Hello Everyone! I'm new to this forum but have entered the competition and wait in anticipation like the rest of ya! The play I submitted is a comedy, (I hope!) I have written a manuscript for a novel and half completed a few scripts that I can see as major TV successes!! (Just have to convince those that matter!) I haven't had any commercial success, my novel was rejected eight times but I don't think I'm kidding myself when I use 'sending to the wrong people' as my comfort line. It's so hard to get established. I love writing, always have, but it's getting that break we writer's dream about. The pen is mightier than the sword though, so I will push on, (any way, I've never even tried fencing!)I will get there!

When you consider the financial risk of putting on an unknown playwright's work... It's all down to contcts and getting people to believe in your work!

I like to think they will select plays on quality, rather than who is backing it

Undoubtedly, TPTT will – that’s the nature of the competition. I was making an over generalisation about production companies.

JaysPlays is correct. Think of X-Factor, Pop Idol, Fame Academy and all the other one's I've missed, the competition's about finding talent that has not necessarily got contacts or even thought of having a career in that field.

Hi Diddod

We've all kicked this 'Pop Idol' comparison around, and I'm still far from convinced that it's a fair comparison.

If I have one small concern about this competition, it's my belief that 'The Play's The Thing' - I genuinely think that the whole point of this programme is to take a complete unknown no-hoper and to prove they can make a play out of whatever s/he writes.

In other words - "aren't the Producers, Directors, Designers, Crew and Cast of a WE theatre thoroughly expert people - to be able to produce this show even though the writer's an untrained, raw, absolute nobody".

Don't get me wrong - I'd love to do it, if only for the experience, otherwise I wouldn't have entered - but I don't think it's about finding talent; otherwise, why rule out anyone who's ever had ANYTHING done pro? If I wanted to find talent I might perhaps have made the rule that any writer could apply PROVIDED they had never had a play run for more than 3 professional weeks, or had had no more than 1 professional production, or something!

I wouldn't have automatically omitted a huge chunk of talent with that 'no pro' condition - unless, of course, I was looking for something really, really raw.

( As I've written before - can anyone tell me, without looking it up, who wrote the stageplay for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? For Lion King? For Billy Elliott? Such is the celebrity of the writer! )

At least all of us who don't make the shortlist will be able to fal back on "I was clearly too good" ...

quote:

but I don't think it's about finding talent;

Not necessarily, anyway!

When I said talent I ment New talent, a professional is Old talent?

Personally I don't think a badly written play (or bad writer) could be masked by the production crew.

Hi Diddod

Hmmmm ... not sure.

I'm not suggesting they'll deliberately go out of their way to choose a donkey - although that might make the programme interesting! - just that I don't think this is actually about the writer!

You could be right, having re-read TPTT's home page.

Doesn't mean it wouldn't be a gas, and it doesn't mean it won't lead somewhere - but I think by the end of the show you'll know as much (if not more) about theatre than the 'playright'.

But how can they deduce what someone's personality is from their submission?

I really fail to understand where you get these ideas from.

Why I do believe I have. You do strike me as someone who thinks that the moon landings were faked, Roswell was a cover up and Elvis, who was probably responsible for both, sells newspapers at your local station.

Hi Moonbird

Do you want to know a secret? The really good TPTT folks here - me. Jay, LML, Playfull, Crampy etc, and some others - we talk to each other off this Forum. And we've all decided that your take on this is weird; illogical, insulting to C4 et al, and to us. So why don't you do do us, and C4, and Screenstage and everyone else a favour, and take your dumb ideas and hang ups and prejudice somewhere else and sod off!

Or ... you could have something constructive to say about our project. The gauntlet is down - up to you!

BTW - that's the second time I've seen you be patronising toward LML; do it one more time and I'll be forced to suggest you and I meet face to face so I can meet you somewhere and beat seven bells of sh*t out of you. Nothing personal. you understand!

Way to go Sir Adamant!

Thanks Playfull, but it was only obvious!

Most writing competitions exclude those with professional experience / success (or a certain degree of it) because it doesn't fit with the idea of a writing competition for amateurs. TPTT is hardly alone in that.

On the question of ‘what kind writer are TPTT looking for?’.

It occurred to me that the idea of the programs is actually to follow all the backstage difficulties in mounting a West End production, warts an all. So maybe they need to use a 'new' writer purely because an established writer might not want to be exposed in this manner, with the subsequent risk of damage to their reputation.

It might be that the ‘new writer’ competition element of the program is only incidental.

Playfull

Could be! All I know is ... we're guessing for several months!

Agreed Adman,

I just felt like posting something TPTT related.

I wonder if the short lister will only be filmed by a crew or will they also have to make a video diary?

I wonder if the short lister will give a damn!