Book and Showcase of Best Student Work From “The Student Guide To Writing: Playwriting” Competition Announced

The Bush Theatre, MA Dramatic Writing at Drama Centre London at Central Saint Martins, Writers at Work Productions and Oberon Books have announced the book launch and showcase of the winning student and emerging writers' work from "The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting" competition.

The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting competition ran last year in a partnership between the afore-mentioned organisations to provide access to the leading playwriting training coming out the industry for the first time.

Lesson plans were written by those leading the way in playwriting industry training including lesson plans on Getting Started by Rob Drummer, at the time Dramaturg at the Bush Theatre and now Artistic Director of Boundless Theatre, Ideas by Ola Animashawun, founder of The Royal Court Theatre's young writers programme, Structure by John Yorke, founder of the BBC Writers Academy, Dialogue by Fin Kennedy, founder of Schoolwrights and Artistic Director of Tamasha theatre company, Staging Your Work by writer, actress and producer Caroline Horton, and Final Advice on the business side of being a writer by Lucy Kerbel, founder of Tonic Theatre.

Most of the lesson plan writers had never published their methods before, making this the first project in the UK to offer access to the leading training coming out of the industry and to improve playwriting training for teachers, students and writers in this way.

Lesson plans, which will be published in The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting book, can be used by teachers to teach playwriting classes or by students or writers to follow on their own.

5 student winners were also selected as a result of the competition to have their work showcased as some of the best student and emerging writers in the UK.

The students' work will also be published in The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting book as a permanent legacy from the competition.

The book launch and showcase of winning work will take place at the Bush Theatre on May 9th at 2pm.

Jennifer Tuckett, Director of The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting competition and Course Leader of the MA Dramatic Writing at Drama Centre London at Central Saint Martins said: "We hope the book launch and showcase of the winning work from The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting competition will be a final opportunity for students and aspiring writers to hear advice from the Bush Theatre, Oberon Books and other contributors to the competition, and for us to celebrate the book which will provide a permanent legacy to the project and will publish the lesson plans so teachers, students and writers can continue to use them, as well as for us to showcase the winners work, who are some of the best student and emerging writers in the UK today. If writing is about reflecting on who we were, who we are and who we can be, it's important to make playwriting accessible. For too long, it's been difficult to know what is being taught in the industry as industry writing training programmes have tended not publish their work. We are delighted to be providing access for the first time to this training with the Bush Theatre and Oberon Books - the lesson plans cover the craft side of how to write a play and the business side of how to be a playwright, hopefully making it clear and accessible for anyone to feel that they can be playwright. Teachers can also use the lesson plans to teach playwriting and help their students build up a play. With so many university courses emerging in recent years, it is also an important opportunity to find 5 of the best student and emerging writers and showcase their work as part of the competition as well - at the moment the transition from studying to working as a writer can be particularly hard. Via these two activities (the lesson plans and the showcase) we hope we can help improve the experience of student writers in the UK and help make the writing industry more accessible and understandable."

Stewart Pringle, Associate Dramaturg at the Bush Theatre, said:

'We're delighted to be hosting the launch this May, and to have an opportunity to see the new work from The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting. We hope the event, but most of all the book itself, will be a fantastic inspiration for new writers for years to come.'

George Spender, Senior Editor at Oberon Books said: "All of us at Oberon are thrilled to be a part of this extremely exciting project that will no doubt have a tremendous influence on the next generation of writers and theatre makers.'

The book and competition is part of a new campaign to increase access and diversity in the writing industry being run by the MA Dramatic Writing at Drama Centre London at Central Saint Martins, which also includes London Writers' Week, University Women in the Arts, and a petition to reinstate the A Level in Creative Writing. The campaign is inspired by issues such as the closure of the A Level in Creative Writing, EBACC not including creative subjects, PGCE training spending less time on specialist subjects such as the arts, and the gap between education and the skills needed in the creative industries, which is currently being investigated by the House of Lords, all of which are decreasing access and diversity in the writing industry.

Free tickets to the launch and showcase can be booked at: https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/the-student-guide-to-writing-playwriting-book-launch-and-play-reading/.

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