Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Committee

Policy review - English Medium Writing In Wales

Helen Raynor - Personal

I have contributed to the submission from the BBC Wales Writers’ Unit; I would like this to be considered as an individual contribution, and views expressed here should not be attributed to the BBC.My background as an arts practitioner is in theatre, and largely in the field of new writing. I am currently working in television drama, but want to make a few points concerning Welsh writing in English for the theatre.The vast majority of my career as a theatre director has been in England - despite being Welsh. I have worked as a Staff Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as resident Assistant Director for the Bush Theatre in London, a premier new writing venue, among others. As a writer, my first play was performed by Paines Plough as part of their 'Wild Lunch’ readings earlier this year. This is important information because the lack of support and funding for new theatre writing in Wales is most apparent in comparison to England ( and Ireland and Scotland), and something I can discuss with authority.From time to time there are calls for young Welsh writers, directors etc to stay and work in Wales. For anyone wanting to work principally in theatre, this is virtually impossible. Perversely, when a Welsh writer, actor, or director finds success outside Wales, there is a stampede to 'claim’ him or her as evidence of a thriving theatre scene. For writers, this is laughable. A consistent lack of funding is one very, very obvious reason it is so difficult for a theatre writer to make a living in Wales alone. Another equally damaging problem is an almost perverse lack of understanding about the process and nature of contemporary theatre writing. To illustrate - novels are written to be read. Plays are written to be performed. Any attempt to create a commissioning infrastructure has to address the very limited opportunities for new writing to be produced. And that means produced at a professional level, by an experienced director, in a run long enough to build an audience and generate meaningful critical debate. Where and how often does this happen in Wales? I use the word 'perverse’ advisedly in relation to the degree of ignorance about what is involved in developing and producing new work. Bearing in mind the number of flourishing new writing companies and venues outside Wales, do we really not have enough humility to learn from them? I worry that a misguided insularity in Wales means that we would rather re-invent the wheel than solicit advice from elsewhere - what other explanation is there for the eccentric and underachieving funding strategies of the ACW? At the moment, a new writer can apply to Academi for a bursary - as long as they are a poet, a novelist, or even a 'literary’ factual writer. In fact, almost any kind of writer, as long as they are aren’t a playwright. A new playwright would have to apply to the 'Creative Wales’ fund alongside choreographers, musicians and designers. Does any professional theatre practitioner think this is a good idea? I also wanted to make a very important point about theatre in relation to television and film writing. The vogue in television broadly speaking currently doesn’t favour single dramas (stand-alone 'Play for Today’ drama), with series forming the majority of the output. Films are of course single dramas, but the sheer cost of producing a feature film necessarily limits the number of opportunities available. The medium most able to produce a contemporary and original drama, capitalising on the unique qualities of an individual writer’s voice and a very specific culture, is theatre. For a country deeply concerned with its cultural identity, failing to support new theatre writing shows a depressing lack of commitment to the artistic future of Wales.For the record, there is a worrying tendency for adaptations of novels, etc, to be lumped in with new original plays as 'new writing’. They aren’t the same thing. I’m not saying they are without merit. However, if a theatre feels compelled to produce an adaptation of a well known old book because they don’t feel an audience will come to a new play, then there’s a problem with the venue marketing and audience development. And that needs to be confronted, not ignored. On a very general level, the main argument for new theatre writing is that is offers a unique contemporaneity and perspective that can’t be found in a Hamlet, or Hayfever. Deploying the same argument for an adaptation is rather fraudulent. In London, Scotland, and the English regions, there are a number of new writing theatre companies and venues, all contributing to a culture of new writing; it is well documented that Wales has no dedicated venue, and very limited opportunities for full productions of new plays. A strong theatre base in Wales, committed to new writing - and this needs genuine investment and infrastructure - will help create the culture we need to develop contemporary Welsh drama writers; for all genres.I hope that one of the aims of the policy review is a holistic approach to dramatic writing in general across Wales. Increased and devolved funding; a dedicated theatre space for new writing; genuine support to allow Sgript Cymru to fulfil its potential; these are all points which will be raised elsewhere. However, if the policy review is an attempt to take a broad perspective, then the committee must understand that new writing in theatre cannot be dealt with in isolation, or considered as a rigidly separate discipline to screen writing. A lack of support for new writing in theatre demonstrates a lack of commitment to original Welsh writing for film, television and radio drama too. Helen Raynor