Writer. TV:
#OneDayNetflix
, Succession, Killing Eve & Becoming Elizabeth. Plays: Yen, Pop Music, The Unreturning, Freak. Director & teacher. She / Her.
We asked new & emerging playwrights their concerns & needs ahead of our meeting of established theatre artists to discuss what we could do to support them in these tough times. The responses were plentiful & powerful. Read them here:
#SupportPlaywrights
Texted my mum today. She’s been dead four years but I searched for something in my messages and accidentally bought up all our exchanges. I texted because I wanted her name to be high up in my message list again but now it’s taunting me and I feel stupid and sad.
#Grief
My dad wrote a poem for my mum every day for 25 years. He wrote this one the day after she died. It's called The Cedar Room.
#ALoveInVerse
Read here by
@LiaBurge
Said I wasn’t going to drink today then went for a walk and saw a woman drinking a glass of wine through her living room window and thought “oh well, if she’s having one”
Thought Queen of Sheba was my fave all time
#royalefamily
but this clip from London gives it a run for its money. Jim being properly nice to ant, totally unexpected, you wait for the acid line to undercut it but it never comes. It’s PERFECT.
@RalfLittle
’s reaction makes me cry.
Good morning. Our prime minister missed 5 cobra meetings at the beginning of a global pandemic which would claim 130,000 lives because he was writing a book on Shakespeare. Have a great day if you didn't vote for him!
Being going through a tough time of late & work, like everything, has been so hard. There are a few tricks & tools I've held onto for dear life which have helped get me through & now I'm (hopefully) coming out the other side I thought I'd share them
#WritersSurvivalTips
...
So tired of female work being endlessly compared to Fleabag, Bridget Jones and Normal People. All great in their own right, but it just feels so fucking reductive
It's 4 years today since mum died. Every day for 25 years my dad wrote her a poem and put it under her pillow. He continues to write for her. He sorted through 8500 & selected 250. This website has been a real labour of love, do have a peek.
#Aloveinverse
I know the government is a bunch of cunts and this whole thing's a dumpster fire but can't we just be relieved and pleased at the prospect of 1.57bn before we start bitching? Just for tonight maybe
The only saving grace of this situation is that one of the last texts she sent me was telling me to spike Iain Duncan Smith’s cake when he gatecrashed our community street party.
Just failed my driving test again. It’s a shame as the examiner was a big Killing Eve fan and I told him I’d written on it. Also told him I’d send Villanelle round in a clown outfit if he failed me. And I stand by that.
A pal just sent me a rehearsal photo with me in it, from a play I directed a decade ago. I just stared at it for ages, eyes tearing up, growing more and more nostalgic, because my tits looked so fucking great.
Had a couple of glasses of wine with my family and admitted that one Christmas Day in the late 90’s when they thought I was really drunk I’d actually done two E’s.
With my boy turning one I've been thinking quite a bit about the babies I lost before him and how shit we are at talking about things like
#miscarriage
. And wrote this
Want to give my (London-based) writing students info about where to send their theatre scripts. I know
@theatre503
has great opps & I know the big comps - but update me please! Where can they get their work read and possibly performed? Scratch nights / new comp / schemes. THANKS
Yeah sex is good but have you ever had that warm reassuring feeling of editing the dialogue of your 1st draft into the much finer, sparser dialogue of your 2nd draft and knowing that your shitty expotitional-as-fuck 1st draft was the only way to get there.
If you’re writing a play about coronavirus, don’t let people tell you not to. Don’t let other people police what you write about. It’s fantastic that you are writing at all.
Pity the child whose parent used to be an actor and now reading the child stories is the only way to use all those accents the parent learned at drama school
If you're working with writers and you like something they've done, tell them. If you don't tell them they will think you hate it. Am I being too sweeping? ;)
Nicole Taylor's One Day is in the Netflix Global top 10 for the third week! ♥️
Episodes written by Anna Jordan (
@WAPtheatre
), directed by
@lukesnellin
.
Intimacy Coordination:
@BelleMcAlpine
,
@KatHardman
, Anna Healey for EK Intimacy.
#ShareYourRejections
RADA 3 times, Webber D 3 times, Guildhall Twice, Central twice, Lamda twice (3rd time lucky) endless playwrights' & directors' groups schemes attachments & competitions but hey I had a mutha-fucking BABY on Thursday so who cares? This is Gryff
Loved reading this by
@georgiapudding
. Proud to have been one of these scruffy brits. Walked into the writers room a TV rookie & ended up writing an episode. It was a really warm place. Succession changed my career, I loved the show & I'll miss it so much
#Writers
: Did you love It's A Sin? Happy Valley? Clocking Off? Queer As Folk? Scott & Bailey? Next week I'm chatting with the incredible producer behind all of these
@NicolaShindler
about what makes great writing for TV. Q&A too! Tickets £0- £5. Bookable soon.
#CreativeCheckin
what's all this beef about TV vs Theatre? They're both fucking brilliant. And different. Imagine life without them. God don't we have better stuff to talk about
Lots of opinions about work people are putting out during this time. Whether or not we should be putting work online, whether it's good enough, whether we should write masterpieces, whether we should slow down/stop. Why don't we just do what we want to do? Things are hard enough.
