I set up WriteForTheStage Productions in 2014 as a way of helping to get some of the work developed through the WFTS courses out into the real world. Since then we've produced or co-produced four productions and, along the way, helped established two new theatre companies who are now going off into the world without us and making their own work. Exactly what we want.
We started off with Richard Douglas's debut piece, Barbara The Zoo Keeper and subsequently published the script through WriteForTheStage Books. It was a great fun piece and a very successful and popular debut from the pen of Richard Douglas (under the name, RP Douglas). And I'm really impressed to reveal that he was then shortlisted for BBC WritersRoom 10 for the piece he's about to produce, Marina and the Clone. More about that in a bit.
Then we produced Naomi Sumner's debut, Pass, at 24:7 Theatre Festival (2014). The script was developed through WFTS Advanced and went on to be nominated for the Equity Vicky Allen Award. Next came Naomi's follow-up production, One Flesh - this was a piece that she wrote independently of the course and came to us for production support. So, with support from Arts Council England and a list of impressive production partners, we brought the production to 4 venues in Manchester and Liverpool over the space of a week in February 2016 and we went on to publish the script.
And the fourth piece was Runaway by Richard Stringer. The piece was developed through WFTS Intro, Advanced and Developing. He put a LOT of work into that script. And he joined WFTS Producing last year, got Arts Council England support and established his new theatre company, Great Expectations Theatre, with support from WFTS Productions. The piece debuted to great critical acclaim at this year's Greater Manchester Fringe Festival. The next plans are to publish the script and Richard is currently working to develop new work to bring to a theatre near you very soon.
WriteForTheStage introduced the Producing course last year as a way of helping the work developed through the stage-writing courses find a life after the course, and I'm happy to say that, of the 3 participants of the course last year, 2 of them received Arts Council England funding and the third is planning a tour of a new piece of work to help establish their new production company.
And so, Marina and the Clone, written by RP Douglas, developed through WFTS Advanced and Producing, is coming to life in 2017, establishing Richard's new theatre company, Agrippa Productions. Richard is the producer, with financial support from Arts Council England, so he's moving a step closer to his dream job of full-time producer. Agrippa are certainly a company to look out for - check out their website.
When I set up WriteForTheStage, it was my dream that we would support the writing, production and publication of new theatre work that might otherwise lay dormant. And I'm happy to say that things seem to be ticking along nicely.
We have big plans for 2017, including a national WriteForTheStage Prize for New Writing. Watch this space.
