Award-winning playwright David Eldridge explains how actors and anger and unrequited love inspire him
David Eldridge
David Eldridge wrote his first play, Serving It Up, while still studying at Exeter University. His other plays include Under the Blue Sky and Market Boy. Under the Blue Sky won the Time Out Live Award for Best New Play. On January 28th 2010 he will be taking part in In The Same Boat’s latest Write to Play event. David talks to us about the joy of “seeing actors elevate the work into another place.”
What drove you to become a playwright?
I wanted to be a director when I went to university but went off the idea for a number of reasons, but mainly because I couldn’t find a play I wanted to direct. So I thought I’d write one and see if I could get it put on with my mates.
Did you face much rejection initially? How did you deal with it?
Luckily for me that first play was put on at the bush theatre and was a hit when I was 22 so I didn’t face years of rejection first. But like all writers there is rejection along the way and it is difficult.
One has to maintain a sense of proportion. If first readers have valid feedback then an author would be a fool to ignore it and a rewrite might be valid, but often one simply has to retain faith in the work and keep trying until you find the right context for its production or publication.
What was your first play about?
Depending on your view: two young blokes and one is shagging the other’s mum or a portrait of racism and rage in London’s East End.
How do you feel theatre in the UK has changed during your career? Have audiences’ expectations changed?
I don’t think audiences expectations have changed that much: they still want a good night out. The main change is that with a time of bloom for new writing since 1994 everyone who now works in theatre thinks they are an expert on new work and know better than the writers.
This is wrong and is creating a culture where there is too much re-writing and TV-style development hell, workshops and interference in writers’ processes. It’s a waste of time and money and stifling formal innovation.
What is the intent behind your writing?
The intent is never the same but I suppose if there is a commonality its that as John Osborne said: “I want to give the audiences lessons in feeling”.
I suppose I feel this because in my opinion plays work on an emotional level much more profoundly than they do on an intellectual level.
What do you find the most challenging aspects of writing?
Warding away the self-doubt that creeps in once other people start to read the work.
What do you enjoy most about the process?
The unplanned discoveries along the way; the private perfecting and rewriting; seeing actors elevate the work into another place.
Whose writing do you admire?
The playwrights Robert Holman, Peter Gill, Caryl Churchill and Simon Stephens; novelists Kazuo Ishiguro and Philip Hensher; poets Philip larkin and Roger McGough.
What inspires you?
Actors and anger and unrequited love have inspired me most. I look at the masters Ibsen and Chekhov a lot when I write.
Where do you carry out the majority of your writing?
In my workspace at home, which, since I have moved to Lancashire, is quite spacious which is lovely.
I have a good view of fields, water and a hill and a much larger desk than I had in London. I’ve measured it and it’s two metres wide! Very good for me as I write by printing off all the time, spreading out the pages, and working on them with red pen.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Write whatever you like and pay no heed to fashion.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve recently completed a new play and am currently working on the book and lyrics for a new adaptation of Brecht/Weill’s The Threepenny Opera.
Related posts:
- Playwright David Eldridge offers advice to writers at the Young Vic Theatre, London - In The Same Boat offers you the chance to spend...
- Playwright Howard Brenton describes his passion for storytelling - Howard Brenton has written or co-written more than 40 plays,...
- Award-winning short story writer Deborah Kay Davies talks about her passion for procrastination - Deborah Kay Davies is a poet and short story writer....
- Award-winning poet Ruth Padel emphasises the importance of reading widely and curiously - Ruth Padel is a prize-winning British poet and a Fellow...
- Award-winning children’s author Paul Geraghty co-launches Elastoplast’s ‘Creative Kids’ scheme - Summer holidays were once an opportunity for children to get...
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment