When I was a kid, writing was an activity that came very natural to me. I wrote poetry and prose, monologues and journals and never really stopped. One of the bits of text I wrote, when I was about eleven, was ‘I’d like to live in a bubble which protects me’. It was a very formally ambitious project because I managed to somehow sew together a big “bubble” made of elastic fabric and move inside it with the text recorded in the background. Very edgy work. What I didn’t realise then, but have been realising more and more in recent years, is how personal the experience of writing always felt to me, it was a way to reflect my own experience and connect with others.

In a way, that is why I wanted to join Wellspring, I was looking for an adult sized (non-COVID related) bubble to protect me while I grow and cultivate my writing. I was looking for space to experiment with bringing British Sign Language, which has become an inseparable part of my life, into my writing. I wanted to find a way to refine my process so that English isn’t the language guiding the process all the time. And this is what I found out.

It
Is
Difficult

In BSL, I’d sign that sentence:

Um
Difficult / Problem

Because

Every
Word
Feels
Like
A Choice

In
Other words

If the line is written by a writer who is a BSL user for actors who are BSL users working with a BSL consultant then why does it need to be written down in English and then be translated?

In
More
Words

How can I avoid the situation of sending a script in English which says in BSL in brackets before almost each line? Theatres don’t have in-house BSL translators, and also, translating a monologue from BSL.

Is
Still
A
Choice

Because someone in that theatre will either receive a text in English with an instruction to translate it to BSL or a BSL file which needs to be translated. But how do we as writers still have agency to make these choices in a way which serves our artistic expression?

These questions shouldn’t be hard for me.
I’ve been writing in English.
Which is my second language.
For more than 15 years.

(If you count the script I wrote when I was 15 titled Miracles do Happen which I planned to send to Warner Bros – spoilers, no one from Warner Bros contacted me. Truth be told I never sent the script – though it had a wicked theme song.)

I think to myself
These questions shouldn’t be hard
But they are
They have been

So as you can tell
I found myself
In need of
untangling

This process is
Ongoing

If I’d sign that, there wouldn’t really be a direct English translation.
But the closest one would be:

I keep going

I’ll finish with a secret, which isn’t really a secret if I’m telling it to you but let’s pretend it is. Language gives me a sense of belonging. I use language to

Build
Homes

And in the last few years, bereavement made it hard to build these homes or use language so I stopped writing for quite a long time. Being in a group with such brilliant humans working with the kind and insightful practitioners that we met has been soul nourishing.

So there you have it – a bit of me, a bit of identity and language politics and hopefully more questions for than answers – which I hope we could continue to chat about in a conversation face to face.

Lilac Yosiphon, Wellspring Writer 2021 – 2022

 

Lilac is a freelance writer-director and the artistic director of Althea Theatre. She is passionate about interdisciplinary collaborations and exploring belonging, migration and our perception of home. Writing credits include Home Sweet Home, Stratford Circus, Jackson’s Lane & ARC Stockton; Jericho’s Rose, Hope Theatre and Theatre Deli, Sheffield); One Last Thing (For Now), Old Red Lion Theatre, nominated for an Off-West-End Award for Best Ensemble; and There’s No Place, awarded Outstanding Site Specific, San Diego Fringe 2017.

Wellspring is Vital Xposure’s professional development programme for London-based disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent playwrights and script writers, funded by City Bridge Trust and delivered in partnership with Paines Plough, Bush theatre, Theatre 503 and Hampstead Theatre. 

In true icebreaker / first-day-in-rehearsals style, let’s play truths and a lie:

I am a proud working-class, chips-cheese-and-gravy-loving, disabled artist, from the North of England, with a pet stegosaurus called whiskers.

I did a happy dance in the street when I got the email telling me I had the opportunity to join Wellspring. I was so excited because I couldn’t wait to join a group of artists, learn with them and have such brilliant tutors impart their wisdom every week… Every week!

It has been a highlight to meet an astonishingly talented bunch of people and be part of such a wonderfully supportive community. It really feels like we have found and created a safe space. I feel privileged to be part of it.

I love theatre, I love watching theatre, being in a theatre, working in theatre and writing for theatre. I hope it is a safe place for people and somewhere that everyone feels like they could find home and experience magic.

