Welcome to the first in our series of features on Unseen Artists, celebrating the “unsung heroes” in the world of theatre.
This week is the turn of writer Mark Griffiths.
What’s your background? How did you get into this profession?
I worked in radio: writing and producing commercials. But I’ve always written – I sold my first comedy material to Radio 4 when I was 17. Since then I’ve written for TV, radio, stage, books and the Internet.
Before you started this role, what did you think it would be like? Were you correct?
The plays I’ve written have tended to be for small scale fringe productions (e.g. 24/7 in Manchester) and I don’t think I’d realised that in that arena, unless you’re part of an established theatre company, the writer acts as the producer, too. So I had to learn to deal with print design, marketing, venue liaison and all those sorts of production issues. It was a steep learning curve but I’m glad I’ve done it and have that experience to bring to future projects.
What are you working on at the moment, and how is it going?
A while back I wrote a play that was to be performed at the Lass o’Gowrie, but the loss of that venue meant it didn’t go ahead. So now I’m thinking about where else I might take it.
What parts of your career so far are you most proud of?
I think I’m proudest of the success of my first stage play The Lullaby Witch. It was initially performed at 24/7 in 2007 and was nominated for Best New Play in the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards. It got picked up by the Bolton Octagon and Manchester’s Library Theatre. It was also instrumental in landing me a commission to write an Afternoon Play for Radio 4 featuring the same protagonist, the music journalist-turned-sleuth Leona Cash.
What are the most difficult parts of your role?
The hardest part of being a writer? All the bloody writing you have to do. Fortunately it’s good fun.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
When I was younger I wanted to be a writer. Now I’m a writer I just want to be younger.
Who would you most like to work with?
It would be great to work again with Mike Heath, Emmy Fyles and Chrissy Hoey, with whom I did the play The Queen of Horror recently at the King’s Arms Theatre. That was a very happy experience. And it would be lovely to do another play with Laura Harper, who was so brilliant as Leona Cash in The Lullaby Witch. She’s a very talented lady and great fun to work with.
Any tips for people interested in following in your footsteps?
The first tip I would give any aspiring writer is read a lot and write a lot (or if it’s specifically theatre you want to write for, see as many shows as you can). They’re the most important things you can do to develop your craft. There are books you can read that explain the techniques (On Writing by Stephen King and The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler being the two I would recommend), but in the end you just have to sit down and get on with it. And when you have your script – put it on yourself! There are loads of outlets for writers in fringe and pub theatre these days and there’s no better way of learning whether or not your writing works than seeing how it fares in front of an audience. Writing’s a lonely business so helping to put on a show is an excellent way of getting out of the house. It’s also terrific fun.
Huge thanks to Mark for his time. To learn more about Mark, you can visit his website, or follow him on Twitter.
If you would like to be featured as an Unseen Artist, please get in touch (tracey@thegoodreview.co.uk)