• Contact
  • About
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
North East Bylines
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
  • Region
  • Opinion
AUDIO
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
  • Region
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
North East Bylines
Home Region Co. Durham

A writer in Covid times

There’s very little happening in theatre - but just wait five minutes for that could change at any time.

Peter LathanbyPeter Lathan
12-11-2020 16:54 - Updated On 06-04-2022 13:35
in Co. Durham, Economy, North East, Northumberland, Opinion, Performance, Politics, Region, Teesside, Tyneside, UK, Wearside
Reading Time: 4 mins
A A
Rehearsals

Play by Peter Lathan Photo supplied and used with permission

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I’m a writer. It’s what I do. I write pieces like this for North East Bylines; I write translations of poems from Latin, French, German and, very occasionally because my knowledge of the language isn’t that good, from Welsh which I put on my blog; I write news stories and theatre-related stories for the British Theatre Guide; I review straight and musical theatre, opera and contemporary dance for the BTG; I write and contribute to books about theatre, but first and foremost, I’m a playwright.

There’s very little happening in theatre – but just wait five minutes for that could change at any time as the government keeps changing its mind, knee-jerking to everything that catches our masters’ attention – so news and reviews are very thin on the ground, and as for writing new plays…

I’ve written full-length plays and short plays, historical plays and modern plays, plays for children and plays for adults, pantos and musicals, plays for school and youth theatre, plays for professional and amateur performance – I first met the NE Bylines editor when she assisted backstage on an outdoor community production of my version of The Mysteries, my first professional commission back in 1975 – and, in the eight months since I began shielding (aka self-isolating), I have written five plays.

Well, that’s not quite true. I have begun to write five plays but by the time I got to page 5 (or even earlier) in each of them I ground to a halt: nothing, nowt, sweet FA, zilch, big fat zero, dim byd, dad, rud ar bith, rien, nichts, nada, niente and so on through every language on earth.

The poetry translations are fine. I have no problems there – other, obviously, than the normal problems of trying to transfer the nuances of one language into another – and the only problem I have writing news stories is working up the energy actually to start, most crudely expressed, I suppose, by ‘getting my arse in gear.’ But writing a play – and, to a lesser extent, reviewing an online performance – is different.

I have never been what you might call a ‘solo’ playwright, someone who writes at home and then simply hands over the script. Until far too many years of far too much smoking took its toll on my lungs, I was a director as well as a writer, developing the piece in association with, for example, an assistant director, or developing/devising scenes with company members.

Theatre is, after all, a collaborative art form; what we see on a stage is the result of director, actors, designer and others bringing their unique insights and understanding to the playwright’s script and the wise playwright listens to them, takes their thoughts and insights on board, incorporating them in some way into the play.

There’s a tremendous atmosphere in a rehearsal room in a development/devising session. It can be exciting, emotional, intellectually stimulating – but it’s always fun! For the playwright it can be exhilarating or depressing. If it’s the latter, there’s the big consolation of a number of minds with different sensibilities coming at the problem from different directions and if they solve it, it’s magic, but if they don’t… Well, it was probably wrong anyway and it’s better to know that now when something can be done about it easily than later when, perhaps, it will disrupt the rest of the play.

And then there were the meetings with my assistant director in the Settle Down Café in Newcastle where we’d sit for hours drinking gallons of tea and eating tons of cake. I remember one such marathon which completely changed the structure of one play, breaking down the brick wall which I’d been bashing my head against for a week.

Is it really any wonder that I keep stalling?

I miss theatre – and theatres. I miss the atmosphere and ambience, and, of course, the people. Even theatre bars, whether it’s the plushness of the Dress Circle bar in Sunderland Empire, the Edfringe-like crush that is Newcastle’s Alphabetti or the modern buzz of the bar at Northern Stage where you’ll always find theatre-makers deep in discussion of beavering away at a laptop, have a ‘feel’ which is totally unlike any pub or hotel.

Until we can get back to a more normal life, here’s one writer who’s going to have to stick to more solitary writing pursuits whilst mourning over the (hopefully temporary) hole left in his life where theatre used to be.

