2007-08-07 Below is a playwright attachment programme by Drama Box Ltd:

Mentorship Programme for Aspiring Playwrights

Local contemporary Mandarin theatre company Drama Box Ltd has launched a new training programme for aspiring playwrights: Blanc Space - Playwright Series.

The Playwright Series is a continued effort from the Blanc Space which was inaugurated in 2000 to provide a training platform for performers.

What is Blanc Space - Playwright Series about?

The Playwright Series is a playwright incubation programme that is committed to produce new scripts and playwrights for the local Mandarin theatre.

Drama Box Ltd has initiatd the programme in light of the lack of new creative talents in the scene. The Company hopes to do its part for the industry by providing such platforms to inject new blood.

How does it work?

Experienced playwrights Quay Sy Ren, Chong Tze Chien, Ng How Wee and Lee Shyh-Jih will each pair up with aspiring playwrights and take on the roles of mentors. Through an 18-month coaching and discussion process and at least 2 play readings, the Company hopes that not only the mentees but also the mentors will be stimulated with new thinking and hopefully find new breakthroughts in their creation.

Selected works at the end of the programme will also be staged under Drama Box's other director incubation programme Blanc Space - Director Series in late 2008.

Commitment level of the series is flexible. After being paired up with your mentors, you can discuss and work it out with him. It need not be a weekly affair. Also, if the mentor is agreeable, the discussions and mentorship can be held over email discussions or MSN.

Who is eligible and how to apply?

The mentorship is open to new writers who do not have more than 2 publicly staged works. Interested parties need to submit, in Chinese, a 500-word script excerpt, sypnosis or summary of an original story and a 1 page write-up of themselves. There is no set theme and the applicants are free to write on any subject.

Entries are to be submitted together with personal particulars to dramabox@pacific.net.sg before 15th August 2007.

中文学会万岁！