The play that I wrote

Having had the good fortune to work as a journalist, the discipline of writing is something that I am used to. Even now that I have moved from being a full-time practitioner to being a teacher I still enjoy the idea of writing (well more the completion of the task than actually sitting down to do it). The want to write is still there and to satisfy this desire the occasional freelance gig as a football reporter and the aborted attempts at blogging have had to suffice.

As the first post in my born again blog alluded to the last few years have been slightly frustrating in a creative sense as they have been taken up with having to complete a post-graduate qualification for my job – something that was a contractual obligation. This thankfully has now been completed and I can concentrate on the extra-curricular activities that I enjoy away from my job.

So since October, I have been attending a night school class at the University of Liverpool, the course has been for the Writing for the Stage and Radio course. Time has flown by and that sadly that has two more weeks to run after this week.

This course is organised by the Workers Education Association who have a long standing and good reputation for the many courses they run. I have previous experience of their courses, as I completed a songwriting course in 1997, which was fulfilling and enjoyable. So I had a good feeling that this course would also be of a similar standard, which has been the case.

I had never written a play before, but I have an interest in the theatre so this prompted me to sign up for it. I also thought the course would be a easier way of getting something completed (note when I say easier, I don’t mean easy). I, like many a journalist have a novel awaiting completion on my hard drive - the resolution for 2009 says that will be completed by the end of the year…hmmm we’ll see! But I thought a play should be manageable, which given that I'm on my way to completing the course I think is the case.

The assignment set was to write a 30 minute play for the stage, a draft had to be completed by the end of January on which feedback was given from the course tutors. This was great for a novice like myself and gave me a few pointers as to what I had to do to transform the first draft, which though it's a complete play, is in no shape completed.

Tonight saw the next stage in the assignment to have 5 minutes performed by a group of local actors. Previously in the sessions, the class had performed each other's works but tonight was great as we got to have our work professionally read. This was again a first for me, seeing my words performed before an audience. My intial embarassment subsided and I quite enjoyed the delivery of the performance. It also gave me a few pointers as to what I should change.

It was certainly a highlight in a course that has already delivered so many. Given the inspirational nature of the course I already have a few ideas for my next play - here's to finishing this one first.