Hello! I'm David
I’m a dramaturg and playwright with twenty years’ experience developing new writing. I love new plays and the processes that breathe life into them.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF PLAYWRITING, WHEREVER YOU ARE ON THE JOURNEY.
I love discovering how plays work and how writers work. That starts with you and what it is that you want to communicate through your writing.
I can read and feedback on early ideas and drafts, work closely with you one-to-one, explore more developed writing in workshops, have one-off sessions of dramaturgy or offer you mentoring over a longer period too.
The work we’ll do together isn’t about a quick fix, a direct route to production or ‘development hell’.
It’s about us getting a stronger sense of your vision, how it can arrive through your writing, and strengthening your understanding of your writing process.
Lane’s List: Information, training and opportunities for UK playwrights
Professional Experience
As a dramaturg I’ve created and run writer development schemes and workshops with Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Hull Truck, Cheltenham Everyman, Ustinov Bath, Exeter Northcott, Theatre Royal Plymouth, New Writing South and Theatre Writing South West. I’ve also read scripts for Soho Theatre, Royal Court, Sonia Friedman Productions, Hampstead Theatre, ACT Productions and Old Vic New Voices.
As a playwright I’ve written commissions for Chichester Festival Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, the egg (Theatre Royal Bath), Forest Forge, Proteus, Immediate Theatre, Shooting Fish and PK Porthcurno/The Minack. I’ve had three national tours of work with Half Moon Theatre, a regional tour with Blue Brook Productions / Tobacco Factory Theatres and a national rural tour with MultiStory / Beaford. I’ve also written for site-specific and participatory digital audio, and self-funded work via four successful Arts Council England Project Grants.
I’ve collaborated internationally on research and development projects (Doosan Art Center Seoul; British School of Beijing; Korea National University of Arts) and as dramaturg worked with award-winning devising companies including Fine Chisel, Plasticine Men, Dirty Market, Scratchworks, PECO Theatre, Theatre Rush, Multi Story and performance maker Rosie Race.
I’m Associate Lecturer on the MA Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College and have run modules in playwriting, adaptation and dramaturgy at BA and MA level at City University, Bath Spa Uni, Exeter, Bristol and Brunel University and University of South Wales. In 2010 my undergraduate textbook Contemporary British Drama was published by Edinburgh University Press, and I’ve had chapters and research articles published in Methuen Drama Series and the journal Studies for Theatre and Performance.
What people say about me
A lot of notes you often receive are simply what someone else would do with the material. David helps you turn a play into what it is supposed to be.
He has the great skill of giving amazing clear notes, whilst at the same time letting new ideas come out of you. I think because he has a practice himself he understands creative process.
I could clearly see the points in the script that needed work… reaching the rewriting stage almost felt like a natural transition and I knew exactly what to address.
How Can I Help YOU?
Find out more about how we can work together to create your strongest possible script, equip you with the tools, understanding and confidence you need to progress your own creativity, and prevent you from worrying about what’s next in the process.