17Percent newsletter features She Writes

The last 17Percent newsletter for the year features lots of information on She Writes. Read it here!

Submissions open now for 21 March - International theme

Submissions are open now for the next She Writes evening - a showcase for women writers held at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable, Kent.

- We are looking for 6 minute plays on an international theme, by women.
- Your play should have no more than 4 or 5 characters, less is better.
- 6 minutes maximum - or about 6 pages of script.

You can interpret 'international' as you wish. The broader the better. See earlier posts for examples of some of the plays we have selected.
Deadline: 14 January.
Send your play to 17percentevents@gmail.com in Word or PDF.

Get writing!

What you might have missed! She Writes on 7 December

The second She Writes on 7 December was well attended and we showcased a wide range of plays. We were once again treated to a meal with a variety of courses...

This is what our audience said:

"The actors were superb, all characters created were unique and suited to the plays. FAB!!!"
"...some fantastic plays and acting!"

"...a marvelous selection of work..."

STARTERS

'At the beginning' - Anna Farnworth, Amy Flight and Sue Blakesley

'At the beginning' by SM Jenkin, told a story with a sci-fi twist. Two aliens living on earth invite a damaged nurse around for tea. Little does the nurse expect that she's the main course... Watch it now!

Neil Sutcliffe and Sue Blakesley in 'Starter'

'Starter' by Julia Pascal told the story of an older tutor and her younger student. His grammer is all wrong though, so will they kiss? Watch it now!

MAINS

Anna Farnworth in 'And so to the main course'

'And so the the main course' by Clare Shaw tells a funny and dark story about a woman who takes revenge on an overpowering husband. Watch it now!

Sadie Hurley and Chris Green in 'Elephant'

 'Elephant' by Natalie Savage, tells the story of an elephant in the room, when two advertising execs finally face up to what happened at the staff Christmas party... (This piece contains strong language)  Watch it now!

Sam Pearson, Chyna Graham, Chris Green (front) and Neil Sutcliffe in 'Dinner'

'Dinner' by Alison Farina is an extract from a longer work, it tells the story of Adam's first wife, Lileth, and the disharmony caused in the Garden of Eden. Watch it now!

'The Mary and Joseph Phenomenon': Sadie Hurley, Amy Flight and Sue Blakesley 

'The Mary and Joseph Phenomenon' by tonight's director Sarah Davies, told the funny and touching story of what became of 'Mary' and 'Joseph' after the school Nativity play. Watch it now!

DESSERTS

Kate Ferrett, Chyna Graham and Sam Pearson in 'Cupcakes'

'Cupcakes' by L Gooding told the story of 3 female prisoners' imaginations, as they are transported to a happier place whilst eating their regulation custard. Watch it now!

Anna Farnworth and Sadie Hurley in 'A sweet to finish'

'A sweet to finish' by Valerie Cutko, told the story of two old scholfriends who meet up after a long time. Watch it now!

Amy Flight in 'Just desserts'

'Just Desserts' by Sue Blakesley told a dark story of a murderess who is about to get her own 'just desserts'... Watch it now!

The next She Writes evening is on 21 March 2012. As part of the International Women's Day and Month celebrations - we will have an international theme. Playwrights please send your submissions by 14 January. Six minutes long maximum, no more than 4 characters.

Line up announced for 7 December

We are pleased to announce that the plays selected for 7 December are:
Just desserts – Sue Blakesley
A sweet to finish – V Cutko
The Mary and Joseph Phenomena – Sarah Davies
Dinner – Alison Farina
Cupcakes – L Gooding
At the beginning – S Jenkin
Starter – Julia Pascal
Elephant – Natalie Savage
And so to the Main Course – C Shaw

You can see these plays on 7 December at the Horsebridge cafe, Whitstable. (Map)
The show starts at 7.30pm sharp and doors open 7pm.

There will also be a quiz with some literary prizes!

And an open mic slot on the theme of coffee and cheese for any itinerant poets! (3 poems max/5 minutes)

* We received a wide range of plays and we were impressed by the high standard. If your play was not selected for this event, don't be put off sending work for future showcases. The next show will be in March and the theme is International so put your thinking caps on!

What they said about October's She Writes...

We are getting excited about December's She Writes!

We have asked our Quiz Master to come up with some festive questions and we are choosing prizes!

Here are some comments from the audience at October's night.

'I loved some of the plays - great fun and some real talent both on stage and behind the scenes.'

'The quality of the performances was extremely high.'

'What a lot of hard work getting it all together. The actors I thought were brilliant. Congrats to them and the director.'

But don't just take my word for it...Why not come along in December and see for yourself!?

