Development Week
Testing New Work in Front Of Audiences
Development Week is all about participation.
We believe that an audience is an active participant in the theatrical relationship. An audience engages in the action of the play - they should be intrigued and curious; drawn into the world of the play, engulfed by the character's actions and reactions.
And that starts on the page.
We started Development Week as a way to share the work of the WriteForTheStage courses - presenting work in front of invited audiences to get a feel for how people understand the work, whether they liked it, whether they would come and see a full production. We found that we had willing audiences; people who wanted to get involved in the creative process. So we decided to open up that opportunity to other writers in the region and beyond; giving them access to audiences so that they could test out their work.
In the past, we've hosted work that has gone into full production with support from regional theatres, Arts Council, and funding bodies who support new work. Work that's previously featured at Development Week gets shown around the country. And many writers continue to use Development Week to try out new drafts after previous readings. We've set local playwrights challenges to write something, especially for Development Week.
Development Week is where new things happen.
In fact, we've just decided that that's our new slogan.
Development Week: where new things happen.
Get Involved
Studio Salford Development Week 14 is coming soon.
Do you have a piece of new writing that you'd like to try out in front of an audience?
We open up our stage for the participants of our playwriting courses, but we also welcome work from local and national artists hoping to try out their work.
If you want to get involved, it's simple.
These are the guidelines:
1. Tell us you want to put on a reading/performance of your script. We recommend a "table read" as opposed to an up-on-its-feet script-in-hand performance, but it's entirely up to you.
2. Technical requirements (lights/sound etc.) MUST be a bare minimum to zero. The event takes place in the small Studio at The Kings Arms Theatre and there are back-to-back events all week. If you need complicated tech for your piece, you need to provide a technician who knows your piece. Get-in/get-out will be very short.
3. You'll need to cast it, direct it, and produce it. If you don't have people to help, let us know and we might be able to hook you up with people.
4. Plug your performance like mad. Use social media and make sure you get an audience. No audience, no feedback.
5. Don't pull out once it's advertised.
Once you've let us know that you want to be involved, we'll allocate the slot, and then the rest is up to you. We provide the feedback forms and arrange the co-ordination of the week.
Most events are free to attend. We don't sell tickets, but we do set up an online box office so that people can reserve seats to give us an idea of how many people are turning up.
In the past, we've had rehearsed readings, open rehearsals (the audience invited to watch a rehearsal of a piece in progress), script-in-hand performances, performance poets, murder mysteries, improvisations - basically, you name it, we're open to it. We can also show films.
We can help: we've got a great network of actors, producers, and directors. Let us know and we'll hook you up if you can.
Email us to ask questions or apply for a slot at Development Week 14.
To learn more about the courses we offer, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
