Week 4 Learning Summary and Course Wrap-up

Over the past week we have looked at some of the practicalities of sharing your work and getting it in front of an audience. We heard from the course team about their experiences and advice. We explored the different types of theatres that might be interested in your work and some of the ways in which you can approach them. We discussed the importance of understanding your local theatre scene and the types of work presented in the different venues. We looked at some of the resources that may be available to you to get feedback and develop your writing further.

This brings us to the end of the course. We hope you have found it a rewarding experience, and that you feel you have gained an insight into the rewarding process of writing a play and developed some skills to go on and create your own work. We welcome feedback on all aspects of the course. 

Looking back over these past four weeks, we started by looking at the basic elements of plays and playwriting, introducing key elements of the craft in weeks 1 and 2. In Week 2, we also looked at ideas of theatricality and liveness and how they can strengthen your playwriting. The following week was dedicated to the process of getting started on writing your play and different strategies to help you along the way. Finally, we looked at how you might share your work with people who can help you develop it further and ultimately present it to an audience. 

We’ve shared resources such as the glossary, reading list and a list of relevant organisations here in the UK.  There’s also been all the exercises and the workbook we provided that will hopefully have helped you to have lots of ideas and given you a way forward with your playwriting. We wish you every success and enjoyment in all your playwriting activities.

If you would like to continue studying playwriting and the related field of dramaturgy, you might be interested in the postgraduate programme run by Theatre Studies at the University of Glasgow: the in-person MLitt in Playwriting and Dramaturgy.