Next showcase is 7 December...

and we will be accepting submissions on the theme of a meal until 11 November.

Your play should be no longer than 6 minutes please with a maximum of 4 roles. Let us know if you think it fits into Starter / Main or Dessert category. Email us your plays in Word or PDF.

Look forwards to reading them!

The showcase is at the Cafe in The Horsebridge Centre, Whitstable.
Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7.30pm prompt. As it's nearly Christmas we might have some festive shenanigans for you too!

Poets - we are also doing an open mic on the theme of coffee and/or cheese. You have a 5 minute max slot for up to 3 poems. Thanks!

She Writes – 12 October 2011

12 October was the first night of 17Percent’s new showcase of plays by female playwrights. One question we received before the night was – why do you need a showcase of plays by women, why not men as well?

Currently only 17 % of the plays which get onto UK stages are written by women. This means that for 83 % of the time, plays by men are already having their own showcase. There has been much research about the gender discrimination faced by female playwrights in the theatre (some of it discussed by 17Percent). Women are simply less likely to have their work performed, especially if they don’t have a track record. So how is a (maybe new) female playwright ever to get her work on?

She Writes is a place where this can happen. Writers with little or no experience are as likely to be chosen for the showcase as those with more experience. We are simply looking for writers whose words sing to us.  

The theme for 12 October – the first night – was a meal. We gorged on two Starters, four Mains and two Desserts.

And why was this theme chosen? One of the reasons often given by the people who commission work (on TV as well as in the theatre) as to why they won’t commission a female writer is that ‘women only write about the domestic’ – as if that is somehow wrong, and that the domestic can’t be funny, touching or entertaining. So the theme for the first two She Writes nights is a meal, you can’t get more domestic than a meal.

We hope that the range of styles and stories shown last night prove that women should be allowed to write about the domestic, and that they can write about it in funny, touching, dark, unexpected and lyrical ways.

Starters:

Amy Flight in 'Starter'

‘Starter’ by Tracy Harris told the story of 46 year old Peggy’s train journey to something new. The play was acted by Amy Flight in a kind of multiple personality conversation with herself where Amy played all the characters in this monologue. Peggy gets on a train to a conference, encounters various characters, then meets Gerald, who she bunks off the conference with to her possible new future.

Sadie Hurley in 'The Magic Ingredient'

‘The Magic Ingredient’ by Sam Hall was about a former teenage mum whose children have flown the nest. Set at the end of the 1980s, the play wove in larger historical events to focus in on the ‘unbearable lightness of being’ felt by Edie. Sadie Hurley bought a kind of lyrical wistfulness to Edie, as she mixed ingredients and plotted her future.

Mains:

Amy Flight, Joshua Devine, Sue Blakesley in 'Enjoy'

‘Enjoy’ by Maggie Drury was a very funny piece turning the idea of restaurant snobbery on its head. Two women in a restaurant discuss the menu. It is only when the waiter appears with a frying pan, do we learn that in this restaurant it’s all about the celebrity chefs’ ranges of cookwares, and that you bring your own dinner – in this case sausages, beans and egg!

Chyna Graham, Kate Ferrett, Samantha Pearson, Sadie Hurley in 'Harriet is Hungry'

‘Harriet is Hungry’ by Claire Booker was one of the darker pieces of the evening, also one of the more non-naturalistic plays. Tam, Sam and Pam are young mothers, playing with their children. Harriet is an older woman who has been unable to have children. She is portrayed as a monster, preying on other peoples’ babies - reflecting the way that childless women can be portrayed in the media and drama. This powerful piece was both lyrical and sinister with Harriet played by Sadie Hurley, in a complete contrast to her role in ‘The Magic Ingredient’ as the benign and wistful mother, Edie.  

Joshua Devine and Sue Blakesley in 'At the restaurant'

‘At the Restaurant’ by CS Flint took us back to a restaurant, this time with an ancient mother and her elderly son at a meal. Another light and funny piece, the story revolved around two revelations; who was the son’s real father, and who was his new partner? Sue Blakesley played the 100 year old mum, who reveals her affair with a dictator much to the shock of her son, played by Joshua Devine, who then promptly reveals that he is gay, much to the shock of his mum.

Sadie Hurley, Kate Ferrett, Samantha Pearson, in 'Chef's Special'

‘Chef’s Special’ by Lynne Taylor once more changed the tone to something darker. Set in a near future when oil has become the most precious of commodities, a women takes her mother-in-law to a restaurant where it turns out she’s going to be the main course.    

