Written by: Tom Woods (@Thomas_E_Woods)Bush Theatre, London
Wednesday the 7th of November marked the start of
the Bush Theatre’s RADAR 2012
platforms. Kicking off with ‘one idea that could change our theatrical
landscape’ they run until the 22nd of November, and include sneak
peaks of some fantastic new writing. If you haven’t already, I cannot urge you
strongly enough to get a ticket and attend.
The opening night started with an address from the Bush
Theatre’s Artistic Director Madani Younis. Both charming and funny at the same
time, he welcomed us to RADAR 2012,
and informed us of the exciting new direction the Bush is heading in with brand
new writing. At current the Bush reads through over 2000 new scripts per year,
shortlisting and shortlisting further in a process that is slow and detached
from the playwrights. The conversion
rate of these to produced plays is less than 0.1% and not only that, but staff
at the Bush theatre feel that they want to demonstrate a greater commitment to producing
the work of unrepresented playwrights. As such the policy is changing so that,
rather than accepting submissions throughout the year, the Bush will have submission
periods open for a limited period of 3 months. There will be a lot more
engagement with the playwrights, as they will be invited in to the Bush to
develop their work, and through this process, the Bush aims to put on at least
one play by an unsought playwright per year from 2014. The full guidelines will
be out in January, but this feels like a very exciting direction that will
offer far more support to up and coming playwrights.
Following Madani’s announcement the platform begins. The brief: one idea that could change our theatrical landscape. First up, Dan Rebellato, playwright and academic at Royal Holloway University of London. His idea is “stop lying” simply put; he feels that in the theatre world we lie to playwrights and ourselves, leading to cautionary tales of mistrust. He argues that we need to stop pretending that a ‘writer’s theatre’ is either achievable or desirable, and that it is often impossible to put on a play as a playwright intends.
Following Madani’s announcement the platform begins. The brief: one idea that could change our theatrical landscape. First up, Dan Rebellato, playwright and academic at Royal Holloway University of London. His idea is “stop lying” simply put; he feels that in the theatre world we lie to playwrights and ourselves, leading to cautionary tales of mistrust. He argues that we need to stop pretending that a ‘writer’s theatre’ is either achievable or desirable, and that it is often impossible to put on a play as a playwright intends.
Second up is Chris Goode, writer and theatre maker. His idea
is that we “need to stop making things”. It is a very impassioned speech that came
across as a love letter to theatre and creativity. He argues that we go to the
theatre because we want more meaningful relationships with people, and that
theatre is merely a construct that we use in order to facilitate this.
Everything to do with it, from marketing, ticketing and the rest is all there
because we want relationships with people, including people we don’t know yet,
but feel unable to do this without a ‘thing’ as an excuse. He went on to speak
of his dream to create 24-hour theatre, with audiences coming and going as they
please and striving to give an audience more.
Artistic Director of Graeae, and the Paralympic opening
ceremony, Jenny Sealey, came next. Opening with “some things that have been
said to me” and consisting primarily of quotes from various industry
professionals for the next ten minuets, she shone a light on the horrific
nature of working in the theatre with a disability. Her discussion ranged from “if
you are working in normal theatre do you still need to audition disabled
actors?” to “my audience would be offended if they saw someone like you on the
stage”; these statements aren’t particularly old either, with some of them
coming from as soon as a year ago, or even more recent. London 2012 championed
inclusivity more than ever this year, and the Paralympics in particular have
proven year after year that disability doesn’t bar anyone from achieving their
potential. Why then is the theatre industry so backwards? Jenny raised very
interesting and important points, and hopefully more people will take note.
Overall, the opening night showed a promising start to what should be a very interesting and fascinating few weeks of events at the Bush Theatre.
Overall, the opening night showed a promising start to what should be a very interesting and fascinating few weeks of events at the Bush Theatre.
RADAR 2012 runs until 22 November 2012.
For more information: http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/production/radar_2012/
@BushTheatre #RADAR2012
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