Sadly, it’s not as common as it once was for people to feel “the call” to becoming a playwright. Unless you were steered early on in life toward such a path, and had the opportunity to go to a drama school and/or study playwriting as part of a programme with the intention of entering the theatre industry, it’s not exactly the kind of thing that many decide to “take a stab at” out of the blue. This in contrast to, say, poetry or fiction—mediums that incite people to write on a whim. And, if anything, one would find the screen more (financially) enticing than the stage, therefore be more likely to try their hand at a screenplay. But not theatre, not a play. It takes a special kind of person indeed to wake up one morning and say, “I’d like to write a play.”
And the reality of the playwright might also turn out to be a rather lonely one. If you’re not lucky enough to be in touch with a group of performers that are interested in your work, there is very little you might be able to actually do with it. There are few literary publications that publish drama for reading, so you can’t even try to submit your work to literary magazines, as you would with poetry and short stories. Plays are rarely published as books unless the play is already in production. The talent agencies that represent playwrights are also rare, and not easily accessible. And if you do decide to execute it all on your own—write a play and produce it out of pocket—it will cost you thousands, and you’ll probably end up in debt for years. Still, I’m here to tell you that you should write plays. You should write plays because there is an important purpose for playwrights right now in our communities, and you have the potential to fulfil that purpose.
We’re living in times where everyone is constantly inundated by loaded information and distracting images and videos. Attention spans are decreasing, knee-jerk reactions are increasing and inaccurate generalizations about every topic out there abound. In this dystopian landscape that we find ourselves in, we truly need more occasions to disconnect from the grind and the scrolling and ground ourselves with others, in a safe environment. We need an opportunity to come together and experience something that would help us gain the kind of authentic insight and understanding we need to cut through the static that is invading our minds. This is what can be achieved with a well-written play by a well-meaning playwright who is writing with intention for their community. This is what I want to guide you to achieve in my books and courses.
Today, more than ever, we need playwrights that go beyond sensationalism and aesthetic dogmas to find the true human situations, the right moments and the best words that will make visible the pressures and the forces that are pushing and pulling us daily so that we may recognize them and rise above them. We need playwrights that feel deeply about this life in this world and have something to tell us. Something that they have thought over and discussed and worked on tirelessly for that message to become something that may take a sincere shape and form in the minds of others. Playwrights that may help their communities have the conversations that those communities are avoiding and help to process the thoughts that are holding them back from walking into the future with less fear and more confidence. All of this can be achieved with the kind of play I want to help you develop, with a writing process that has already worked for many participants over the past five years. But this cannot be achieved alone.
You may write for your personal community, but also with the support of a community of playwrights. The Writing for the Stage courses offer an environment where writers from all over the world come together to share in the process from one stage to the next all the way to completion. In every session, exchange and discussion are always welcomed and having the ear of others who are attempting a similar journey as yours makes the challenge that much sweeter. Whether as we engage with one of the key playwriting concepts, or as we read a classic play to understand its construction, or when sharing our latest drafts, every moment gives us an opportunity to hear each other out and better understand the variety of realities that writing elucidates and evokes.
This is what I offer in my courses: a rich environment where a community of writers may come together to develop their work under the guidance of a clearly formulated methodology that focuses on process and depth. Every participant is given the opportunity to discover their voice and their concern as they create the story they want to share with their family and friends to initiate impactful conversations within their community. And still, at the end of it all, yes, a resonant play of quality and reach that, given any production opportunity, would also be a great success on the stage.
Yours truly,
Anton Bonnici
writing for the stage 