This was a question that came out of the workshop on structure at the beginning of this week.  A great question, brimful of nice, juicy worms with teeth.  It is of course based on at least two assumptions that 1\ if Beckett was writing today he’d be writing in exactly the same way as he was in his heyday in the 60′s and 2\ the play would be judged and assessed in the context of all that ‘we know’ today…in other words there’s a slight mis-match at work here.

For what it’s worth, I think the answer is emphatically ‘YES’… but on the basis and understanding that if Beckett was writing today and handing in plays for today – then that’s exactly what they would be, ‘plays for today’ and of our time now, and hence totally unrecognisable from the body of work for which he has become known.  In other words, they would be produced today for the same reason that they were originally produced – because he’s presenting something with a fresh, vibrant and original voice – commenting on the times in which we live, and commenting on the way in which we are living and what we are doing to each other, in such a way it’s never been seen before.

That’s Beckett’s strength, as indeed is the strength of all our great playwrights and classic plays – the ones which Western culture takes to its heart – the one thing they all have in common is that they are looking at who we are and finding a new way to articulate their opinion in such a way that it is groundbreaking, insightful, provocative and incapable of being ignored by all those who are in the company of the artist and their work – those who are privy to, witnessing and experiencing what they are expressing for the first time, first hand. The basis for all great art I’d wager…and certainly the basis of the enduring power of theatre.

Witness the riots after the opening of Synge’s ‘Playboy of the Western World’ at the start of the 20th Century and the media storm (the late 20th century equivalent of an artistically induced protest) after the first night of Sarah Kane’s ‘Blasted’ at the end of the century – with plenty of plays and writers succumbing to outcries, protests, condemnations and adulations in between.  All having the same thing in common – their originality – be it in content, opinion and\or form.  All of them offering insight into the human condition … the signs of our times.  Yet none of them capable of reproducing that initial provocation and burst of energy – though there have been plenty of productions of said plays since their initial unveilings upon an unsuspecting public.   That’s the point, they are of their moment, capturing a zeitgeist, a mood, an undercurrent, an express train of thought.

I was asked another question at the end of last year in another workshop, which almost had me stumped when it was first posed.  What is the common mistake that most first time playwrights make?  It had me stumped because I don’t think they are making mistakes - I don’t view people’s work in those terms - and neither could I see any uniform patterns emerging either.  Then it just came to me and I couldn’t help but blurt it out:  ’don’t be boring’.

This wasn’t so much a comment on what had gone before but a final piece of advice to the next generation of emerging writers. You want an audience. You’re writing to present your work to a group of strangers on a regular basis, and for all intents and purposes you’re engaging them in a discussion – a debate even – so don’t be boring. Have something to say, that is worth saying. It may well come in the form of a question or a provocation as to who we are now and why we are now and where we’re likely to end up…but go for it. Stick your necks out. Tell us something we don’t know, or didn’t know we didn’t know, or did know but weren’t brave enough or honest enough to admit it…whatever.  Say it with conviction, truth, clarity and insight, and most probably the originality will flow quite naturally.

The Beckett question of course relates to form and structure – the reason we were gathered in the first place.  He had the courage, insight and need to break the form in order to say what he needed to say in the way he thought best represented his thoughts, views and feelings.  Which is where we left things on Monday night – which coincidentally is also where I usually start – ‘What do you want to say?’

Whatever your structure or form, it should exist to serve your themes, your ideas, your thoughts – the thing you need to say to your audience.  Your structure needs to be thought about and selected carefully, in order to ensure it is the best way of organising and communicating your ideas. It’s there to guide you through the process of creating your art by organising the strategic release of narrative information in order to determine how the audience receives your story\play.

On doing some research on writing treatments I came across some key questions to ask yourself as a writer:

• Does your story make a statement?
• Does it make your audience think or feel strongly about its subject matter?
• Does it say something important about today’s world?
• Does your story ask a question important for today’s audiences?
• Do you know how you want your audience to feel when they leave the theatre?

All questions to which Beckett would say an unequivocal yes, and all reasons as to why, if he was sending his work into our major theatres in 2012, they would produce it.