The Mono Box Newsletter 2022

THE MONO BOX NEWSLETTER 2022

Welcome Back in the Room

A chat with Umulisa Gahiga

The First Creative Exchange

A chat with Tiggy Bayley Looking to the Future

A chat with Dipo Baruwa-Etti

A chat with Isley Lynn

1 minute with Ingrid Mackinnon & a message from Youssef Kerkour How to support us & Thank you

Hello

project that supports those looking to expand their skills in order to work across both the theatre and screen sectors. There has also been changes to the team. I’m new, having joined last year; Naomi became our new GM and our first full time team member (a game changer); Miles became our Programming Producer; and we were thrilled to welcome Helen, our Development Manager, back after being on maternity leave.

While all this activity has rejuvenated us we also recognise these are still challenging times. COVID is still making its presence felt and the war in Ukraine and energy crisis weigh heavy on us knowing both will be having an impact on the well-being of many in our community.

However, we are buoyed by theatre’s continual power to inspire and remind us of how important it is to come together to learn and create our way through these difficult times. Next year also marks 10 years of TMB and we can’t wait to take you on our 10th Anniversary adventure as we take on new projects, revisit old favourites, and launch an exciting new website.

"Very important source of resources, development and opportunities. Accessible and helps breakdown barriers."

~ Participant

Blayne George, Executive Creative Director

BACK IN THE ROOM

2022 marked the joyful return to semi regular in person workshops after almost 2 years of existing solely online. Through our Mono Makers On The Road programme, Mono Boxers old and new have been able to come back together to hone their craft and most importantly, meet their peers and receive face to face direction from our fantastic roster of facilitators.

While we are still seeing the great benefit of running workshops online, it has been so wonderful to be back in the room with Mono Boxers again, feeling their energy, seeing their smiles and chatter at the end of a session. In person workshops provide a feeling of community that online sessions can sometimes lack, and it’s been amazing to see Mono Boxers feel like part of our community again when they chat with their fellow participants and us, letting us know what they’re working on, sharing advice and tips. As I joined the company during the pandemic, I've loved getting to meet so many facilitators and participants I’d only previously chatted to over Zoom or email, and now tangibly feel part of the Mono Box community myself. It's been fantastic meeting participants who only found out about us during the pandemic, but this year have finally had the chance to attend an in person workshop, meet like-minded artists and get to feel the dynamism and comradery of being at TMB in person.

It's been a pleasure getting to know Mono Boxers, particularly those who’ve attended several workshops this year and being able to check in with them, follow their journeys and offer a listening ear, support and advice. I can't wait to meet more Mono Boxers in 2023!

Naomi Hopkins, General Manager

"I really love how The Mono Box has available slots for people who cannot afford it. I’m one of those people who struggle financially, so to have slots set aside for workingclass people or people who do not have the funds is very helpful so that we feel included in the arts and for potentially going into the creative industry as a career."

Participant

Describe your career/practice as an actor this year in 3 words Growth, rediscovery, freedom

How long have you been attending The Mono Box workshops?

It’s been over a year now!

How have the workshops you've attended helped your craft and career as an actor?

I’ve made sure to apply to movement workshops, which is my biggest weakness, and I now find myself so much more free in my body.

Is there a piece of advice you heard during a Mono Box workshop or event that has stuck with you and helped you on your artistic journey?

“When delivering a political speech, there should always be a hint of doubt in the character, otherwise it becomes dictatorial.”

What are the biggest challenges you think you face as an emerging actor? Becoming as comfortable on stage as I am on screen.

What are you working on at the moment/what can we expect to see from you in 2023?

“HMS Murder” on Channel 5

Tell us about a piece of art (music, literature, or visual art) that inspires you. “Moonlight” by Barry Jenkins inspires me every time I watch it.

THE FIRST CREATIVE EXCHANGE

With so many creatives diversifying their skill sets and practices, I always wonder - why do the Theatre and Screen industries seem so siloed and how can we open up the dialogue between them?

