the good new playwrights

Where are all the good new playwrights? asks Lyn Gardner on the Guardian's new Theatre & Performing Arts blog.

Short answer: Over here!

But the more interesting question posed by the article: Why aren't new play development schemes in the U.K working?

Answer: No idea.

The article suggests the U.S. model of play development is to blame. And I wonder if there is something to this. Because it is basically a therapeutic model. The playwright is the patient, who is helped by various professionals to come to a better understanding of his own work. The dramaturge asks questions but does not prescribe. The point is to get the playwright to stand on his own two feet. And paradoxically this process can create a combination of egotism and dependency in the playwright. The play remains a private fantasy which can never be adequately represented on stage.

(I am just letting my fingers do the walking, folks. No idea how true this is.)

During rehearsals of Yes or No!, an actor said, we are here to serve the text, and Majdi said, no, we are all (including the playwright) here to serve the production. This stance means we are faced with a number of problems which can be solved by the actors, the director, the playwright. I don't have to do it all on my own!

During rehearsals at Majdi's request I gave him a drastically cut down script and he said he would let the actors make a case for keeping lines from the first script. And the high point of the rehearsals for me was seeing a whole sequence Iva and Daniella had improvised based on a paragraph I had cut. And up on the table Iva said some of my lines, and then to Majdi: "I'm keeping that!" and to me: "Doug?" And I made a gesture I hoped would be interpreted as "Who am I to keep my lines from you, dear Iva?"