Desserts:

Amy Flight, eaten by 'The Fridge'

‘The Fridge’ by Lucy Lucy was another non-naturalistic play, about a woman cleaning out a fridge. But there are things alive in the fridge... Another strong turn from Amy Flight as the Fridge’s hapless victim.

Amy Flight, Kate Ferrett, Joshua Devine in 'Bitter Chocolate'

‘Bitter Chocolate’ by Sarah Davies finished off the meal with a lot of laughter. Focussing on a date between a mismatched couple who have met on Match.com, Raymond’s over-protective mother has stalked him to the restaurant, where he meets Wendy. A woman very unsuited to his tastes, Wendy wants scampi in a basket, Raymond wants her to admire his bow-tie. He is left at the end going home with mother. Very funny.  

We also had an open mic slot for poets – on the theme of coffee and cheese, to keep the meal going – and heard work from two very different poets. Ros Palmer gave us her hilarious cautionary tale about the love of cheese, and Sarah Jenkin read us three lyrical and moving short poems.

Our next showcase night is on 7 December, the deadline to submit plays for this is 11 November. Poets wishing to come to the open mic should bring up to 3 poems (5 mins in total) on the theme of Cheese and/or Coffee!

Our first night is this Wednesday!

The first She Writes night will be this Wednesday at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable.

We have a final line up of 8 short plays. Doors open at 7.15pm, and the plays start at 7.30pm.

Hope to see you there!

Plays selected for 12 October

We had a terrific response to our callout for plays on the topic of a meal, and have now selected the first batch for the show on 12 October.

If you haven't been selected, don't be downhearted, we are hoping this will become a more regular evening so you will have further opportunities to submit work to us. If you haven't been selected we would love you to submit more work to us, everything was of a very high standard, and we would love to see your development.

The plays selected for our first evening are:

Starter - by Tracy Harris
Enjoy - by Maggie Drury

Chef's special - by Lynne Taylor

Harriet is hungry - by Claire Booker

The Fridge - by Lucy Lucy

There will be a few more plays to be confirmed depending on timing and casting, (playwrights have been advised of this.)

Hope to see you there!

How to format a stage play

Why you should format your stage play and how-to...
OK, so you’ll have seen that there are 100s of slightly different ways you can lay out your script. Or, maybe you haven’t bothered to lay it out at all. Or check spelling and punctuation...

When your script gets to the theatre or the competition, it won’t go directly into the hands of a director or the judging panel. It will go into a pile that the literary manager or a team of readers will read. These readers will then filter out the ones they don’t like, so your script may never get past the first reader.

Readers are normally volunteers, reading 20 or more plays a week, probably on the train/tube/bus on the way home. They will write a script report of a couple of paragraphs upwards, and recommend whether the script should be looked at by the literary manager.

I read for a London fringe theatre for 6 months – and in all that time, I did not recommend one unsolicited script. What I constantly did do was make notes about bad spelling and layout.
 The only way your script is getting to the literary manager and then the director and then maybe into development or production, is if the reader recommends it.

Make the reader happy...

You need to make the reader happy, by giving them an easy read.

1) So, the reader probably has at least 20 scripts to read. The first thing they will do is flick thorough the scripts they have and any that are in an odd format – will be read last (maybe when the reader is really tired, and in a bit of a mood.) This will disadvantage your script. 

2) So, the reader probably wants to see that you are theatre-literate. You will look theatre-literate and professional if you format your script the way most scripts are formatted. You will also look like you’ve read a lot of scripts, maybe written a lot of scripts and probably been to the theatre a lot. (Maybe you haven’t – but you want the reader to think that.)

3) So, if your script looks like a mess, and there are typos, characters’ name spelled differently, lack of punctuation, then you can assume that the person reading it will give it short shrift. The reader is not getting paid to be your editor. In fact the reader is probably not getting paid at all. If your script is brilliant, don’t hide it under a load of typos and bad punctuation. 

4) Your script should be as long as the theatre/competition has asked for. When formatted correctly one page of script equates to roughly one to one and a half minutes of acting time (depending on how dialogue heavy) – this means that the reader can quickly assess whether your play will fit into the allotted timeslot. If it doesn’t the reader/theatre won’t cut it for you.

5) Of course there are exceptions. One story I was told by a literary manager, was about a first time playwright who delivered a script that was 300 pages long in a box. That box went under the desk of a reader, who took it home, forgot about it, when they left the theatre, they gave the box back unread. The new literary manager read it, thought it was an amazing idea and bought the writer in for a chat, and got the writer to rewrite the play to an hour and a half.

But do you want to chance your luck? This is a rare scenario.  Have you won the lottery recently?