For me, I believe that the most exciting work that The Mono Box does is often when it intersects with our own work and passions outside of the company. This is why the highlight of this year for me would have to be Creative Exchange. Creative Exchange, supported by the Genesis Foundation’s Kickstart fund, is an exciting new initiative we launched at the Kiln Theatre and online that gave us the opportunity to do just that and explore the

space between these two industries and focus on emerging artists who are trying to move between them - something that I'm navigating myself. Through two intense days of in-person workshops, panel discussions, roundtables and screenings, we got to listen to leading industry leaders really unpack what it

is to work in both mediums and make a career balancing the two. Recordings of which will be available soon via our audio library and podcast channels - I urge everyone to take a listen to the likes of James Graham, Nadia Latif, Dominic Cooke & Temi Wilkey share their experience.

As for the future, Creative Exchange has brought about so many exciting conversations and we're already working on a second iteration next year - speaking to production companies and industry leaders who are keen to be involved and support emerging talent in this way. But of course, this only works if there is a clear dialogue between what we programme and the needs and focuses of those entering the industry. And so I feel it is worth reiterating that we keep an eye on the feedback surveys and are always keen to hear from participants and what programming they feel they would benefit from.

Miles Sloman, Programming Producer

"Found this workshop thoroughly useful as a theatre maker heading towards the making of film & screen projects. Thank you The Mono Box, the hilarious Nadia Latif keeping it real, brilliant Hazel Holder and Dominic Cooke. Feeling inspired and more equipped heading into screen."

~ Participant

A CHAT WITH TMB PARTICIPANT TIGGY BAYLEY

When did you first start participating in The Mono Box events?

I’ve been a friend of Mono Box’s since I first visited the library back in 2019. And actually The Mono Box co-founder, Joan Iyiola, was the assistant director on an NYT show I did all the way back in 2010!

How have the workshops you've attended helped your craft and career?

The playwriting workshop I did with Milly Thomas is what inspired me to write my first one woman show which was then turned into my short film, Tildypops! She said to write something which shows your unique perspective on the world and I did. And that advice really carried me through the whole process.

Your short film Tildypops was one of the 12 films exhibited on our YouTube channel as part of our Creative Exchange Short Film Showcase. Why did you decide to start creating short films?

I spent time in LA in 2018 and that’s where I really got into film, it’s when I realised it’s actually something you can do for a career - you can just make films! Not that it's easy, I’ve made some really bad short films...

What was the process like of writing and then starring in your short film Tildypops? It was magical and messy. The main thing about shooting Tildypops was that we didn’t have any formal funding which meant two things. Firstly, it was a magical process where everyone who worked on it did so because they cared about the story and felt it was something that needed to be told. But it also meant that it was a dysfunctional mess.

What are your top three tips for someone wanting to make their own short film? Do it, do it and do it.

What are you working on at the moment/what can we expect to see from you in 2023?

Tildypops is being turned into a feature film by producer, Lena Vurma! I’ve been working on the screenplay for about a year now and it’s just been green lit to send out to potential financiers so watch this space!

If you could meet one person from the past and then make a film about them, who would it be and why?

"Twiggy, so I could her to stop stealing my style” - that used to be on my Hinge profile, how embarrassing is that?!

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Plans for the future usually evolve from the achievements of the past and as with many things in life, creativity is cyclical. Ten years ago, whilst I was still working within the theatre department at Casarotto Ramsay, I was approached by my dear friends and founders of The Mono Box, Joan and Polly to assist them with a task. They were embarking on a quest to help young emerging actors and theatremakers discover monologues which they could connect with to add to their portfolio of audition pieces. For some added inspiration, I assisted them in writing letters and emails to our professional theatre community to include actors, writers, producers,

directors and agents begging the question, “if you could recommend one play or monologue for an emerging artist what would it be?” Not only were recommendations made, but donations of wonderful plays (many of them inscribed) came flooding in from far and wide and thus The Mono Box Library was born. The Mono Box’s collection of donated plays has evolved into a 4,000 strong library.

For 2023, we are working on plans to revisit our love for powerful monologues as part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations (TMB10). If all our plans fall into place TMB10, will see us working with some emerging playwrights and theatres we're developing new partnerships with regionally, as well as teaming up with some of our longer-term partners, all of which share our values to create new work and support new writers. We know that between us, we can be the change we want to see in this industry - supporting those fresh, diverse and exciting voices as well as allowing us all to reach new audiences.

