I’m so grateful to Mike Heath and WriteForTheStage. I’d never written a stage play before I signed up for the Advanced course back in November 2013. I was coming to the end of my masters degree in scriptwriting, and through the course of that three years the same advice was being given by industry professionals ‘put your own work on’.
So I joined the Advanced course which is where the idea for ‘Bleeding with Mother’ came from. Thanks to the way Mike structures his lessons, and gives students ample time for working on characters and story I’d gone from title to a first draft in the ten weeks of the course.
The first draft was then included in the Studio Salford Development Week in February 2014. It was the chance to hear the play performed by professional actors from start to finish, and Mike organised everything. All I had to do was turn up on the evening and observe. One of the superb aspects of Development Week is the anonymous audience feedback afterwards. As a writer I found this incredibly useful when going back to the script and editing. From the feedback received I ended up getting rid of one character and introducing two new ones who I feel really lift the piece.
One year later and Mike gave me a slot at the February 2015 Development Week where I put another draft of ‘Bleeding with Mother’ in front of an audience, and audience feedback complimented the new characters which reassured me that I had made the correct choice.
In November 2015 I joined the WriteForTheStage ‘Producing’ class which meet on a monthly basis and the focus is on taking a piece and getting it produced. It is well structured with the aim of having completed an arts council funding application by the end of it. Mike structures each session for each stage of a production process so covers important topics such as venues, auditions, marketing/PR, tech, budgeting and producing – the whole process.
My play Bleeding with Mother was produced in May 2016 so I was able to put into practice the skills and knowledge that I learnt during the ‘Producing' Course. Shortly after the production run, the script was printed in book form via the Write for the Stage publishing company.
If anyone reading this has ever wanted to become a playwright I would urge you to begin your journey with Mike Heath and WriteForTheStage. There is a wealth of experience to call upon, and you will be guided through the process in a friendly, relaxed and supportive environment. I never thought that I would ever be brave enough to put my work out there, let alone become a published playwright and I owe it all to WriteFor the Stage.
Sarah Cassidy
July 2016
