Description
Writing: Exercises in Paying Attention
with Ella Road
In this fast-paced script-writing workshop we will explore how to look at, listen to and feel through the world around us as a means to being more creative as a writer.
We will spend time finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and equipping ourselves with the means to invent ‘something’ from ‘nothing’, as well as examining how careful observation and attention to detail can help us to flesh out and deepen already existing writing work.
We will look at how to find stories in the everyday things; how to see characters everywhere we go (& in our own heads); how to get inside our characters’ minds and hear their voices; and how to extrapolate our own personal experiences so that we can write outside of our own lives, while still holding onto a sense of truth.
There’s a whole world to explore. Let’s look at it.
When:
Monday 13th September
Time: 2 - 5pm
Where: Wildcard Studios, 18 Balderton Street, W1K 6TG
About Ella:
Ella is a writer and actor from London, working across Theatre, TV, Film & Radio. She also occasionally releases poetry.
Ella’s debut play THE PHLEBOTOMIST went on at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in 2018 to critical acclaim before transferring to its main stage in 2019. It was nominated for an Olivier Award, and was also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and was adapted into a radio-play for BBC Radio3. Her next play FAIR PLAY (Bush Theatre) was due to premier in 2020, as was HOW TO EAT AN ELEPHANT (Theatre Royal Plymouth), but both have been postponed due to COVID-19 (dates TBA!). Theatre-wise, Ella is writing new play commissions for the Almeida Theatre and Hampstead Theatre.
On the screen side, Ella has just finished writing on the British series of CALL MY AGENT (Bron/Headline) for which she wrote two episodes. She is currently working on the next series of DOCTOR WHO. She is also working on her own TV projects with Drama Republic and Element Pictures, and is writing a feature film with Liberty Films & Film4.
When she’s not in the engine room, Ella also mentors and teaches creative writing - from youth courses, to emerging writers, to work in prisons with Synergy Theatre. Ella is interested in arts advocacy, challenging some of the negative power structures in the industry, and empowering people to shape a healthier and more equitable arts ecology. She is also part of the London Theatre Consortium’s ‘Climate Lab’, looking at how we can move to making theatre more sustainably from an environmental perspective.
Ella trained at the Oxford School of Drama. She was a Soho Theatre Young Writer 2017/18, a Bush Theatre Emerging Writer 2018/19, and on the BBC Drama Writers Programme 2019/20.
Bursaries:
At Wildcard we believe everyone should have the chance to be creative. We want all our courses to be as open and inclusive as possible to anyone that wants to take part. We are aware that the cost of workshops and regular training is a key barrier in our industry for many people.
With this in mind, we are pleased to be able to offer 2 free places on each course.
If you are interested, please fill in this form where you can tell us a bit about yourself and let us know which course you are interested in:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMZPdEzRhWXxhfPEco-bue81dE76VWytjVUIu9u0xytD495A/viewform?usp=sf_link
Bursary places will be offered out no later than 2 weeks before the course begins.
For further enquiries please email [email protected]