For any other playwrights looking for professional development support, here are my three top tips:

• Apply for every writer’s lab, mentoring schemes or development support programmes. Every application you do will make your ability to answer questions and talk about yourself as a writer easier and it gets less and less painful every time.
• Honour your identity and individuality, no one can write like you and that in itself should be cause for celebration.
• Finally, utilise the free workshops, writer’s meets and already existing community. I learnt so much from meeting and listening to other artists, even sitting with my mic muted on Zoom over the last couple of years.

I haven’t practised talking about the play I am writing as part of Wellspring yet, I definitely don’t have my elevator pitch yet. But I will try my best especially for you: Fighting Bitch Me is a play about a woman trying to fall in love with every aspect of herself. Not much sex, some drugs and zero Rock and Roll, Fighting Bitch Me is a play about how everyday things can create mental health crises but also heal us. How did I do?!

Fighting Bitch Me and the main three characters came running at me a few months ago and wouldn’t leave me alone. They have been struggling to get out ever since and now I am lucky to be getting to know them and learning about their journeys.

If you can’t tell, I am writing this after a brilliant day spent with Fighting Bitch Me. The love I currently feel for it could change tomorrow and we could really fall out! It’s not all sunshine and roses everyday.

In other news, I am part of a theatre company called Degenerate Fox. We attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes in the Neo-Futurist aesthetic, if you would like to know more follow us on the socials @degeneratefoxuk. My debut solo show, Outside, is back for another outing later this year so follow me for any updates on that @gabriellemacph and OF COURSE come to the Wellspring sharing in late spring to see all the wonderful pieces we have been working on.

Have you guessed what the lie is?

Gabrielle MacPherson, Wellspring Writer 2021 – 2022

 

Gabrielle is an actor and writer, proudly Northern, working class and Neurodiverse. Passionate about feminist driven art and working class stories Gabrielle also believes the best form of potato is chipped with cheese and gravy.

Wellspring is Vital Xposure’s professional development programme for London-based disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent playwrights and script writers, funded by City Bridge Trust and delivered in partnership with Paines Plough, Bush theatre, Theatre 503 and Hampstead Theatre. 

When I began my career as a young actor with autism, I was – without knowing it – shy, scared and ashamed. Not of who I am, but how I am.

My experiences navigating the shape of the industry, the advice of people higher up, and the opinions of those I deemed to know better all left me with a lingering impression: to even have a shot at fitting within that shape, I had to change everything about myself. I felt my neuro-divergence as something I needed to conceal in my professional life, bury from public view and, worst of all, hide from myself.

But then I tried something else.

Writing about growing up with autism helped me be more honest with myself, positive about who I am, and when I performed my first play, the floodgates blasted open. I discovered a new landscape; an exciting movement where d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists were expressing themselves and receiving platforms they previously hadn’t had.

Last year I attended the launch of Jack Thorne’s ‘Underlying Health Condition’ campaign. Its drive to create more accessibility and opportunity for disabled people in television was beyond inspiring. My hope is that its ripples will also exact real change in theatre; not just with more disabled narratives or representation, but championing disabled artists to tell whatever stories they want.

The potential for change was riveting, but partaking in Wellspring galvanised me even further.

From the start, it was such a welcoming, supportive, and creatively enriching environment. I learned lots, from tutors and fellow participants alike, about idea generating, structure, disability theory and more. I’m grateful for every gathering, and for me the highlight was the weekend writing Lock-in. With Simon Startin’s mentorship, having the designated time to build the world of my piece was exhilarating.

The play I’m developing explores the relationship between class and having children. It follows a couple with differing class backgrounds who, after being outed at their engagement party that they want a childfree marriage, are tested on everything they value by their families…cue the juicy tension! I’m also currently on the BBC Doctors Scheme, reworking my play Turnip (a sci-fi rom-com), and soon filming a sitcom set in a cult!

I know what it’s like to be daunted about professional development: but for anyone searching for non-stressful ways about it, I can promise you they exist. Firstly, there’s writing workshops: Wildcard Theatre and DANC (Disabled Artists Networking Community) have great accessible programmes with amazing people at low/no cost. You can approach theatres or companies whose aims and work you admire, and see if they have schemes you can join (most people tend to be nice by the way). And lastly, I’d recommend checking the BBC Writersroom website and the DANC newsletter. Both list great opportunities…including this one!