Tags: CultureLockdown
Previous Post

Logics of corruption: the UK state response to the Covid-19 crisis

Next Post

The Emperor’s New Clothes at Northern Stage

Peter Lathan

Peter Lathan

Peter Lathan first appeared on stage in a school play at the age of 13 in 1956 when he played Marion in Sean O’Casey’s Cock-a-Doodle-Dandy. He first directed a play – Chekhov’s The Anniversary – in 1966. He has been involved in theatre ever since. He has taught Drama in schools, youth theatres and stage schools, whilst also running drama classes for recovering addicts and adults with severe learning disabilities. He has written more than 35 plays and directed over 70 from site-specific Shakespeare to touring pantos, from new writing to classic plays, from Theatre in Education to corporate productions. He is the author of It’s Behind You: The Story of Panto. He has been, variously, artistic director of theatre company KG Productions (2000 – 2016), chairman of the board of the Wearabout Theatre Company of Sunderland, and a Trustee of the Customs House in South Shields (9 years) and of No Limits Theatre Company, a professional company for adults with a learning disability In 2001 he founded the online British Theatre Guide which he edited for 11 years. He remains its North East editor.

Related Posts

Conservative logo on Union flag
Opinion

Immigration policy: how the party of family values truly values your family

byRobin Tudge
December 8, 2023
Newcastle Civic Centre 
Tyneside

Newcastle City Council unveils youth justice plan

byStephen Lambert
December 8, 2023
Gaza Oct 23
Opinion

Gaza’s statistics of death

byDavid Keys
December 7, 2023
hands holding candle
Community

75 years since Universal Declaration of Human Rights: celebration at Sunderland Minster

byNorth East Bylines
December 6, 2023
Margaret Thatcher
North East

In praise of Thatcher: has Starmer gone too far?

byJulia Mazza
December 5, 2023
Next Post
Promo photo used with permission.

The Emperor's New Clothes at Northern Stage

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

Subscribe to our newsletters
CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
Follow us on social media
CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
Download our app
ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
Subscribe to our gazette
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
Make a monthly or one-off donation
DONATE NOW
Help us with our hosting costs
SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
We are always looking for citizen journalists
WRITE FOR US
Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
VOLUNTEER FOR US
Something else?
GET IN TOUCH
Previous slide
Next slide

LATEST

Conservative logo on Union flag

Immigration policy: how the party of family values truly values your family

December 8, 2023
Newcastle Civic Centre 

Newcastle City Council unveils youth justice plan

December 8, 2023
Riders on the storm by author Alastair McIntosh

Book Review: Riders on the Storm by Alastair McIntosh

December 7, 2023
The word humanity

Remember the call

December 7, 2023
Gaza Oct 23

Gaza’s statistics of death

December 7, 2023
hands holding candle

75 years since Universal Declaration of Human Rights: celebration at Sunderland Minster

December 6, 2023

MOST READ

David Lammy

Lammy’s mood music – sidestepping towards Rejoin?

December 2, 2023
Margaret Thatcher

In praise of Thatcher: has Starmer gone too far?

December 5, 2023
Gaza Oct 23

Gaza’s statistics of death

December 7, 2023
Polling station

Proportional Representation vs First Past the Post

November 6, 2022 - Updated On May 23, 2023

BROWSE BY TAGS

Audio Beach Brexit Business castle leazes climate activism Co. Durham comedy cost of living crisis Culture defra democracy ducklings Economy Education Environment fire and rescue firefighter Food & Drink food poverty hardwick festival Health Health & Care Home Affairs just stop oil Lifestyle Local Lockdown Northumberland Peace peoples theatre Performance Politics pride month refugee rescue Science Teesside the good life TV & Radio Tynemouth Tyneside Ukraine volunteer Wearside

We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in the North East and beyond.

North East Bylines is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a partner organisation to Byline Times.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Authors
  • Complaints
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Letters
  • Privacy
  • Network Map
  • Network RSS Feeds
  • Submission Guidelines

© 2023 North East Bylines. Powerful Citizen Journalism

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • UK News
    • Transport
    • World News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Poetry
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Technology
    • Trade
  • Donate
  • Newsletter sign up
  • Boriiis Cartoons
  • Authors
  • Audio
CROWDFUNDER

© 2023 North East Bylines. Powerful Citizen Journalism

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In