The Marlowe Writers’ Room

Led by award-winning playwright and resident Marlowe Dramaturg Leo Butler, The Marlowe Writers’ Room brings together aspiring and emerging writers in the local area.

This summer, we are offering two one-off workshops for anyone interested in learning more about playwriting, no experience necessary.

Pay What You Can

We don’t want cost to be a barrier to your involvement in these workshops. When booking your place, you’ll be able to select from a range of prices at a level that you can afford.
Recommended price £15.

Write a Play in a Day

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.

Book Wed 7 Aug, 10.30am – 5pm
Max. 20 participants.
Location: Marlowe Theatre
Age 16yrs+

Verbatim Theatre for Writers, with Alecky Blythe

‘Verbatim theatre’: A form of documentary theatre based on the recorded words of real people.

Alecky Blythe is a playwright, screenwriter and pioneer of verbatim theatre. Over the course of this one-day workshop, she will introduce writers to the fundamentals of the form and give them the tools to start creating their own work.

Book Sat 10 Aug, 10.30am – 5pm
Max. 20 participants.
Location: Marlowe Theatre
Age 16yrs+

This summer, we are offering two one-off workshops for anyone interested in learning more about playwriting.

About Leo Butler

Born and raised in Sheffield, Leo Butler is an award-winning playwright. 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.

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.

About Alecky Blythe

Alecky is a playwright and screenwriter who specialises in creating scripts using interviews recorded from real life.

She won a TimeOut Award for her first play, Come Out Eli (Arcola). Her work since has included Cruising (The Bush), The Girlfriend Experience (Royal Court/Young Vic), Fringe First-winning Do We look Like Refugees?! (Rustaveli Georgia/Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh), Little Revolution (Almeida) and A Man in a Box (Channel 4). Her innovative musical London Road (National Theatre) won the Critics’ Circle award for Best Musical. She later adapted it into a screenplay which was released in 2015. She returned to the National Theatre in 2022 with Our Generation, a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre. Her short film, Waiting for God (BFI), premiered at the London Film Festival in 2021 and her radio play Family Business recently aired on BBC Radio 4. She is currently working on a feature film and a commission for the RSC.

Previously available courses
An Introduction To Playwriting, Sat 30 Sep – Sat 16 Dec 2023
An Introduction To Playwriting, Wed 27 Sep – Wed 13 Dec 2023
An Introduction To Movie Screenwriting, Sat 20 Jan – Sat 16 Mar 2024
Write A Team Play, Wed 1 May – Wed 10 Jul 2024
An Introduction To Playwriting, Sat 14 Sep – Sat 7 Dec 2024