In partnership with Derby Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse and with support from Writing East Midlands and In Good Company, the Fifth Word Playwrights group will run from November 2024 to Summer 2025. Up to 15 writers will form the group, offering a range of perspectives and breadth of voices. The writers will each create a new play, telling the stories that matter to them. Extracts will be performed at one of the partner venues in Summer 2025.
Fifth Word Playwrights will get:
10 free workshops on playwriting, in-person and online, from November 2024 to May 2025, facilitated by playwright Zodwa Nyoni
Guest sessions, including insights and exercises from exciting playwrights and theatre-makers, and talks by people working in the industry giving practical insights in areas such as the journey to production, the commissioning process, and how to sustain and progress a career as an independent artist
The chance to create a brand new play with support and feedback throughout the process
To have an extract of their play performed by professional actors in a sharing event at one of our partner venues in Summer 2025
To connect to an ongoing network of writers
Financial support is available to assist with travel & access costs.
No previous experience is needed.
Eligible writers must live in the East Midlands or have a meaningful connection to the region, and be over 18 years old. Fifth Word Playwrights is open to those new to playwriting, and to playwrights who have had up to two professional productions and want to grow their skills.
This programme responds to urgent conversations UK-wide about the need for long-term investment in new writing and smaller-scale touring, about the cost of living crisis, and about the intrinsic value of art and how to ensure access to the arts for all. Fifth Word will run five free taster sessions, in person and online, to give participants a chance to build their writing skills and to encourage them to apply for Fifth Word Playwrights. To register for a place on one of the September tasters, visit the Fifth Word website for further details.
To apply please visit Fifth Word’s Website, click on the button and fill out the application form and the separate Equal Opportunities form by Monday 30th September 2024.
To find out more please read the FAQs on the website.
Laura Ford, Artistic Director at Fifth Word, commented:
“Fifth Word is delighted to announce a brand new, cross-Midlands partnership in support of new and early-career writers. At this crucial time of the Cost of Living Crisis, Fifth Word Playwrights responds by providing this FREE opportunity, financial support to assist with travel and access costs, and a clear point of access to the industry, ensuring vital space is held open for diverse writers with a passion for storytelling, a talent with words and an interest in writing for the stage.
The struggle for regional provision means there’s a real danger of the next Sonali Bhattacharyya, Moira Buffini, James Graham or Mufaro Makubika being lost to East Midlands stages. Never has there been more need to demonstrate the true meaning of community – and Fifth Word is deeply proud to be uniting with Nottingham Playhouse and Derby Theatre to extend their existing offer to nurture new writing talent and to ensure that our work together has a lasting impact”.
Beccy D’Souza, Artist Development Producer, Nottingham Playhouse said:
“We’re excited to be partnering with Fifth Word, with their excellent track record of developing new writing from the region, to offer a meaningful opportunity for new and emerging writers to develop their craft for the stage. This programme also offers an opportunity for us to develop new relationships and strengthen existing ones with artists through our Amplify artist development programme. We’re looking forward to working alongside the partner organisations and to celebrating regional voices in theatre. I’d encourage people who have been wondering if they might one day write a play, or who are early on in their career as playwrights to get involved.”
Stuart Allen, Senior Producer at Derby Theatre said:
“Derby Theatre are excited to be partnering with Fifth Word and Nottingham Playhouse to continue to support new writing across the East Midlands and work with early career artists as they develop themselves as playwrights. To further strengthening connections across the region and work in partnerships to nurture new talent. It’s a programmed designed for anyone who might have always wanted to write a play, but needed the guidance and peer support to do so.”
Fifth Word are a leading new writing company based in the East Midlands, founded in 2007. They develop and produce vital new plays that change how people see the world. They make work with and for younger audiences (age 14-25) and under-served voices: uncovering the stories that need to be told.
Their shows tour across the UK. Fifth Word productions are always powerful, bold and accessible: amplifying the stories of those who often go unheard or easily slip through the cracks in society. Fifth Word collaborate with a range of people who do not always see the arts as for them: empowering them to tell their own stories through different artistic means. Fifth Word’s East Midland’s based projects connect closely with their touring productions; everything they do is driven by the desire to foster creative ambition, develop new talent, and platform under-represented voices.
They are passionate about contributing to a strong new writing culture in the Midlands, and helping to champion the next generation of talented playwrights in the region. They produce plays by the most exciting playwrights of the moment, both from the Midlands and from across the UK. They develop a thoughtful, rigorous, and bespoke process with each writer they work with, to ensure that these stories reach the stage in their full power.
Fifth Word’s recent productions include the world premiere of Liberation Squares by Sonali Bhattacharyya (a co-production with Nottingham Playhouse in association with Brixton House); the world premiere of We Need New Names, adapted by Mufaro Makubika from the Booker Prize-shortlisted novel by NoViolet Bulawayo (a co-production with New Perspectives in association with Brixton House); the world premiere of Lava by James Fritz (a co-production with Nottingham Playhouse); and the world premiere of All the Little Lights by Jane Upton (a co-production with Nottingham Playhouse), joint winner of the George Devine Award. Recent projects include SEE ME, Lights Up, and We Need New Stories.
Posted on 10 September 2024
