New Tax Year, New Me

Playwrights East: New [tax] Year, New Me

A Practical guide to professional playwriting from Kelly Jones & Tom Wentworth

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How do you get an agent? What should I be paid for a commission? How do I stay focused and balance writing with home-life? Do I need to fill in a tax return? When can I call myself a professional playwright?

Kelly and Tom are here to answer all these questions and more! Take back control of your career. Whether you’re just starting out, or need some guidance to make the next step, this practical session and Q&A will help empower you to forge your own path in professional playwriting.

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Kelly Jones:

Kelly Jones is working-class Playwright from Dagenham. She is the winner of the BBC Wales Drama Award 2015, alumni of the Emerging Playwrights Program at The Bush Theatre, BBC Drama Room 20/21 and Mercury Theatre’s East England Voices.

Kelly tends to write autobiographically, with an emphasis on queerness, class, and community, staging positive working-class narratives thru a queer feminist lens. Recent credits include WHEN YOU SEE ME (Scottee and Friends), BUMP (HighTide Theatre and New Wolsey), Room to Escape (BBC Arts) Comma (Sherman Theatre) Garden Paradiso (Mercury Theatre), The people’s platform (Commonwealth), Ghost Stories By Candlelight (HighTide, TRBSE, Harlow Playhouse & Shakespeare’s Globe). She is a recent recipient of the NPCS Writers Guild Award for her play ‘My Mother’s Funeral: The Show’ and currently has work in development with Paines Plough.

Tom Wentworth

Tom Wentworth writes for stage and screen. His most recent credits include: Battery (Film4) Little Bits of Ruined Beauty (Pentabus/Unlimited), Glass Town (Bath Theatre Academy/The Egg, Bath), Ralph and Katie (BBC One) and Burke and Hare (Watermill, Newbury/Jermyn St/New Wolsey). He currently has work in development with companies including the BFI, Silverprint Pictures and The Egg, Bath. He is a Trustee of the Watermill Theatre and sits on the Writers Guild of Great Britain Equality and Diversity Committee.

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Who can attend?

Anyone. From playwrights just starting out to those with more experience, this session is intended to advise writers on how to guide and manage their career – whatever their background or experience.

Where will the session take place?

Online. To give access to as wide a pool of writers as possible, this session will be held remotely.

How will the session be run?

Following a brief introduction from HighTide’s Engagement Manager, George; Tom and Kelly will give a 40 minute guided discussion on their top tips for managing a professional writing career. There will then be time for questions, submitted via the chat function.

How do I access the session?

You will be emailed a zoom link a few hours before the session starts. If you have any access requirements, please contact HighTide’s Engagement Manager George on [email protected]