What unfolds when playwrights bring their scripts into a room full of curious and creative theatre-makers? How can fresh perspectives from fellow writers and dramaturgs help a script grow? We’re excited to bring you the second edition of our Playwright–Dramaturg Sharing & Social, a cosy, no-pressure evening focused on sharing work, exchanging thoughts, and seeing where the conversation takes us.This time, we’re centring the session around a Community Script Circle, where two works-in-progress by pl
TOOLS returns for a second edition following its successful 2025 run! Led by New York-based playwright Sean Dunnington, this workshop series is designed for playwrights curious about theatricality, the unique magic of theatre that invites audiences to “believe” what they see on stage is true to life even while knowing it is not real.Across five sessions, participants explore theatrical principles such as substitution, stage illusion, the fourth wall, and how space and time shape a play’s structure. Each wor
Engage-a-Dramaturg is a new initiative matching playwrights and dramaturgs for a 4-month collaboration. This programme aims to:Bring together and build relationships between playwrights and dramaturgs who may not have had opportunities to work together before Encourage extended script development conversations between playwrights and dramaturgs Provide space for developing the playwright’s vision outside of the imperatives of a production or a commissionInstigate conversation around the value of t
The New Scripts Garage is an offer of dramaturgical support for new scripts, with low barriers to entry. On a regular basis, we open our inboxes for script submissions from playwrights seeking dramaturgical support for their work.The first eight eligible scripts will receive considered dramaturgical support in the form of either a facilitated Script Circle, One-on-One Consults or Written Feedback.Please note that this is not a presentational platform. This short-form programme is ideal for playwrights
TOOLS returns for a second edition following its successful 2025 run! Led by New York-based playwright Sean Dunnington, this workshop series is designed for playwrights curious about theatricality, the unique magic of theatre that invites audiences to “believe” what they see on stage is true to life even while knowing it is not real.Across five sessions, participants explore theatrical principles such as substitution, stage illusion, the fourth wall, and how space and time shape a play’s structure. Each wor
Engage-a-Dramaturg is a new initiative matching playwrights and dramaturgs for a 4-month collaboration. This programme aims to:Bring together and build relationships between playwrights and dramaturgs who may not have had opportunities to work together before Encourage extended script development conversations between playwrights and dramaturgs Provide space for developing the playwright’s vision outside of the imperatives of a production or a commissionInstigate conversation around the value of t
Tools is a workshop series by our visiting resident playwright Sean Dunnington for playwrights curious about theatricality - the unique magic of theatre that invites audiences to “believe” what they see on stage is true-to-life, even while knowing it's not real (to an extent). Each session dives into a specific element of this conceptual spell, blending discussion, hands-on activities, performance, and experimentation.These workshops are suitable for playwrights/writers who are engaged with/thinking about c
Inspired by the legendary playwriting exercise created by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, we invite you to join us for a creative, fast-paced, and immersive Bake-Off facilitated by our visiting resident playwright Sean Dunnington.
With a focus on queer characters and queer stories, this workshop is an introduction to developing character-driven queer drama for stage and screen. Join award-winning Scottish playwright and screenwriter James Ley, as he facilitates his favourite creative-thinking and playwriting exercises to help you harness queer joy in your writing.
What does it mean to ‘Transcreate’ a work? Where does one begin to make sense of an existing play for a different context? How do we deal with the sensitivities of translating language and form for the stage?
Come learn about the process of transcreation with playwright Zulfadli Rashid, as he shares through his experience working on transcreated plays like Berak (2020), Harap (2017), A Clockwork Orange (2019) and others. This is a 2-day hands-on workshop where participants can experience the fundamentals
What unfolds when playwrights bring their scripts into a room full of curious and creative theatre-makers? How can fresh perspectives from fellow writers and dramaturgs help a script grow? We’re excited to bring you the second edition of our Playwright–Dramaturg Sharing & Social, a cosy, no-pressure evening focused on sharing work, exchanging thoughts, and seeing where the conversation takes us.This time, we’re centring the session around a Community Script Circle, where two works-in-progress by pl
How exactly do dramaturgs work with playwrights? What goes into making this dynamic work, and how does this often unseen creative exchange help to shape a play? As part of Centre 42's ongoing explorations of these questions, we are hosting a series of chill and intimate socials, each anchored by a casual chat between a dramaturg-playwright pair who'll give some insight into their collaboration. In this edition, playwright Jean Tay and dramaturg Hemang Yadav discuss their work together on The Shape of a
Jo ends her term as Writer-in-Residence with an Adam-Khoo style presentation advocating the importance of rewriting and restaging Singapore scripts in search of the next classic. Expect to see a new-and-improved rework-in-progress of her previously-staged script, Happy Place, followed by a diatribe about seizing the means of production (as in producing a play) in a system where existing resources for restagings may seem scarce.
Writer-in-Residence Jo Tan shares the challenges and freedoms she's experienced while trying to be an actor-playwright versus an unhyphenated playwright. Which direction might be right for you, and at which points in your career?Come join us as Jo discusses how (and if) writing under these different disciplines have helped her zoom in on her desired direction of theatremaking.
