FOUNDATION COURSE DATES FOR 2024 - 2025

THE COURSE

 

The aim of the Foundation Course is to provide writers with the key tools required to develop a dramatic script.

 

The major focus in every session is how to write a dramatic scene.

 

The course is led by two professional writing tutors, Renata Allen and Ed Rowett, who will both be in the room for every session. Each brings their own perspective to the course with Renata highly experienced in theatre work and Ed also specialising in TV and Radio.

 

The course consists of six all-day sessions (10.30 – 5.30) running between January and June 2025. Places are limited in order to create a small group so that each individual gets time for significant feedback as they develop their scenes and ideas. The course takes place in a large, light and airy room above Vincent’s, an Oxford University club, in the centre of Oxford.

 

Between sessions you will be asked to write a dramatic scene that you will send in advance to the group. These scenes will be discussed and sometimes read aloud to provide you with supportive feedback. By the end of the course, we aim to equip you to write a full-length play or script that you may wish to work on alone or as part of a further Oxford Playwriting course.

 

Before the course begins you will need to read four plays that we will be referring to in the first session. For each subsequent class you will be asked to read two plays or scripts that will be discussed in the class, relating to specific aspects of playwriting. You will also read the scenes sent to you by fellow members of the group.

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Session 1

Structure and Form

This session looks at the types of theatre plays that one can write; various genres and forms; and where a writer looks for inspiration. It then delves into defining specifically what makes a scene dramatic on stage.

 

Session 2

Character and dialogue

This session explores approaches to developing characters, their voices and how they interact with other characters physically and through dialogue. What must happen to the characters in a scene for it to be dramatic?

 

Session 3

Story and Plot

We will investigate classic ways to develop a story – how to make choices related to the development of plot. We will then focus on writing an opening and a closing dramatic scene for a play.

 

Session 4

Writing for Radio and Television

We will look at adapting your writing to diverse mediums, and the different skills required for each form. For this session we will focus on writing dramatic scenes specifically for Radio and Television, and across various genres.

 

Session 5

Developing an idea into a script

For this session you will be asked to present an idea for Theatre, TV or Radio. You will bring the first two scenes of a potential script and an outline of how your idea develops. You will pitch your idea to John Retallack, who will attend this session, and you will hear your scenes read aloud by professional actors.

 

Session 6

Presenting your script

In this session you will get feedback on the ideas you presented in the last session. We will then focus on the formats of presentation required for TV, Radio and Theatre scripts and ways to approach different organisations. We will then focus on the resources, opportunities, courses and prizes that are available for writers. We will evaluate our work over the last six months and discuss how each writer might best move forward.

 

 

THE TUTORS
RENATA ALLEN & ED ROWETT

 

Renata Allen

 

Renata works in theatre as a writer, a dramaturg, a director and an actor. She co-founded Oxford Playwriting with John Retallack in 2015 and led the Young Writers Playmaker programme at Oxford Playhouse for seven years until 2023.

As a writer she won the TMA Regional Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People for The Magic Storybook and has had other plays performed (for adults and young audiences alike) at The Oxford Playhouse, The Unicorn Theatre, London, Hampstead Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Oldham Coliseum and on tour in the UK. Recent commissions include five Christmas shows for The Story Museum (2017 to 2022) and two summer touring shows for The People’s Theatre Collective (2021 and 2024). Most recent directing work includes Laura Wade's The Watsons for Pegasus Theatre, Oxford and Tales from the Lighthouse for Little Seeds Music which is touring until 2025. As well as professional productions, she directed many plays as a Director of Drama in two major London schools. She regularly performs in staged readings of writers’ work at The Old Fire Station.

 

Ed Rowett

 

Ed is an experienced writer, dramaturg, and actor. His sitcom Reluctant Persuaders ran for four series on Radio 4, winning an Audio Drama Award for Best Scripted Comedy. He has also written dramas and documentaries for the station. On television, he has served as script editor on shows for the BBC and Channel 4, most recently on the sitcom Hullraisers.

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He also teaches sitcom writing at The Comedy School in London. He has written several plays for young people, and regularly performs new writing at Oxford’s Old Fire Station.

 

Course fee: £1500. Discounts are available for younger or unemployed writers.

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OXFORD PLATFORMS

 

The finished plays of Advanced students are regularly staged at The Old Fire Station in Oxford, performed by professional actors and directed by John Retallack. You are most welcome to attend these public performances.

 

Coming next, OXFORD PLAYWRITING presents:

 

21.11.2024

LIZZIE ON THE FENCE by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart

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27.2.2025

WOYTEK by Mark Vegh

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15.5.2025

THE AGENCY by Nick Marston

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19.6.2025

THE PUNCHLINE by Holly Morgan

 

In addition, from 5.2.2025--22.2.2025

MARIUPOL by Katia Haddad

Runs at The Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone

(see flyers on separate mails)

 

END

31.10.2024

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LOCATION

 

Vincent’s Club Dining Room, 1A King Edward Street, Oxford OX1 4HS

(This is just off Oxford High Street where there is nearby parking, convenient public transport and wheelchair access)