About the Mentoring Programme
Applications are now closed.
We hope to reopen applications in summer 2021.
"I feel like this opportunity gave me the space and guidance not only to explore my craft, but figure out how I can work as a playwright in all its aspects. So not only did the programme help me become a better writer in my writing, but also in terms of networking, organisation and working collaboratively."
Previous mentored playwright
Every year, Playwrights' Studio, Scotland offers six aspiring or emerging playwrights the opportunity to take part in an eight-month Programme which includes mentoring, script development, workshops, opportunities to widen your network and to meet colleagues from the wider creative sector.
The Mentoring Programme is delivered by established professional playwrights, to support the development of new, full-length plays. This is a professional development opportunity which will improve playwriting skills and allow participants to gain valuable insight into the playwriting process.
The Programme gives aspiring playwrights the structure and support to write the play they want to write, without the constraints of writing in a particular style or to a specific brief.
| A message about COVID-19 Delivery of the Programmes There will inevitably be some changes to how we deliver our Programmes now and in the future. We anticipate that much of the activity in 2020 will not take place face-to-face but will happen online or in alternative ways. We will be flexible to the needs of playwrights and other artists involved, within Government guidelines and our own resources. Creativity In applying for our Programmes, we invite you to think about stories, characters, settings, language or forms that challenge you creatively. We are launching these Programmes in the half-space between lockdown and the 'new normal,' but things are changing all the time. So, that monologue about isolation written and performed for Zoom which feels vital right now may not have the enduring appeal you intended. Our message to you is not to limit your imagination or feel restricted in the stories you want to tell or how you want to tell them. |
What is included as part of the Mentoring Programme?
- Six mentoring sessions (one two-hour session each month for six months from January to June with an experienced professional playwright. This includes script-in-progress feedback).
- Four skills workshops. In previous years, these have included Writing for Radio with former BBC Radio Drama Producer David Ian Neville and Introduction to the Business of Playwriting with playwright and screenwriter Stephen Greenhorn.
- An individual readthrough and discussion of your play with a professional director and cast of actors at the end of the Programme.
- Community building, including the skills workshops, panel discussions, and opportunities to meet socially.
- A Cultural Trip, which includes a visit to the theatre to see a play with other playwrights from the Playwriting Programme, and the opportunity to meet key practitioners in Scottish theatre. At present, it isn't possible to schedule this precisely but it is hoped that this will take place no later than spring 2022.
Dates for your diary:
| Friday 4 December | Playwriting Programme Induction Day |
| w/c 25 January | First Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| w/c 22 February | Second Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| Friday 26 February | Playwriting Workshop |
| w/c 29 March | Third Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| Friday 2 April | Panel Discussion with key practitioners in Scotland |
| w/c 26 April | Fourth Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| Friday 30 April | Playwriting Workshop |
| w/c 24 May | Fifth Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| w/c 28 June | Final Mentoring Session - two-hour meeting with your mentor |
| July | Individual read-through of your script with a professional director and a cast of professional actors. More information will be available at the Playwriting Programme Induction Day. |
| August/September | Day of Playwriting Workshops delivered by external partners |
Before starting your application, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and use the practice application form and guide.
Over 70 playwrights have been mentored through this Programme.
These include
Rob Drummond (Grain in the
Blood, Uncanny Valley); DC Jackson
(Stan Lee's Lucky Man, Kill Johnny
Glendenning); James Ley (Love Song to Lavender
Menace, The Ego Plays); Isobel
McArthur (Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort
of)); Adura Onashile (Fringe First
Award-winning Expensive Shit, HeLa); and
Lynda
Radley (The Interference, Futureproof).
This year's mentored playwrights:
Bea is a Glasgow based actress, theatre-maker and aspiring playwright. She graduated with BA Performance in British Sign Language and English from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
>> find out more >>
Catriona is a playwright who spent her formative years abroad and currently resides in St Andrews.
>> find out more >>
Ellen Ritchie is a Playwright from Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. She was on the 2019/20 MLitt Playwriting and Dramaturgy programme at the university of Glasgow.
>> find out more >>
Vivien Reid trained as an actor at the Drama Centre in London. Her debut play, The Waiting Room, is in development.
>> find out more >>
Katy is an Edinburgh based writer. Her plays Staright Outta Saughton, Then I Met You and Fingers explore gender and sexuality.
>> find out more >>
Andrea is a writer, performer and director from Edinburgh. She studied acting and playwriting at Edinburgh’s Telford College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
>> find out more >>
Leah is a young Indian-Irish playwright raised in South Wales, with a first-class BA English Literature (Bristol) and more recently an MSc Playwriting at the University of Edinburgh.
>> find out more >>
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