Box office: 020 7978 7040
Intended for playwrights who feel they have a grip on the basics and want to further hone their skills. Over the course we will explore how we can push and develop our ideas, add to our playwriting toolkit and learn how to redraft more efficiently and effectively. There’ll be writing exercises, plays to read (between the sessions) and lots to talk about.
Dates: Monday’s, 9 February – 9 March 2026
Session One – Monday 9 Feb 2026 19:00-21:30
Character – Learning from your characters; developing backstory that feels real rather than convenient; wants, needs and what else?; sharpening choices and intentions; how characters can operate in different styles of theatre.
Session Two –Monday 16 February 2026 19:00-21:30
Structure – planning versus splurging; traditional structures as tools rather than prescriptions; when a character note is actually a structure note; characters leading plot rather than plot leading characters.
Session Three – Monday 23 February 2026 19:00-21:30
Space – what your play looks like; how the use of space can affect the drama; the presence of the audience.
Session Four – Monday 2 March 2026 19:00-21:30
Dialogue and Action – how our scenes stay active; the tricks and tactics that characters use to get what they want; the relationship between language, tone, rhythm and shape.
Session Five – Monday 9 March 19:00-21:30
Surgery – an opportunity to bring problems to the group – what we’re stuck on, what we’re worried about, where we’re lost.
Running time of each session: 2.5 hours – delivered online. Maximum class sizes are 16. A portion of spaces have been reserved for Share the Drama places.
If you have any access requirements, you can let us know by filling out our Writer’s Programme Accessibility Form or contacting Theatre503 via our Writers’ Programme email, writersprogramme@theatre503.com or by calling 02079787040.
For further details of Theatre503 Accessibility, please visit the Access page of our website.
Thanks to our Share The Drama scheme, we want to make sure those of you who are struggling in the current climate can still take part in our Writers Programme. If you would like to book a Share The Drama bursary for the Writer’s Programme, please call our box office on 02079787040.
Please note, online sale will close at 5pm the day of the first session of the course.
Brad Birch
Brad Birch is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter from Mid Wales. His work has been produced in the UK, USA, Japan, Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy and Malta. In 2016, he was awarded the Harold Pinter Commission at the Royal Court. His plays are published by Methuen Drama and his first anthology, Plays One, was published in 2018.
Plays include: Falkland Sound; Missing People; Black Mountain; The Brink; Gardening for the Unfulfilled and Alienated; and Tender Bolus.
He is currently writing feature films for Film4, Meduza Meduza, Escape Plan and Duck Soup.
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