Developing Writers - Suzanne Graham
Suzanne Graham
Literary Development Officer
Suzanne has worked as Assistant Director during the rehearsals of Gorgeous Avatar, and is following parts of the tour around Scotland to run playwriting workshops. In her own words...
I work with people who are completely new to playwriting. So that might be through schools, community groups, or just interested writers' groups dotted about the country.
Q: What have you been doing during this tour?
We've been getting to see the show in lots of different venues, and running workshops in a number of the venues we've been stopping at: Galashiels, Dumfries, Stornoway, Ullapool and Strathpeffer. And obviously working incredibly hard!
What sort of things do you cover in the workshops?
It varies according to the playwright. With this tour, the focus has been on the strategies used to write the play, which is really interesting because we get to see in more depth how the play was created. People also like to know how things get from page to stage, how things work, and how we make decisions about the set, the acting... so they're very practical workshops – lots of really useful information. But it also gives people a chance to have a go at playwriting. The idea is that it's open to anyone who wants to dip their toe in and have a go.
So that's your work with adults. What about young playwrights?
At the moment, that's in two areas. Firstly, there's the schools project, Class Act, which is quite a big chunk of my year. Normally we work with four high schools in Edinburgh and Lothians, but this year we're working with Fife, which is quite exciting. And that's a hefty undertaking – it involves playwrights in schools, then directors and actors, and a final performance to showcase the work that the children write. Then the other area at the moment is the young writers' group. It runs roughly at the same times as the university term, and it's more like a playwriting course. That's currently being led by Alan Wilkins, and he basically runs workshops, acts as a mentor, does one-to-one work with the writers, the idea being that they're working towards writing their first full-length play. Young writers in this country unfortunately are 15-26, so really very young. We hope that we can create a lasting bond with them and help to support them if they want to take it further and pursue playwriting professionally.
What's your involvement with writers abroad?
My colleague Katherine [Mendelsohn, literary manager] does a lot of the international work, specifically through a project like Playwrights in Partnership, which pairs up Scottish playwrights with international playwrights, working on translations. In my case, I've been involved in taking Class Act abroad. It's been running for 16 years here, but for the last two years we've been taking it to Russia, which is a very interesting experience. It runs in an entirely different way to how it does here: we basically have a week to do three months' work. It's really very intensive. The kids are doing it outwith school time, which is incredible, because it's a lot of time and energy. In so many ways, they're like young people here, and they write about similar kinds of stuff – the same things are on their minds. But it's interesting the different response it gets from theatres, because it's quite an alien idea, having to work with children in that way. But it works. It's fantastic, and the kids really enjoy it. I think it's a very positive experience for everyone involved.
What's ahead for you?
I'm looking at a very busy time ahead. Preparing for Class Act, again, obviously: getting schools in place and getting all the initial paperwork sorted. I then have quite a big undertaking for the autumn, which involves the Emerging Writers' Festival which the Traverse is running. That's going to involve a lot of reading, a lot of programming, and sifting through applications to take part in a writing residency. So that's going to cover a big chunk of my time from now until Christmas.
How did you get into your line of work?
My background is as an English teacher, but I've always had a very keen interest in drama, which I was involved in as a student. Having been a teacher has been a useful bonus. But it's not essential. I think anyone who's really interested in theatre, who's gathered up a bit of experience through things like youth theatre, is in a good position to do the job. You do need to be quite well organised, because there are a lot of balls to juggle. I don't think there's any really path into it. The interest and the desire to work in this area is what will help you most.
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