Training Opportunity / Free Yorkshire Playwriting Course from Freedom Studios

Freedom Studios are looking for distinctive voices and new perspectives with an ability to write and the potential to develop.

Under the guidance of playwright and previous course attendee Zodwa Nyoni (Boi Boi is Dead,  Leeds Playhouse, Tiata Fahodzi, & Watford Palace Theatre), the theatre company are looking for writers who may have been writing creatively in other forms and are looking to broaden their skills. All applicants must have a  willingness to take risks and try out new ideas along with a commitment to attend all course dates.

In return Freedom Studios are offering writing workshops over a period of 6 months, masterclasses and Q&A’s with experienced creatives; support and advice from theatre-makers and industry professionals; opportunities to see plays, events and performances and the chance to see a performance of your work.

Freedom Studios co-Artistic Directors Alex Chisholm and Aisha Khan said:

‘Developing new writers is about developing the theatre of the future. So, it is with particular delight we are launching Street Voices 8, our new writers’ course, this October. Playwright Zodwa Nyoni will be joining us again as tutor on the course, who went through the course herself as a young(er) writer. Our region has a wealth of talent and potential and we look forward to hearing from writers wanting to take that extra step to expand their experience and become the strong, diverse new generation of theatre.’

Previous attendees of the course who have gone on to write for professional theatre have included Kat Rose Martin (winner of Kay Mellor Fellowship, Leeds Playhouse), Chris O’Connor (The Parting Glass, Red Ladder Theatre), Gemma Beadeau (who is currently under commission with Freedom Studios) and Ben Tagoe (When We Were Brothers, Freedom Studios).

Playwright Gemma Beadeau who attended last year’s Street Voices 7 said:

‘Street voices was an incredibly affirming  experience. Freedom Studios have created a really safe space to learn; and I learnt so much about narrative. There is literally nothing that our writing mentor Zodwa Nyoni didn’t know about shaping a story.

We were encouraged to be bold, brave and ambitious, and I was in great company with other brilliant writers whose feedback and work pushed me to take my loose idea to a play I’m really proud of.  If you can apply it’ll be life-changing.’

Beginning in October and running through till March next year, the course will be run online via Zoom but should guidance change nearer the time sessions will run in Bradford as normal in adherence with government guidelines. This decision will also be made in consultation with the tutor and participants.

To apply for the Street Voices 8 writing course, all applicants must be over 18, based in Yorkshire and must have some level of writing experience. Individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are actively encouraged to apply. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 17 August. Applicants selected for interview will be informed by 28 August and interviews will take place either in Bradford or via Zoom week commencing 7 September.

The Street Voices 8 writing workshops will run from 10 Oct 2020 till 6 March 2021.

Bradford-based Freedom Studios is an award-winning intercultural theatre company, which connects different people and communities through story-telling and making theatre. Engagement is intrinsic to their work, and communities are at the heart of what they do. Their recent site-specific productions include The Mill – City of Dreams; Brief Encounters at Bradford Interchange; Home Sweet Home, North Country and most recently the critically acclaimed Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile.

For further details on how to apply for the course please visit https://www.freedomstudios.co.uk/opportunities/street-voices-8/

Tutor: Zodwa Nyoni

Zodwa Nyoni is a Zimbabwean born playwright, poet, screenwriter and director.

Zodwa started writing poetry with Leeds Young Authors, a youth performance poetry organisation. She has held poetry residencies at: Ilkely Literature Festival (2013), I Love West Leeds Festival (2010) and BBC Radio Leeds (2006). She has toured nationally and internationally, performing at venues such as British Museum, Venezuelan Embassy, Latitude Festival, Southbank Centre, eKhaya Multi Arts Centre (Durban), National Gallery Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Nuyorican Poets Café (New York, USA) and Historic Hampton House (Miami, USA).  She is taught poetry and theatre workshops extensively for universities, schools, colleges, organisations, and theatres.

In 2014, she won the Channel 4 Playwright’s Scheme with her play, Boi is Dead. It was produced by Leeds Playhouse, Tiata Fahodzi, & Watford Palace Theatre in 2015; and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014/15.

Her theatre credits also include: Nine Lives (2014, Oron Mor),  Phone Home (2016, Upstart Theatre, Pathos München & Highway Productions), Weathered Estates (2017, Hull City of Culture), Borderline (2017, Young Vic),  Ode to Leeds (2017, Leeds Playhouse), Duty (2018,Paines Plough & National Trust) and Beneath the City (2019,Upstart Theatre) Her plays are published with Bloomsbury.  She is currently under commission at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Kiln Theatre and LAMDA.

Her radio credits include: Conversations on a Bench : Leeds (BBC Radio 4), A Khoisan Woman (2019, Drama on 3) and  Love Again (2016, BBC Radio 3). Her first short film credits include, Mahogany (2018, National Trust/24 Design Ltd), On Belonging (2019, Young Vic),  Notes On Being A Lady (2019,Tyneside Cinema/ BBC Arts), and The Ancestors (TBC, BBC Films/BFI Film Hub North).