When you are in the throes of writing (or even just thinking of writing) a play you can find yourself staring off into space, instead of paying attention to the friend who’s going through A Very Painful Breakup and needs you NOW. Or, you might appear to listen sympathetically until she turns away to cry into her hanky and then you might quickly write it all into your trusty notebook because you’ve realized it’s exactly what you want your character to say in the opening scene of your spanking new play, Heartbreak And Handlebars (a working title). Writing a play will probably demand copious rewriting and possibly favours from actor and director friends to try things out. It will definitely demand determination, a thick skin to deal with criticisms that may appear stinging at times (“Heartbreak and Handlebars? Dumbest title I ever heard!” ) and most of all, persistence. But, as Debra Oswald (The Peach Season, Mr Bailey’s Minder, Dags) suggests, the reward can be well worth the effort. “When I huddle in a theatre, watching an audience respond to something I made up at my desk, feeling the story connect…well, it’s intoxicating. Very few things in life can beat that.” (Debra Oswald) |