More importantly, I left with a network of smart, caring people I can turn to for advice, inspiration, and mid-week coffee.
Written by Ali May
Hattie Collins
The Barnfield Writing Residency has given me the absolute luxury of time and space to start writing a new play, the idea of which had been in my mind for over a year now. As many people who write will recognise, it can be incredibly difficult to find the time, or even justify the time, to sit down and start writing the thing. And this week has allowed just that.
I started by doing lots of research into the themes at the heart of the play, as well as the location I had decided to set it. I also embarked on a character deep dive, attempting to get to know the central characters who were going to tell the story. Within this, I started marking out the major plot points in the story and thinking about how the characters would get to each moment. By the end of this process, I felt like I finally knew the people I was going to be writing about enough to begin.
From Wednesday onwards I set myself the challenge of writing the first draft, as loosely as possible. If this meant chunks would be missing for now, or that a particular line of dialogue didn’t quite sit right, so be it! I wanted to allow myself the freedom of getting the main moments of action down on the page. And I managed to achieve exactly that!
Photo by Jacob Blackburn
Photo by Ralph Whitehead
Another highlight of the week is that weaved in amongst this we had meetings with Kelly Johnson on marketing, Martin Berry on building relationships with a venue as a writer, and with Grace Plant and Jacob Blackburn on community engagement. These chats honed into the practicalities and realities of being a playwright in today’s world.
And throughout the residency, Sam Parker was there to offer any guidance or support that we needed – through this I have an abundance of published plays to read to inspire the next step in my writing.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to continue the journey, and this residency has given me a first draft of a new play that has room for development and growth. Plus, the hardest part – starting the thing – is now done!
Thank you Sam, and the whole Northcott team for facilitating this week.
Written by Hattie Collins
Are you a South-West writer interested in introducing yourself to our theatre? Our annual script submission window is open now until Sun 25 Aug.
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