Different standards

Each theatre has their own different standard, every course has their own different standard. You can find advice online on many sites. I personally don’t like the script format that the BBC Writersroom suggests, (as it makes the stage directions take up too much room), also writing formatting programmes such as CELTX or Final Draft seem to be a lot of hassle for little time saved, and seem to be highly tailored towards movie scripts.

Check whether the theatre or competition you are sending your play to has a suggested formatting. I format my scripts the way I was advised by a playwright who had worked with the Royal Court, but her way is different than others I have come across.  You can download an example here. This is just the way I do them, but it’s fairly standard.

Basic summary

Format:
Whatever formatting advice you follow:,you should keep it to fontsize 12pt, I prefer Times, (not Arial or Courier, but it’s up to you.)

And include a title page with your name and contact details (unless otherwise specified).

And on each page - a header with title of play and your name (unless the competition wants it to be anonymous) and put page numbers at the bottom.

The stage directions should be in italics (some writers do them in brackets too,) and are sometimes tabbed in a bit and sometimes run across. Whichever you choose, you should be consistent.

Spelling:
Check spelling and sense.

Double check spelling and sense. Make sure characters don’t change names halfway through.

Get someone else to read it – not to comment – just to underline any bits that don’t make sense that you might have missed.

Be professional. Write to the correct length. If a competition asks for a play of no more than 5 minutes, then don’t send a play with the subtitle ‘a 10-minute play’. Chances are, it won’t even be read.

Right then, what you waiting for!?

She Writes submissions update

We have had a fantastic response to our callout for new short plays by women for our new night in Whitstable, and will be picking the first batch this weekend, so will get back to those of you who have sent plays early next week.

There are still a couple of days to send us your play, but if you can’t get it done in time, don’t worry, we have a night also booked in for December.

Looking forwards to reading your plays!

She Writes flier October/December 2011

Poets - your chance to show us what you've got

As part of the new She Writes night, we will be holding a short open mic slot for local poets. There may be a prize of some sort determined by an audience vote - we'll see how it goes. It may be food related!

Poets don't need to contact us in advance, just come along with a maximum of 3 poems, on the topic of 'Coffee and/or Cheese'. When you get to the venue, we will ask you for your name so we can schedule you in. You also will get a pound off entry if you are performing in the open mic.

Looking forward to finishing our meal with you!

Seeking new short plays by women for our nights

17Percent is an organisation to support and promote female playwrights.

We are starting a new showcase night for female playwrights which will be held on a 2-monthly basis at the Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre in Whitstable.

We will be looking for micro-plays written by female playwrights - complete plays of up to 6 minutes with a maximum of 4 actors required - on a rolling schedule. The plays will receive a rehearsed reading with some blocking, and will be filmed for the 17Percent Youtube channel.

The first two evenings  to be held this year will be themed around a menu and we are looking for plays that fit into one of the categories of 'Starter', 'Main' or 'Dessert'.

We are also interested in plays that have roles for older actresses as they are also under-represented in the theatre.

Please email your submission to 17percentevents@gmail.com, in Word or Adobe PDF format, stating where in the menu your meal fits!

We cannot currently offer a fee, but you will receive a free ticket to the show, if you can attend.

The deadlines are below:
12 October: please send us your play by 16 September
7 December: please send us your play by 11 November

Introducing 'She Writes': a showcase of plays by women

17percent are pleased to announce the launch of our new 'She Writes' night of live new writing.

She Writes is a showcase night of short plays by women including a poetry open mic slot (open to male and female poets), launching at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable, Kent on 12 October, and returning on 7 December.

Only 17 percent of performed UK plays are currently written by women and we aim to improve on that by presenting a regular night of short plays written exclusively by women.

The first two nights in the series are themed around a meal. Up to 10 short new plays will be showcased in a rehearsed reading, and we are looking for submissions featuring no more than 4 actors of up to 6 minutes long. The plays should fit into one of the categories of 'Starter', 'Main', or 'Dessert'.

We are also looking for local poets to round off our literary meal, in an open mic slot with up to 3 poems on the theme of 'Coffee and Cheese'.

Come and join us for a convivial evening where our domestic goddesses bite back!

Tickets: £5 / 4 concs (and open mic performers) available on the door
Time: Doors 7.15pm, show starts 7.30pm. Finish time: 9.30pm
Where: Chives cafe, Horsebridge Centre, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 1AF.
When: 12 October + 7 December 2011

17Percent is an organisation to support and promote UK based female playwrights.
To find out more about 17Percent - please visit http://17percent.wordpress.com

We are grateful to the Horsebridge Centre for supporting this new writing initiative.