Osama, the Hero

I went to see Osama, The Hero at the Hampstead. There’s an interview with the playwright, Dennis Kelly, which is worth reading. Generally the Hampstead has not be showing plays that have not interested me. This play was good challenging and intriguing in both form, style, content and language,

I thought the actor who played Gary, Tom Brooke, was excellent, in particular. I’m going to reserve judgement on the directing. I think the directing could probably have helped the play more, but didn’t.

The writing itself was very good and I recommend the play for its examination of people living in a society of suspicion where “You don’t need evidence for terrorists”.

Billington at the Guardian gave it a fairly good review.

http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/productions/Bodie_Kelly_interview.asp

Commission from Talawa

I am part of the writers’ group at Talawa. We’ve been commissioned to write plays for a reading in October at the Soho Theatre.

Talawa is moving towards plays about the stories that don’t get told. So, yes, it includes “minority stories” but it’s a wider remit than that. I think it will produce some interesting work particularly when Talawa move in to their bigger theatre soon.

However, the “stories that don’t get told” I think are some of the most interesting in any form or medium. Humans crave good stories, both the familiar and increasingly the unfamiliar.

Qualities a playwright needs?

I'm studying under Jane Bodie (a great playwright) as part of the Royal Court Writers' programme. One of the questions we are asking is:

Qualities that that playwrights need?

I think it's a question writers should come back to, every now and again, whether they write plays or in another mediu. Of course, there's no "correct" answer, and whatever answer one does have will probably change day-to-day, year-to-year, relationship-to-relationship...

We came up with (amongst others):

life, language, experience, imagination, sadness, joy, emotional access, flair,

perception
observation
analysis
commitment
articulation

Interestingly, Jane suggests articulation is the one thing she can teach something of. The rest might be unteachable.

Moti Roti

I had a creative lunch with the people behind Moti Roti, the other day.

Anyone interested in live performance and theatre of the not-3-act-play kind, should check them out. Actually, anyone interested in theatre or performance should.

Similarities between differences

Differences between similarites

Two of the themes, Ali of Moti Roti is exploring and something which resonated with me.