The work of playwrights from The Little Theatre’s acting company featured at a gratifyingly well-attended drama workshop at their home venue.
The audience heard rehearsed readings of two new short plays by actors based at the theatre.
Betty’s Christmas, by Shauna Rothery, explores the impact of a traumatic event on a family during the festive season.
In The Delusionists, by Gav Balfour and Ian Robertson, two aspiring young actresses have some quirky encounters in their quest for stardom.
Kathleen Mochan of Dundee Dramatic Society commented:
“We’re very pleased to be able to devote one of the workshops to three writers from our own company. That they’ve taken the time to do this as in addition to their acting roles shows a heartening level of enthusiasm and commitment to drama.”
Writers Gav Balfour and Ian Robertson said:
“We felt the reading went well, and the actors did a great job, despite only having a short time to acquaint themselves with the script. Judging by the feedback we received afterwards people seemed to enjoy the characters and and the script in general – but we also got some useful suggestions for how it could be improved/developed. We are hoping to take it further, either as a short film or a stage play.”
Shauna Rothery added:
“Having enjoyed taking part in earlier readings as an actor, I was looking forward to seeing my own play workshopped. It turned out to be a great experience that i enjoyed very much, with a number of very insightful and valuable comments from the audience. I can’t wait to do it again and am in the process of rewriting for a main production.”
The Writers
Gav Balfour and Ian Robertson met when they were studying at university in Edinburgh, around fifteen years ago, and decided to start writing together. They worked with the Comedy Unit for a couple of years, writing some sketches and jokes for radio and live comedy shows they produced and attempting to develop a couple of sitcom pilots. They are now part of a local filmmaking group and wrote the script for a short film, Planetfall.
Ian and Gav are contactable for comment at thetiffintimes@hotmail.co.uk.
Shauna Rothery has been a member of The Little Theatre company for two years. She has acted in several full productions and has participated as a reader in the current and previous drama workshop series. Shauna has written a number of stage plays and is a keen advocate of the rehearsed reading process as a tool for developing writing skills.