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So You Want To Be a Playwright?
By Tim Fountain
Nick Hern Books £9 99
132 pages
Dateline: 3rd February, 2008
The ever astute Nick Hern has made an excellent choice for this latest
publication in the So You Want to Be A … series, already
graced by Timothy West and Prunella Scales on acting and Stephen Unwin
on directing (which we will try to catch up with soon).
Tim Fountain is a prolific playwright who has also written for television
and radio. Beyond that, he was literary manager at the Bush for four
years and is a lecturer in creative writing.
He brings to bear all of this experience in giving heavily practical
advice to those aspiring to become playwrights. There are only two areas
that he chooses to steer clear of.
First, in many cases there might be very helpful to suggest that a
great deal of pain could be avoided by giving up the idea before someone
with little talent embarks on this long journey. Secondly, he ignores
the fact that in reality many new plays are only produced as a result
of the author's vanity and their ability to write out cheques with far
too many noughts at the end.
However, no aspiring playwright, especially a young one, wants to hear
any of that. What they would like to know is how to write a play, how
to sell it, how to enjoy its success and quite probably, how to spend
the millions that they will make from it.
This is what Tim Fountain is so good at. In chapters entitled Getting
Started and Getting to the End, the first two thirds of the
book primarily deal with playwriting.
In these, he brings to bear not only his own experience but also quotes
liberally from the works of others, paying particular attention and
returning to King Lear, William Nicholson's Shadowlands
and Ibsen's A Doll's House, as well as Joe Penhall's Love
and Understanding.
The first thing that Fountain identifies as a necessity may be blindingly
obvious but probably defeats more prospective playwrights than every
wicked director, producer or audience put together. If you do not finish
writing your first script, then you have no play and the world certainly
does not.
The emphasis in Getting Started is to be true to one's self
and one's vision. Writing potboilers that copy other people's successes
will neither be satisfying nor, most likely, saleable.
The author starts by outlining the component parts of theatrical works,
covering such areas as character and inner conflict, the genre and targeting
the play. This section could usefully be read by everyone who wants
to be an audience member, let alone a writer.
Some of the early stages of the book will be familiar to anybody who
has considered creative writing or been on courses. Others are very
practically geared to those writing for the stage today, for example
the near-impossibility of putting on a large scale play with a massive
cast, especially if you have never previously been produced.
Getting to the End might possibly be worth reading as a starting
point. The pain and effort that is required to complete a halfway decent
play is significant. In particular, Tim Fountain recommends going through
at least three drafts, but accepts that in practice several more may
be required.
This will demand a great deal of time and tenacity from any would-be
writer and might persuade many who are not suited to the craft to choose
a different hobby. This chapter also includes a useful checklist of
points to clarify prior to submitting the work to the outside world.
The final sections of the book are about Getting It On. In view
of some of this writer's previous output, it is necessary to qualify
his words to confirm that they relate to the staging of the completed
work and not the activities described so liberally in, for example,
Sex Addict.
This is a heavily practical section that deals with getting agents
and theatres interested in work and then the processes that one will
have to go through before the play is actually seen in public performance.
These include the pains and joys of rehearsals and previews, including
useful tips on giving advice and rewriting.
Fountain finishes up with the sections that will bring a real smile
to readers' faces. Who could fail to be cheered by the idea of their
play having a first night with the press and potentially celebrities
present? Similarly, great pleasure will be derived from revisiting the
play during its inevitably record-breaking run and attending its final,
perfect performance prior to that certain transfer to the West End,
Broadway and Hollywood.
Philip Fisher
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