Why scratch theatre is great for comedy writers
By Stevie Cooke.
I’m the first to admit, I’m a submissions junkie. If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend your time trawling through the internet finding any open opportunities that might be suitable for your work. Or not – sometimes I’m not fussy, I’ll enter anything just to get that submissions high…
A few years back, while endlessly searching for hits, I started to notice that theatre had loads more open opportunities than TV, film or radio. And specifically loads of things called scratch. I know right, what the hell is scratch theatre?
Well it turns out, it’s not theatre for the itchy, but an odd name for a great kind of theatre that all writers should get involved with.
The basic format of a scratch theatre piece is it’s around ten minutes long, no set, minimal props and a small cast of two or three – so you can see why it lends itself to comedy. On the night, the actors will have rehearsed for a few hours before with a director and will be reading from a script. A scratch night usually showcases around eight to ten short plays in an evening. The idea of scratch is that it’s a sounding ground for new material, a chance to see work on its legs in front of a real audience.
So one day, while I was trawling, I decided to submit a surreal comedy two-hander to a scratch night, and for the first time ever, I saw my writing performed. And that was it. I was hooked.
Page To Stage – the scratch night where I first saw my work live (21st April 2016)
As a writer who feels instantly nauseated at the idea of performing, it can be hard to find ways to get your work in front of people. Through scratch I learned so much that I couldn’t learn from the page – like which jokes land well, how many words an actor can get out before needing a breath (not as many as you can type), and the places where people laugh accidentally (it was a serious moment guys!).
But scratch nights are also one of the best ways to discover actors and directors who get your work and can help bring it alive. I am still working with an actor who performed in that first scratch piece all these years later.
After doing the rounds for a bit, I decided to take the plunge and see what it would be like to put on a scratch night myself. It was hard work, but also a hell of a lot of fun. All you need is a room above a pub, scripts, actors, directors and most importantly, some friends who will come along to help you drink enough on the evening so the room above the pub is free. And there you have yourself a scratch night.
One of the great things about putting on a scratch night yourself is it allows you access to opportunities where there might not be so many, and the control of putting on your own work. Although that said, scratch night opportunities come up frequently in all big cities – they’re not just for us Londoners. Now you know what they are, you’ll start seeing them everywhere.
But the inevitable cost of putting on a scratch night is that your ego will get thirsty and you’ll need a bigger hit. Hence why myself and another scratch devotee thought it would be a good idea to move onto writing and producing our own full length show. It’s not easy, but we’re proof that you can prise open doors to the industry yourself. All you need is endless positivity and enthusiasm to see you through. And friends to turn up to see your shows.
So, ahem, self-promotion warning – if you fancy coming along and seeing our full-length production that celebrates the last 100 Years of women’s rights, that started from the humble beginnings of scratch, we’d love to see you there. And not just because we need to put a lot of money behind the bar…
By Stevie Cooke – @steviecooke1985
100 Years – Monday 3rd December, Southwark Playhouse, London.
Three thirty-minute plays come together to create a unique evening of theatre that explores the last century of women’s rights. Stevie’s piece ‘The Flour Girls’ is a surreal comedy that looks at the night in 1970 when British feminists flour-bombed the Miss World contest – from the perspective of two bags of flour…