Told my son that me and his dad waited 4 years for him and he said "I was just going to get my etch-a-sketch but I was always going to come and see you and daddy." Dunno what the fuck he means but it made me cry
Calling all PLAYWRIGHTS & SCREENWRITERS. 11th
#PlaywrightsXmasParty
Any level of experience. Come with pals or on your own! Not a networking event - a party to bring writers together. All welcome.
Sun 10th Dec 6pm - Midnight. Bush Theatre, W12 8LJ
@PlaywrightsXmas
RT/Share
Finally a huge congratulations to the
@KillingEve
team on their nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.
Including Executive Producer/Director Damon Thomas (
@damonUK
) as well as writing from Krissie Ducker and Anna Jordan (
@WAPtheatre
) 👏🎬
Tonight a group of theatre artists meet to discuss how we can support new & emerging
#playwrights
in these tough times. We asked new & emerging playwrights their concerns & desires .The answers were plentiful & powerful.
Reply to this tweet if you'd like to read them.
#Theatre
For 25 years my dad wrote my mum a poem everyday and put it under her pillow. She died seven years ago but he continued to write for her. This is from 2017, it's called Spring Without You by Peter Gordon.
#ALoveInVerse
More here
So thrilled to be working with the brilliant
@HeadlongTheatre
for the first time, beloved
@rxtheatre
again & so many legends on this production of
#MotherCourage
esp.
@arahodge
(directing) &
@juliehes
playing MC herself, two people I have wanted to work with for a long time.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Julie Hesmondhalgh stars in Mother Courage and Her Children
@rxtheatre
in a Headlong co-production. Amy Hodge directs Anna Jordan's adaptation that brings Brecht’s universally celebrated classic bang up to date. Plays 8 Feb-2 March 2019
My dad wrote my mum a poem every day for 25 years & put it under her pillow. After she died he kept writing. Here's a lovely one from 2006: Speed Her To Me. For more search for A Love In Verse on Insta / FB.
#ALoveInVerse
Surreal and emotional taking baby to visit the same hospital you visited probably 50 times over four years to get him. Thanks for everything
@uclh
you’re simply amazing.
#homefromhome
#NHS
I've given up bread and I'm amazed that after swapping 4 slices of generously buttered toast a day for 187 generously buttered rice cakes a day I'm not losing weight
I'm sorry but when you walk down the street you have zero way of knowing if anyone you see is single, on benefits or in or out of work you incredible bellend
I was on a first date with someone I'd met online and we went to see the devastating beautiful
#Andnomoreshallwepart
by Tom Holloway. I was unprepared & I cried so hard he grabbed my hand and held it even though we'd only known each other 45 minutes. We've got a kid now.
OK we all need something good right now, and something that holds us together, so please tell us your stories about your most communal encounters in theatre. Something that made you close to the person next to you, even if you didn't know them.
Amazing to even see the words "Emerging Artists Over 35" in a tweet - this is progress. Here's a free workshop on pitching, from
@oldvictheatre
& the incomparable
@RikkiBB
. RT :).
.
@RikkiBB
is running a free workshop around pitching your work for emerging artists aged 35+ on Wed 15 Aug here at The Old Vic. Head over to our website to book your place:
My son is meant to be asleep but he's singing baby shark in his room and the NEIGHBOURS have just started singing it in their garden IN HARMONY. what fresh hell be this?
Thanks to the legend
@OzgurK0RKMAZ
I finally PASSED
Examiner got me with the old
"It's not good news I'm afraid....
It's VERY good news"
I called him an arsehole and we laughed
My son is 3 tomorrow. Tried to explain how we were trying for him longer than he's been alive as he sat on the kitchen counter, lovingly feeding me one sweetcorn kernel at a time from the tin, but I'm pretty sure he didn't have a fucking clue what I was on about.
My mum died 5 years ago today. I can't quite believe it. She was wonderful. I often post here about my dad's poems - he wrote her a poem every day for 25 years and left it under her pillow. Here's one from a couple of years ago. Called What Makes Sense.
#WritersSurvivalTips
8 - this is my favourite. THIS IS MY STORY. For each character I do a short synopsis of the story from their point of view - starting with "My name is NAME and this is my story". I've always done this for theatre as it makes sure each character is rounded...
#Writers
. I want to hear about the game-changing things that make your writing life easier & happier. I'll start: THIS BOARD. Big magnetic whiteboard - best £50 ever. Can write on it & index card story beats using these cute little magnets. What's yours?
#CreativeSurvivalKit
On 2nd July there is going to be a
#PlaywrightsFlashmob
(We don't sing & dance. We write & chat)
Small teams of playwright (& theatre artist) HOSTS will be stationed at theatre cafes, bars, foyers across the country ready to welcome other playwrights...
#SupportPlaywrights
(1/)
During a mega-stressful restaurant meal I took my 3-year-old to the loo with me and as I was weeing he looked at me in disgust and said "I don't like your foo-foo" and I growled "HOW DO YOU THINK YOU GOT OUT OF MY TUMMY MATE" which shut him up
People in England who’ve been told to self-isolate through Serco Test and Trace could have their details shared with the police on a "case-by-case basis"
My dad wrote a poem for my mum every day for 25 years, & continued to write them after she died. This is one's about how they got together, acting in a play at Edinburgh Festival. It's called Edinburgh, he wrote it in 1990.
#ALoveInVerse
#PeterGordon
#Poems