Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Chasing that stage magic
Let’s say you write a play. What next? Do you file it along with the rest of your collection, which has spent the last ten years in a cupboard? Do you read it aloud to a couple of friends? Or do you actually get past the filing?

“Most people don’t write plays because putting a play down on paper is not the end of it. Nobody knows how to go about getting it on stage, so they don’t bother writing them,” says actor, writer and director, Delon Weerasinghe. Hoping to change this attitude Delon is organising a ‘workshop in playwriting’ where first time playwrights will be taken through the entire process, from putting a script down on paper to producing it.

Delon’s idea is based on a personal experience he had in London where he participated in The Royal Court Theatre residency for international playwrights in 2001. “We spent an entire month in the theatre,” says Delon explaining that each writer had to work with two ‘script buddies,’ one of who was a director, and at the end of the month they had a performance. Trying out their scripts with professional actors was very helpful. “It’s that process I’m trying to replicate here,” says Delon who will be conducting most of the sessions.

Rules of engagement
Twenty participants will be selected for the workshop, and will be judged on an idea for a short play of about 500 words, which should give the basic story behind the script. “If you can’t tell a good story in two sentences then you can’t tell a good story,” says Delon adding that the writers should send in their personal details (name, age, gender and contact details) and other samples of their writing. The entries have to be attached as word documents and submitted through the website www.writeclique.net/playwrights, which will have all the other necessary information. Entries close on July 1.

“I want a group of people who will be able to relate to each other,” says Delon adding that the scriptwriters should be between 16-30 years of age. The workshops will be held at the Namal Malini Punchi Theatre in Borella. The first stage is the ‘Ideas Workshop,’ where the potential playwrights will put their ideas together and come up with a story, which they will have to turn into a play in the next two weeks.

Dress rehearsal
Next will be the ‘Acting Workshop’ where actors will learn the proper way to break down a script, a process by which they can understand exactly what the writer intended. “They won’t be dealing with just one kind of acting because there will be so many different plays,” says Delon adding that these actors will be able to learn various acting techniques and will also get the chance to work with new directors.

The third phase, which Delon describes, as a “boot camp for script writers” is the ‘Scriptwriting Masterclass’. Only ten writers out of the original twenty will make it to this stage. “It’s very intensive,” says Delon adding that the participants will be in for some heavy-duty writing.

During these sessions the writers will get the chance to work with the actors to see just how well their ideas will work. As a writer Delon explained that some ideas seem perfectly good on paper but once you get an actor to do it, it doesn’t work. “In this workshop you put it on paper and then you try it out with actors,” says Delon. Once all the experimenting is done the writers will have to prepare the final draft of their scripts.

The final product
The final stage of the workshop deals with what most writers don’t even attempt – the production. Five scripts will be selected and those writers will be paired off with directors. “It’s possible that out of the 10 plays only five will be ready for production,” says Delon adding that he will pick the five that have the most potential to make it in front of an audience.

“A writer is very fragile and can be upset by the smallest thing,” admits Delon adding that we need directors who can understand the writers and their writing. His plan is to give the writers the chance to pick the director, whom they feel will do the best job with their script. “I want them to talk, read and understand the script and each other,” says Delon adding that when the writer and the director have a good relationship drastic changes can be made.

Directorial help
“When there is a writer in the picture it is a whole new ball game,” says Delon explaining that most directors today take it upon themselves to rewrite the script whenever necessary.

“The day that the roles of the writer and director become clear in our theatre we will have a very good writing culture,” says Delon explaining that the writer too should leave the theatre side of it to the director and concentrate on the story and the characters. This according to him is the kind of environment in which a really good play can be produced. “It’s a working relationship but they are two different jobs,” says Delon adding that if one person tries to do both he is restricting himself.

“Now is the right time to get into writing new plays,” says Delon. He explains that with copyright issues and various other problems surfacing with foreign plays, original plays would be a welcome change. Though many believe that producing an original play is not commercially viable, Delon feels that many Sri Lankan playwrights have proved this wrong with their successful and popular productions.

“You have to help people identify why they love to write,” says Delon adding that, “it’s my job” is not a good enough reason. Writers in this country need to know that they are not alone, that they can and should attempt big things.

The workshop is partly sponsored by the Punchi Theatre who according to Delon is very interested in encouraging new writers. Delon believes that this is an ideal place to have a small-scale play. “The magic that a stage can produce can only be experienced and not taught…”

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