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APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED FOR 2025
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Our flagship writing course for playwrights/writers/actors
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9 x online monthly sessions hosted via Zoom
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Write a short play and develop a full-length play or solo piece
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Support from our artistic team and guest mentors
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Course Fee: £160 for 9 sessions
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DEADLINE: SATURDAY 11TH JANUARY 2025
Playwrights Hive
What is the Playwrights Hive?
The Playwrights Hive is a writers programme designed to help playwrights develop their craft and support them in writing a new full-length play. During 9 online monthly sessions, this nurturing community will give you the chance to receive guidance from our experienced mentors, share your ideas with peers and showcase your writing within the group. Through a combination of practical tasks, discussion and group writing time, the Hive will equip you with the tools to write with purpose, structure and creativity.
During the Hive, all playwrights will:
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Write a short play and develop a full-length work with support from our artistic team.
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Receive guidance on genre, story, structure, dialogue, characterisation and theme.
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Benefit from sessions on redrafting and receive feedback on your work.
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Be part of an online discourse group and form a network with other playwrights.
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Learn about working practices from professional directors, producers and writers.
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Receive specialist career support and advice on submitting your writing to theatres.
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Develop your skills, writing style and knowledge of the new writing theatre industry.
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Shape your unique voice as a writer by receiving guidance from our mentors.
Who is the Hive suitable for?
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The Hive is aimed at early career and emerging writers who wish to discover and nurture their own unique voice for the stage.
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Playwrights should have some previous experience of writing for stage or screen - whether that’s a monologue, short play or in longer format - and be committed to furthering their practice. The Hive is also suitable for actors wishing to develop their own material for performance.
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The founding principles of The Hive are to support, encourage and empower writers to unlock their potential in a friendly and welcoming environment.
Who runs the online sessions?
Sessions are led by members of our artistic team and regular guest mentors, who have had their work staged at leading new writing venues including the Arcola Theatre, Theatre503, Omnibus Theatre, The Pleasance, Old Red Lion Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre, as well as having been involved in new writing groups at the Royal Court Theatre, New Writing South and RADA.
Playwrights Hive - 2025 Dates:
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Saturday 22nd February (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 29th March (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 26th April (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 31st May (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 28th June (10.30am-1pm)
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(Writing Break in July)
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Saturday 30th August (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 27th September (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 25th October (10.30am-1pm)
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Saturday 29th November (10.30am-1pm)
Playwrights Hive - 2025 Course Fees / Deadline:
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£160 for 9 monthly sessions
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To apply, please follow the link at the top of the page to submit a short writing extract.
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DEADLINE: SATURDAY 11th JANUARY 2025
Writer Testimonials:
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James McDermott, writer of the acclaimed ‘Time and Tide’ at the Park Theatre:
“Broken Silence Theatre provided me with detailed feedback on my play ‘Fifty Years’, which helped me re-see the play and find the story I wanted to write behind the story I'd written. They’ve helped me develop my craft and build my profile as a playwright and have supported many other writers to grow and connect.”
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Rachel Tookey, winner of Methuen Drama/Marlowe Society ‘Other Prize’ for ‘Bromley Bedlam Bethlehem’:
“The support and feedback I’ve received from Broken Silence Theatre meant I could unabashedly call myself a writer and gave me the confidence to be bigger and bolder with my own writing. It helped take the pressure off, and get me back to a space where I could be living and enjoying my writing.”
Further Information (including T&C's):
- The Hive is for participants aged 18+
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All sessions take place on Zoom. A link will be sent to you in advance of each session with login instructions.
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You should have access to a quiet room or space with no other people present to take part in sessions.
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Due to the structure of the sessions, and their collaborative nature, full attendance is recommended.
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Places on the Hive cannot be transferred or deferred.
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Course Fees for the Playwrights Hive are non-refundable.