麻豆约拍

鈥淭here鈥檚 no point entering,鈥� said an optimistic friend through a mouthful of sandwich. 鈥淭here鈥檒l be hundreds of submissions. The odds are not good.鈥� I鈥檝e only just seen the competition with six days to the deadline. 鈥淒on鈥檛 waste your time 鈥� you鈥檝e no chance,鈥� is his ego-bolstering parting shot. I don鈥檛 tell him he鈥檚 got egg mayonnaise down his chin. Six days to write a ten minute play? He鈥檚 probably right鈥�but what if, hang on, what if I set it in someone鈥檚 voicemail? And what if鈥�?

One day of thinking. Two days of writing. Three days of rewriting and it鈥檚 in. A week later is selected as one of the winners and is published online by the Writersroom. Brilliant. Take that Egg Mayonnaise Man. Job done. Thing is, I like this play that didn鈥檛 even exist two weeks ago. If the Writersroom like it then maybe someone else will. Two months later it鈥檚 performed as part of the Little Pieces of Gold showcase (advertised on the Writersroom). The audience really go for it. Three days later an agent gets in touch. They saw 鈥淭his is Jack鈥︹�� Would I like a chat? Have I got anything else to show them?

Over the last nine months this is what I鈥檝e heard more than anything else 鈥� 鈥淲hat else have you got?鈥� A single script (especially a short) can get people to take notice, but everyone wants to know what鈥檚 next. I鈥檇 been working on a full-length play, 鈥楳eat鈥�, with up and coming theatre company FallOut Theatre. The play wasn鈥檛 in bad shape, but the Hackgate competition really got me fired up 鈥� not in bad shape isn鈥檛 good enough. So I rewrote the play the way I wrote the short 鈥� fast, not worrying about what anybody would think, just writing what mattered to me. The agent liked it. Job done.

I start the next play. While I鈥檓 doing that I send 鈥楳eat鈥� and 鈥楾his is Jack鈥︹�� to Theatre503 and between them they get me a meeting. The Hackgate win gives me something concrete to talk about and a little (much needed) credibility. give me some great critical feedback on my work and we resolve to stay in touch. Earlier this year they offered a slot in their 2012 season for 鈥楳eat鈥�. Job done.

Except that it鈥檚 never 鈥榡ob done鈥�, is it? You finish one story and another begins itching at the inside of your head, or you see a competition and it kick-starts an idea, or someone says that it can鈥檛 be done so you do it anyway. The main thing that the rapid response taught me was to only think about the story I wanted to tell and how to tell it my way. Get it on the page. Leave the worry, the 鈥榥o chance鈥� and egg mayonnaise to someone else.


Jimmy Osborne was one of the three winners of the 麻豆约拍 writersroom Hackgate Rapid Response callout.聽 Download the script for his entry -

Jimmy鈥檚 play 鈥楳eat鈥� will be on at from 5-30 June 2012.