Irene Barr Play Development with Nightschool Level 4
This week, our Nightschool participants are sharing what they've learned during the Autumn terms of classes with friends and family.
Our Level 4 participants have been working with Director Mick Duke on a new play titled Irene Barr.
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| Director Mick Duke with Nightschool participants. Credit Karen Gordon |
Here, Mick shares with us how he got involved with our Nightschool classes, and the role the participants are playing in developing this new work.
"The Nightschool 4 students have been stepping into the
unknown this term, working with me on the development of a new play.
Irene Barr is
about a woman whose anger towards the financial executives who emerged
unscathed from the banking crash of 2008 has never dimmed. Eventually deserted by her political allies,
penalised by the courts and frozen out by her family, Irene is required to
attend weekly anger management sessions.
In these unlikely surroundings she forges new friendships and a novel
way to protest against the banks, until a violent tragedy in her family tips
her life out of control.
I wanted to explore a new process for writing the play
that included working with community based groups on the text as it
developed. Martin Travers picked up on
the idea immediately, and put me in touch with Elly Goodman, who in turn gave
me the opportunity to work with the Nightschool Level 4 group. Creative Scotland has generously supported
the project, which will include sharings at both the Citizens in November and
the Traverse in January.
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| Nightschool tutors. Credit Karen Gordon. |
For the last six weeks we have been looking at the skills
actors use in the development of new work, through our focus on the play and
Irene’s political and personal journey in particular. Asking questions about what a character is
saying and how they’re saying it, tracing their journey through the play and taking
risks to explore the action in new ways have all been key to our work each
Tuesday evening.
Despite 30 odd years of writing for theatre and working
with students and community theatre groups, I have never put my own writing
into a group situation before – so it’s a shared journey of discovery for the
students and myself.
I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with on
this or any new play. Various, lively
and always ready to work the 16 students have brought so much energy and
insight to the process. Arriving into
the Cookery Room of the Scotland Street Museum at 6.15, most of them after a
full day’s work, they are raring to go. Their
skills and commitment – well honed in their previous Nightschool experiences –
have thrown light on ideas and moments in the play that aren’t yet working and
given a first, memorable expression to some that are.
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| Nightschool Participant. Credit Karen Gordon |
The next step is to choose and prepare some extracts of
our work together for a sharing in three short weeks time. When I asked what sort of material they might
like to perform, one response was typical of this group – ‘I’m up for anything
- just tell us what you want and I’ll give it my best shot’"
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