Write a Play in a Day
Part of the Writers' Room Festival.
How long does it take to write a play? Neil Simon spent three years on his first; it took Harold Pinter just four days. By the end of just one day, guided by our dramaturg, Leo Butler, you will have written a script of your own.
This event takes place in the Barretts Bar.
Leo Butler
Born and raised in Sheffield, Leo Butler is an award-winning playwright and the Marlowe’s resident dramaturg. His debut play, Made of Stone, was produced at the Royal Court Theatre’s Young Writers’ Festival in 2000. In 2001, he won the George Devine Award for Redundant, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs. Leo followed Redundant with Lucky Dog (2004) and Faces in the Crowd (2008), also staged at the Royal Court. Living will be premier at Sheffield Playhouse next year.
As the Writers’ Tutor for the Royal Court’s Young Writers’ Programme between 2006 and 2014, Leo taught and mentored a new generation of acclaimed playwrights. Other career highlights include the critically acclaimed Boy for the Almeida Theatre, I’ll Be The Devil for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Early Bird for the Queen’s Theatre Belfast, All You Need is LSD (which toured the UK with Told By an Idiot), a new version of Woyzeck written for the Birmingham Rep, and Cinderella for Theatre Royal Stratford East. Leo co-composed (with Dan Persad) and performed in Alison! A Rock Opera at the Royal Court, King’s Head Theatre and in live music venues across London. Other work includes three plays written specifically for teenagers: Decades (Brit School/Bridge Theatre Company), Devotion (Theatre Centre), and Innocent Creatures (NT Connections). Film and TV work includes Self Made (Gillian Wearing/UK Film Council) and Jerusalem the Golden (BBC Four). Leo has a number of new stage and screen projects in development. His plays are published as single editions and as anthologies by Bloomsbury.