Producing New Views
National Theatre's New Views programme is a year-long in-school playwrighting programme for secondary and further education students aged 14-19. The programme includes professional mentoring, CPD for teachers and the chance to see students' work performed at the National Theatre. Explore playwriting with students aged 14–19.
New Views timeline
participant development
Training
September – Teacher CPD
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The National Theatre will invite teachers to training sessions, in-person or online. We introduce teachers to the course and supporting resources. There are also workshops with professional playwrights and dramaturgs.
October to March –workshops and theatre trips
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Supported by their teachers, students follow the course at their own pace. They take part in workshops with professional playwrights and see a National Theatre production. This can be in London, on tour, or in local cinemas via NT Live.
Writing
December to March – drafting
Students write 30-minute plays about issues that matter to them. They submit a first draft in February, and have a feedback session with their playwright (in-person or online). In March, students submit their final drafts to the National Theatre.
May – shortlisting
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Mentor playwrights and a team of readers from the National Theatre read all the submitted plays. A shortlist goes to a panel of National Theatre creatives.
performing
June/July – New Views Festival
The New Views festival takes place every summer. All shortlisted plays get a rehearsed reading with professional actors. The young writers can be part of the rehearsal process with a professional director.
New Views Masterclass
The panel
Hosted by Jennifer Farmer in collaboration with Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, Tanika Gupta, Jasmine Lee-Jones and Ellie Kendrick.
Masterclass Brief
This masterclass explored how to use language, form, structure and style to build the world of your play, with a panel of playwrights and artists whom each had a unique take on experimenting with form and style when writing for the stage.
The panel considered:
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How do we take stories we have created and use a voice that feels authentically ours and also speaks to the wider world?
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How can we be encouraged and inspired to think outside of the box creatively in the stylistic choices we make?
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How do you use form, structure and language in your writing?
The panel described
writing as…
"Archiving language on the page."
– Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu
"Tiptoeing between two cultures."
– Tankia Gupta
"Soul Writing."
– Jasmine Lee-Jones
"There is something special and beautiful about language in theatre... Anyone anywhere, can stand up with a group of people for free, and create spoken words anywhere."
– Ellie Kendrick
Becoming a producer
Project Brief
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As part of my CPD, I produced a short project allowing me to design an interactive masterclass delivered in the form of a virtual panel discussion, directly tied into the core programming of New Views.
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This opportunity gave me creative freedom to create content directed at the needs of the young people participating in the programme with the aim of creating a wider interactive outreach of our programme, looking at the potential barriers young playwrights face when finding their creative voice in the world of new writing. I focused on building a sense of an individual world when writing for theatre in language, form, structure and style.
My experience
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The masterclass was shared with over 300 young people and felt different to my usual programme of work, I felt a direct connection to the purpose of the project. The young people watching felt encouraged to think outside of the box creatively, in the choices they make. It speaks to me on a wider scale of the projects I want to commit to in the future.
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In light of the pandemic, I worked from home and found a new way to communicate with the people around me. It was important to be collaborative and patient. Working from home means being prepared to adapt to new ways of working, sudden changes, and unexpected situations. Sometimes it takes a bit of creative problem-solving to find a solution. This had been a new experience but has contributed significantly to exercising my creativity and personal development.
Creating Content;
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I identified areas of interest by organising a survey for the teachers to fill out on behalf of the students.
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I interacted with an average of 90 schools with a small number of independent schools sponsoring the programme fee for state schools that required a bursary. All state schools were high-priority schools where they were either below the national average or below the average in London for; geographical location/access to arts engagement, English as a second language, free school meals and students from the global majority.
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I also ensured artist representation was at the forefront of my planning, I reached out to artists whom we have not directly worked with before, are from an underrepresented background and have unique experiences from multiple disciplines or styles of writing, where we were also able to provide a platform for them to speak about their work.
skills
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Budget Management;
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I managed a sub budget of £1,000 where I led on artist recruitment, schools & artist and agent communications, content & format, invoice payments and liaising with the digital team.
Artist Briefing;
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The virtual masterclass was filmed via Zoom as a panel discussion to be shared directly with the students online. I briefed each playwright on the content of the masterclass, prior to the filming and by leading a short introduction on the day.
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Each playwright spoke authentically on how they document their creative process and build the world of their plays. I asked the playwrights to reflect on today's changing world and share how they hold onto aspects of themselves in the work they create.
New Views
Rehearsed Readings
Bus Stops
By Mia Galanti
Stuck in a care home in the middle of the pandemic, Dorothy is lonely and bored. However, when a new care worker arrives, she finds joy in reliving her youth, when she was dancing on stage in New York with her best friend, Rose.
Rose Coloured Glasses
By Nyah With
Two young people, Harry and Carter, are brought together in the wake of the death of their mutual friend, Jack, and together embark on a cross-country road trip to Wales.
Content Warnings: Mentions knife crime. Grief throughout
As producer;
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I produced 2 rehearsed readings with the New Views shortlisted playwrights with a professional director, cast and crew.
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I worked intensively as the central point of contact for communicating with over 50 teachers and 20 professional playwrights.
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I coordinated the immediate events in the timeline, ensuring New Views runs smoothly.