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The Skeleton Key - Publication
Unlocking the secrets of writing outstanding plays for and by young people
Edited by Joe Sumsion
This publication has been made possible with the generous support of:
Arts Council England
The Foyle Foundation
The Granada Foundation
North West Playwrights
The Skeleton Key is for anyone - writers, directors, teachers, students interested in making new plays which have a writer at the heart of the process.
The book contains contributions from some of
the UK’s leading writers and companies working
in young people’s theatre. It is both inspirational
and practical, offering rare insights, techniques
and approaches.
The Skeleton Key offers writers, theatre-makers and teachers an insight into how leading professional theatre-makers practice their craft.
The book focuses on new plays and has three broad sections. Firstly, it asks five leading companies to unpick one of their productions, revealing some of the key steps to how it was written and made. Then Charles Way, one of the UK’s leading writers for young people, offers a very personal insight into his process and the challenges he faces as a writer. Finally, the book explores a number of approaches which are being taken to encourage young writers, including a vivid account of one eighteen year old woman's journey to becoming a writer.
These contributions are framed by two pieces: Lyn Gardner’s look at a range of approaches to working with writers and John Retallack’s reflection on the essence of quality in young people's theatre.
The contributions reveal a thirst amongst young people, companies and writers to work collaboratively. Two key questions emerge in the book: how best can a collaborative process use an individual writer, and where is the space for the individual writer to develop his or her own unique vision?
The Skeleton Key grew out of a three day festival, The Lockpickers’ Ball, which took place in Liverpool in 2006. Our thanks go to the contributors, supporters and delegates who made that event possible.
Joe Sumsion - Editor
Artistic Director/Chief Executive
Action Transport Theatre Company
Order A Physical Copy...
The Skeleton Key is available to purchase in hard copy for only
£10.00 plus £1.50 p&p - to order your copy, please contact us directly.
Download A FREE Electronic Copy...
The Skeleton Key is also available in .pdf (Portable Document Format). If you would like to obtain a copy please follow the instructions below.
1) To view the .pdf document you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Most users already have this free software installed, if you have, please skip to step 3.
2) If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download and install it free from the Adobe website here.
3) Due to the filesize (3MB) you must download this 100 page document to your local machine for viewing (opening online will take some considerable time). Please be friendly to the environment and only print this document if you have to - if you're after a printed version, why not buy a physical copy of the book?
4) To save the book, right click HERE and select 'Save this link as...' from the popup menu that will show. When your web-browser asks where to place the file, select a directory on your hard disk where you can find it back later.
5) Return to your desktop, locate the file on your hard disk and open accordingly to view on your computer.