I’m incredibly thankful to Vital Xposure for this whole experience. It’s given me more confidence in my abilities, lots of tools, empowerment as a writer, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds!

Robbie Curran, Wellspring Writer 2021 – 2022

 

Robbie is an actor and writer from Walthamstow. After training at the Oxford School of Drama, he has worked in Shakespeare, new writing and TV, performing his writing debut ‘Thomas’ at VAULT Festival 2019. He has also partaken in Soho Theatre Writers Lab and BBC Writersroom’s Writers Access Group.

Wellspring is Vital Xposure’s professional development programme for London-based disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent playwrights and script writers, funded by City Bridge Trust and delivered in partnership with Paines Plough, Bush theatre, Theatre 503 and Hampstead Theatre. 

Hello, my name is Fatima and I own two ring lights.

I was named after my two grandmothers, both called Fatima. They had the most extraordinary Amazigh (Berber) tattoos on their faces. The ancient Berber tradition of facial tattooing of women was a mark of cultural identity, womanhood and beauty, but is fast dying out in today’s Morocco. Fast forward to me…Fatima generation 2022… to be honest, I sometimes spend more time at my vanity desk with my ring lights obsessing over skincare than I do at my writing desk.

That said, I love plays, I could read plays for days on days, talk about plays for days on days and watch plays for days on days.

I wanted to join Wellspring so I could be with a group of people who also wanted to talk about theatre. And write plays for days on days and more importantly, to be encouraged to spend more time at my writing desk.

The biggest highlight of the programme for me has been my mentorship with Paines Plough. I was already a huge fan of some of the writers they had worked with in the past. I watched I Wanna Be Yours at the Bush Theatre in 2019 and was so excited and in love with Zia Ahmed’s writing. I recently finished reading Sabrina Mahfouz’s 2018 play, With a Little Bit of Luck, and feel so inspired and energised by her work. I was over the moon to be paired with Paines Plough. Dream. Come. True.

My three top tips to playwrights looking for professional support, is read – read – read – plays. I have learnt so much from reading, I have been moved to the brink of tears and made to roar with laughter. Last year I read, You for Me For You, by Mia Chung, and learned so much about magical realism that I started to use it in my own work. My second tip is to watch plays when you can and watch different plays, not just ones you like. Finally, it’s not a race, there will always be another job, another submission rolling around, so you can take your shot as many times as you like!

My piece for Wellspring is inspired by my father’s and my late uncle’s time in Billy Smart’s Circus. It was a very big circus in the 60’s – a 6000 seater tent, the largest in Europe and for some years the largest touring tent show in the world.

Moroccans were always present in large numbers – always as tumbling artistes and often working in the stables and as “Ring Boys” – responsible for taking props in and out of the ring during shows. They were always there in the thick of it during build up’s and pull down’s. My play, Rock the Casbah, is a love story of twin brothers who become estranged. It explores themes of class, race and love.

When I’m not watching 12 Step Skincare Routines YouTube tutorials, I am an associate artist at Stockroom (formerly known as Out of Joint), training to be a Dramaturg. Stockroom is a Theatre Writers Room dedicated to script creation and a radical new approach to playwriting. I am part of a creative team on an exciting verbatim project with writer and actor Tonderai Munyevu. I am honoured to be a mentee of the legendary screenwriter and director of the Writers’ Guild Lisa Holdsworth. At the end of last year, I landed my first telly job in a writers’ room on a Netflix Show. I do believe these are very exciting times to be an emerging writer (with ring lights!).

Fatima Serghini, Wellspring Writer 2021 – 2022

 

Fatima is an emerging West London writer. She is interested in producing stories about human diversity and inviting audiences to see worlds not accessible to them. Her stories are funny, sexy, and direct.

Wellspring is Vital Xposure’s professional development programme for London-based disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent playwrights and script writers, funded by City Bridge Trust and delivered in partnership with Paines Plough, Bush theatre, Theatre 503 and Hampstead Theatre.