We sat down with Kate Fazakerle and Tommy Robinson ahead of the fourth OSO Writers Studio – a community initiative designed to provide creative opportunities to local practitioners at all levels. They have been tasked to write a ten-minute play on the theme of ‘conflicts.’ Working with each other, and then with actors & directors, they’ve developed their scripts into individual, fully fledged performances.
What’s the secret to packing a powerful story about ‘duality’ into just 10 minutes? Any tricks you discovered?
KF: Good stories tend to have a particular and coherent shape in which each moment leads to another from beginning to end. Ideally in such a short play, every word should be working hard to tell the story. I’m not sure I achieved this, but it was my goal.
TR: Keeping it simple and clear, without taking anything away. Even when it’s only 10 minutes the writer still needs to allow the characters to have a full and complete story, where their place time and motivation is clear. For me, start with a place, then put people in that place and work out how they are going to leave! I also maintain that everything that is in any play is just as important for a 10 minute snippet: exposition, back stories, motivation, reasoning and all the other’s aspects that makes theatre exciting cannot be ignored. In the end a 30 second advert can be as beautiful as a 2 hour film…ask Ridley Scott!
What surprised you most when you started turning your ideas into a 10-minute play? Any “Oh wow, this works!” moments?
KF: The story is based on an incident that happened to my parents so what surprised me most was the way my characters took on a life of their own and changed which in turn changed and improved the story.
TR: Be quick! Don’t second guess yourself. In the end we all talk to each other and we never actually write a script for this. Having only 10 minutes meant that I had to be very responsive to what the characters were saying, and thinking of it as a “conversation” made it relatively easy. In the end, conversations that last longer than 10 minutes normally are just about repeating yourself.
What’s something new or unexpected you learned from the OSO Writers Studio? Ready to take it into your next project
KF: I learned that everyone in a group will see something different in a piece of writing and this is particularly true when working with a diverse group of people of different ages, genders and backgrounds. It was incredibly helpful to hear those different perspectives especially in terms of ensuring that I had communicated my story effectively and not assumed others would know what was in my head.
TR: Most of the time I am in control of the writing that I do, I know the cast beforehand and 9 times out of 10 I directing, designing and producing. On this occasion having people I don’t know picking at the bones made me more aware of having to write for others, and the mistakes they might find. This was a revelation!
How did working with the OSO community—and knowing you had local support—change your approach to writing this piece?
KF: It was a wonderful experience to work with a group of writers. They were both encouraging and insightful and I have no doubt that the finished playlet, as I call it, was very much the better for the groups input and ideas.
TR: Knowing that every week I was going to have to justify myself and my writing to people I don’t know made me work harder. All too often I get carried away with what I want to happen, be this writing, directing or even painting. However on this occasion knowing that others were going to question me made it better. The support we have been given has been great, to be honest this is the main aspect of the group. Have I learnt much from it about writing styles and techniques….maybe…but what have learnt is how to please others without undermining my artistic intentions.
OSO Writers’ Studio: Showcase will be presented on the 17th Nov at OSO Arts Centre