Where it all began

The Envelope Project - it had been going around my head for a good six months before Rachel and I agreed to take the reins of York's branch of Script Yorkshire off Jessica Fisher. When Rachel and I sat down to talk about the projects we wanted to launch for our first year at the helm, I pitched this one. She said that it was a bit crazy, but that we should absolutely do it. Of course, that was before she decided teaching English in Mongolia was a really good idea, and went on hiatus in January, but that's rather beside the point.

So what is it all about, anyway?

As a writer, I've always found that two of my biggest challenges I face are almost in opposition with each other - the blank page and lack of ideas, and having far too many ideas and no way of sifting them down to something manageable. The idea had crossed my mind of writers providing other writers with stimulus that could jump-start a project. Of putting items in an envelope and swapping them to see what another mind would make of them. A way of taking one step away from your own imagination.

So that's precisely what happened.

In October, a group of writers met for the first time to start work, with envelopes in hand. Inside each one was a cd with a track of music, a line of dialogue, a place name, a picture and miscellaneous item. Before swapping envelopes, we worked on a practice, 'dummy' envelope I had made specially. We consumed copious amounts of biscuits (this was never repeated over future sessions, of course) and covered numerous sheets of flipchart paper as we looked at how the items in the envelope could be used to inform themes, characters, locations, and create scenes. I also discovered the general dislike of Chris Rea's 'Driving Home for Christmas'.

Over the six months that have followed, we have met, workshopped, read scenes, taken them away, drafted, redrafted, eaten each others' leftover Christmas confectionery, and created five new one act plays. Which in July you will be able to see brought to life. These are:

Good Grief by Richard Kay
A Sporting Affair by Alice Mapplebeck
Stone by Helen Shay
SOS by Tom Straszewski
Never Have I Ever by Rebecca Thomson

These plays have now been handed to directors, who are already working hard on them. They will be performed at Friargate Theatre in York on 18th and 19th July. Tickets will be on sale in the first week of June. For now, make sure you have the dates in your diary. We can't wait for you to see what we have to show. 

- Becky Thomson, Script Yorkshire (York Branch) Co-ordinator