Come listen to James Ley’s practice and process of writing some of the most celebrated queer plays in Scotland. He will share about how his works speak to the preservation and promotion of queer spaces, as well as how he creates iconic and original queer characters who survive, thrive and sidestep stereotypes. With two of his plays now in development as screenplays, you’ll find out James’ approach to translating his work from stage to screen too. Stay for a Q&A facilitated by Ahmad Musta'ain, playwright
This is a conversation between Writer-in-Residence, Michelle Tan and dramaturg, Juliet Chia, in which they reflect on charting the journey of a play after the first draft. What might the shape and goals of the revision process look like? How does the writer navigate obstacles or detours? What resources does the writer need along the way? When does she know she has arrived at a "final" or "finished" version?
The New Scripts Garage is an offer of dramaturgical support for new scripts, with low barriers to entry. On a regular basis, we open our inboxes for script submissions from playwrights seeking dramaturgical support for their work.The first eight eligible scripts will receive considered dramaturgical support in the form of either a facilitated Script Circle, One-on-One Consults or Written Feedback.Please note that this is not a presentational platform. This short-form programme is ideal for playwrights
The New Scripts Garage is an offer of dramaturgical support for new scripts, with low barriers to entry. On a regular basis, we open our inboxes for script submissions from playwrights seeking dramaturgical support for their work.For the November 2025 cycle, we are collaborating with Teater Ekamatra to concurrently run a Malay-language edition, that will accept up to eight scripts through an Open Call. The first eight eligible scripts will receive considered dramaturgical support in the form of either
Playwright Nabilah Said joins us as our Writer in Residence from April 2025 to March 2026. This 12-month residency aims to spotlight and platform the Writer in Residence through presentations of her works, and engagements with younger writers and the public.As part of the residency, Nabilah will also be participating in the New Scripts Garage, offering dramaturgical support and feedback to scripts from the open call. Nabilah's final presentation for this residency will be showcased on 28 - 29 March 202
The next iteration of the Playwright's Professional Development Residency (PPDR) is currently running from May 2024 to March 2026. The expanded sophormore version of the Playwright’s Professional Development Residency will support four early-career playwrights who will undergo a two-year journey together as a cohort with Programme Leaders Joel Tan and Jean Tay.We are thrilled to announce the four residents:
Imagine this – you’ve written a script. You’ve even tested it out on an audience. And then, your director says you’re scrapping it all and starting again. (Did you wince?) Well, it’s not that your script is terrible. It’s just part of the process.
That’s exactly what happened in a GroundZ-0 project that’s been in development in our Basement Workshop residency since 2018. The project involves seasoned theatre practitioners Zelda Tatiana Ng, Aidli ‘Alin’ Mosbit, and Alvin Tan. In Octobe
Playwriting can be a lonely career. For the independent playwright, creating work and searching for opportunities by oneself is often a daunting, difficult task. But two heads (or more) are better than one, as I found out from two playwriting collectives who have made Centre 42 their home base.
“I feel like when you’re younger, the terrain seems very wild and impenetrable,” Nabilah Said tells me. Nabilah is a freelance playwright with four performed works under her belt in the past six months. She’s also
Centre 42 is a blue-hued greenhouse for plays. Some theatre-makers arrive with a sapling of a play, and we simply provide time and space for growth. And sometimes, we give a bit more of a nudge. For the first time at Late-Night Texting, our annual showcase of fresh new writing and emerging artists, we’re showcasing some of the plays that we’ve helped nurture from seeds of ideas, like the Boiler Room plays which require more care and guidance to germinate, and the Vault presentations which wer
Collaborative writing can be hugely challenging. Without a strategy, writing a play in a group would just be a matter of whoever has the strongest pair of lungs, as was the case with the seven men who collectively wrote the 1971 play Lay By at the Royal Court Theatre in London:
In 2011, The Finger Players (TFP) launched a development programme for playwrights and directors called Watch This Space. It is spearheaded by playwright-director Chong Tze Chien, who felt that there were not enough platforms supporting new voices in the Singapore theatre scene at the time.
“I think as a theatre company, it is our responsibility to inject some form of training programme to enrich the ecosystem, because the reason that we are here today is also because of the generosity of our predecessor
Decentered Playwriting investigates new and alternative strategies for dramatic writing that incorporate non-Western, Indigenous, and underrepresented storytelling techniques and traditions while deepening a creative practice that decenters hegemonic methods.A collection of short essays and exercises by leading teaching artists, playwrights, and academics in the fields of playwriting and dramaturgy, this book focuses on reimagining pedagogical techniques by introducing playwrights to new storytell
Over the past three decades, award-winning playwright Haresh Sharma has written more than 120 plays, many of them created with The Necessary Stage’s (TNS) unique devising methodology. Reading the Room: A Playwright’s Devising Journey offers unprecedented access into the devising process, with keen insights and intimate reflections gleaned from Haresh’s artistic journey.
This book describes Haresh’s devising process in meticulous detail, illustrated by production case studies and incorporating n
Christopher Vogler explores the powerful relationship between mythology and storytelling in his clear, concise style that's made this book required reading for movie executives, screenwriters, playwrights, fiction and non-fiction writers, scholars, and fans of pop culture all over the world.
Discover a set of useful myth-inspired storytelling paradigms like "The Hero's Journey", and step-by-step guidelines to plot and character development. Based on the work of Joseph Campbell, The Writer's Jo
During the ten years that Stuart Spencer has taught playwriting, he has struggled to find an effective playwriting handbook for his courses. Although most of the currently popular handbooks have good ideas in them, they all suffer from the same problems: they're poorly organized; are composed mostly of quirky, idiosyncratic advice on how specific playwrights have gone about writing their own work; and are full of abstract theorizing on the nature of art. As a result, they fail to offer any concrete informat