Recently at atyp, leading theatremakers gathered for the first of the 2012 Fresh Ink forums, to talk about how writing for young audiences differs from writing for adults and what considerations and approaches should be borne in mind. Jennifer Medway went along to pick up some tips….

Moderated by Fraser Corfield, Artistic Director of atyp, the panelists for THE WONDER YEARS are leading writers and practitioners, and, coincidentally, as Fraser noted in his introduction, four of the nicest people he’s ever met :

Finegan Kruckemeyer, a prolific playwright with work being performed around the world; Tim McGarry, co-founder of Monkey Baa Theatre Company; Debra Oswald, writer for stage, television and children’s fiction and Jo Turner, writer, director and actor who has adapted and created several works for children.
Here’s what they said is good to do, and not good to do.

DO: Forget that you’re writing for young people

Finegan Kruckemeyer said: what works well is to look at the story you have and see what it tells you. Don’t start censoring yourself because you feel like the younger audiences won’t be able to handle it. The question is not what a child can handle but what we can handle passing on to them.

DON’T necessarily make this mean that you choose to pitch that play you’ve always wanted to write about the meaninglessness of existence as ‘a Christmas pantomime for 5 to 10 year olds’.

Debra Oswald was also a great advocate that children can handle darker themes, as were all the panelists, citing her play Stories From The Dark, set in Sarajevo during the civil war and pitched to 12 year olds, despite the death of a 12 year old in the narrative. She explained that she doesn’t want to leave people in despair and that if she is going to take children to a dark place in theme, she wants to show how you can survive this.

Finegan elaborated: ‘Just because you want to bring some lightness to the darkness does not mean a sacrifice for your audience, this is still just as truthful and can be motivated by your interests as well.’ DO: Ask yourself who you are writing for and why you are writing this story

When looking at what is appropriate for younger audiences, Jo Turner suggested looking at the reason you are writing and who you are writing for. Do you want to present a truthful presentation of teenagers? If so, then this may require your characters to swear and be confronted with some heavy themes. And while this may seem too much, if you aim to speak truth to their experience, this is likely to resonate strongly with them.

Tim McGarry added that just because an adult may read innuendo into a scene or narrative or be offended by a reference, if your play is speaking to a younger audience, a child will not necessarily interpret something in the same way an adult will. When Monkey Baa approaches a story, Tim said, they attack broad themes that are quite dark at times but are cautious about the language they use so that these stories and themes are digestible for children.

DON’T write about an idea that doesn’t resonate with you

Jo and Debra agreed that the only reason to do a work is that it is an idea that you are passionate about. Jo advised that it’s important to hold onto your feeling of what you want the play to be about and try not to go off track.

Tim talked about the process within Monkey Baa when choosing a project for their company, wherein they adapt children’s fiction into theatre shows. All three of the company’s co-founders have to agree on what piece they choose and it’s often stories that really move them and characters they fall in love with that they select. They also think in terms of the physical action when writing their work, as well as the psychological. Theatre is ‘a living, moving feast’, Tim said.

When an audience member queried the panel on whether they have ever had to sacrifice their writing for the younger audience, Jo responded that if you are writing something that you are really compelled to write, you can’t do wrong for the people for who you are writing.
DO think wisely about what feedback to take on board and what to discard

If you’re writing for a young audience, should you consult with young people in your process? Well, it depends, was the general consensus….

Finegan has a twelve year old who he will show his work to and get feedback and also holds evenings where he will read his work for invited friends to see their response. Tim said at Monkey Baa they always consult with dramaturgs and work closely to get their advice. However, they have in the past consulted teenagers in their process, which was an interesting but did involve some very blunt feedback. As Debra added, teenagers will really tell you what they think about a play.

Jo has found young people useful as, for instance, a twelve year old actor will have twelve year old ideas and speech patterns that may enhance a character beyond what Jo had initially envisaged. He’s also consulted heavily with young people in community-based projects.

Finegan added that he is careful of not ‘othering’ young people. Excepting community projects where consultation with young people is often integral, he acknowledges that he has been all these ages himself and he does not see young people as a different species.

For Finegan, there is feedback that can be useful in a process from all the different skills of a creative team: composers are able to intuit the emotional score of the piece, the designer can help you dissect the world of the play, a director will have an excellent sense of where the piece needs to go and actors will be able to get into the minds and really interrogate their characters. As well as all this though, Jo importantly stressed that it is really important to receive feedback but also to be able to ‘evaluate their evaluations’.

And finally…

DON’T stop writing!

The panelists agreed that ‘There is no secret but to write and keep writing’ (Jo Turner)… along with being passionate, investigating your characters and telling the story that evolves and that you are striving to write.

And Debra concluded: ‘The Muses will come to you sometime, you can’t guarantee it but they do respect hard work’

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THE WONDER YEARS was the first of the 2012 Fresh Ink forums, exploring writing for the stage. To stay informed about the program, follow us on Facebook. Listen to the full podcast of the forum, below. 

If this has whetted your appetite, then do think about applying for the 2013 atyp Foundation commission, the call for submissions for which will be open shortly.  The 2012 atyp commission winner, COMPASS by Jessica Bellamy, opens as part of the atyp main season in October 2013.