Written off: Part 2

An open letter to theatre professionals and Artistic Directors

I recently posted a blog about how many writer development opportunities are for young people only, and how older emerging writers feel shut out by theatres.

The response I had was overwhelming.

There is a tidal wave of anger from writers who are excluded from opportunities that didn’t exist for us when we were younger.

Focusing resources on a tiny demographic of an ageing population does not make sense.

It’s time to make a change and you can help.

Any form of discriminatory practice is unacceptable, and the arts world often leads the way in breaking down barriers.  

At the moment a vast number of development opportunities being offered by theatres are not open to people over the age of 25-30. But surely the goal in theatre should be to find the best ‘new’ voices and that doesn’t have to mean ‘young’ voices.

Although there are many opportunities that are age-blind, there is a growing suspicion that by ticking boxes on equality monitoring forms older writers are condemning themselves to the rejection heap. Even when an opportunity is not age restricted, it’s often younger writers who seem to benefit most, causing a suspicion of surreptitious ageism.

However, given the amount of developmental support offered to young writers it could simply be that they are then able to produce work that is tailored to current theatre trends more closely than writers struggling to develop their work in an unsupported void.

One truly unsettling thing that came out of the discussion my blog prompted was how the practice of shutting out older writers had a disproportionate effect on women and on people from working class backgrounds.

I understand that in many cases the age limit of development opportunities is down to the funding available to theatres. And this is where you can help.

We are asking that you challenge the trusts, charities and organisations that fund your writer development projects, and that you commit to exploring further opportunities for older writers.

People emerge creatively at all ages and at all stages of life, so please make it your artistic policy to strive to support all emerging writers with development opportunities so theatre can truly reflect a broad range of voices and life experiences.    

Written off!

I’m old!

I don’t feel old. In fact I don’t feel any different to when I was in my twenties – well maybe a bit smarter and more willing to question the world.  

BUT – as a playwright trying to make my mark on the industry in my fifties I feel truly ancient as there are so many opportunities which are for Young Writers usually under 25.

Which would be fine if those opportunities had been there for me when I was 25, but they weren’t. I come from a very non-arts background and it took me years to find my way into drama school. Then when I realized that writing was what I wanted to do I set up my own company and very quickly was commissioned to write over 30 plays that have been seen by over half a million people. But they were educational theatre, and paid me a much needed wage until I reached a point of security where I was able to start my push towards writing for theatre.

And I’ve done OK, self-producing with Arts Council support. But now I’ve hit a wall, and I’m banging my head against it trying to find support to move to the next level.

There are a few amazing people out there who have given me support, but I still see a strong push to support Young Writers everywhere, as if at my age I should know all there is to know. But I don’t.

I wonder if there’s an issue with the fact that some of the people I need help from are younger than me. I don’t have a problem asking for help from anyone who has knowledge that I don’t, but I wonder if people feel more comfortable supporting people younger than themselves?

I feel like I’m fighting against the saying, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ – but sod that! I am hungrier now to gain new skills and to access new knowledge than ever before. And that is I suppose in part because of my age. I am aware of the number of years I might have left to achieve things in – which I was blissfully ignorant of when I was 25.

So apparently age does matter – it makes me hungrier than ever to achieve amazing things, but it also makes it much harder for people to see me as worthy of support.

It feels like ageism is the last acceptable prejudice, but I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.

Any thoughts?