Next year, will also see the launch of our brand spanking new website, our first major digital redevelopment in ten years. It is looking super sleek and we hope it will allow for a smoother & friendlier experience whenever you visit our website. We know it is certainly going to make our jobs easier. I am hugely proud and utterly thrilled The Mono Box has come this far and there is much to celebrate in 2023 - make sure you come and join us!

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Helen Waters, Development Manager

"I think it's absolutely brilliant and provides resources that are invaluable to budding writers, performers and artists/creatives in the theatre, film and TV industries. "

~ Participant

Describe your career and work as a writer this past year in 3 words.

Busy,

exciting, enlightening.

This year marked your first 2 Act play, The Clinic, being staged at Almeida Theatre. What was the process like and what is the most important thing you’ve learnt from the experience?

The Clinic was a challenging, but rewarding process. It was my biggest play to date in many ways: the questions it was tackling, the scale of the show itself, and even its ambition tonally. The most important thing I learnt from the experience was that trusting your voice can be very rewarding and just how much I value audiences having an entertaining time at the theatre.

Looking back to your involvement in The Mono Box's PLAYSTART, how did this change your practice as a writer and progress your career? PLAYSTART changed my practice, because it was the first time I collaborated (in theatre) with a director from early in the process, but also the first time I was receiving dramaturgical support alongside the redrafting process. It mirrored what happens in the industry and gave me further awareness, allowing me to navigate those conversations more confidently once developing longer pieces.

What inspires you to start a piece of writing? It can be lots of things: a subject matter, a question I want to interrogate, an actor I've seen on stage, but mostly it starts from the question "what do I want to see on stage in a way I feel I haven't?"

You recently made your own short film, The Last Days which was screened at Creative Exchange, and you wrote one of our Reset The Stage films, The Madness. What was the process like of writing those pieces for screen vs writing for stage? There are many ways the two are different, but a couple things that stand out for me are (1) on screen, you're focusing a lot more on visual language over dialogue, because you can be smaller with your actions compared to on stage, where you want the back of the auditorium to get as much information as those in the front row and (2) the writing is more of a blueprint on screen, as you end up trying out different versions of the story in postproduction, which can alter what you initially thought was the story you were telling.

What can we expect to see from you in the next year? In the next year, maybe another short film, otherwise it'll be a quiet year productionwise. I'll mostly be writing away at my desk.

What are you reading at the moment?

The Forever Dog by Rodney Habib and Dr Karen Shaw Becker, which explores science behind what it means to create a healthy life(style) for dogs.

A CHAT WITH PLAYWRIGHT ISLEY LYNN

Describe your career and work as a writer this past year in 3 words.

Pandemic coma over!

What is it about leading workshops that you enjoy the most?

I love revisiting material that has helped me and seeing it help others - I'm always most excited when someone brings a specific question to me and I have just the right thing to help them out.

Does facilitating workshops help your practice as a writer?

Definitely. I've had a few lightbulb moments about projects I was working on while running workshops.

What are your top two tips for someone who has never written anything before? Write the easiest thing first. You don't have to start at the beginning or map it all out, unless that's the bit you find the most exciting. Write what you can't not write and the rest will fill itself in.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to expand their creative practice into facilitating workshops?

I often say to my workshop participants that they already know a lot of the stuff we're going to cover, and that my job is to put names to it so they can turn that knowledge into tools. You don't have to have teacher training or anything like that, you just have to know what you're talking about and be able to share it clearly and in lots of different ways - some people respond to images and diagrams, some prefer to talk things through in conversation, others want to use what they've learned in a little writing time built into the session - make time for all of that and more.

What are you working on at the moment and what can we expect to see from you in the next year?

Right now I'm working on a new play co-written with Libby Rodliffe, who I'm pretty sure is the funniest person on the planet. It's called Jobsworth and we're going to have a work in progress sharing at Vault Festival. Then in June a production of my new play The Swell will come to the Orange Tree - it's directed by the super Hannah Hauer-King, and I'm super proud of it - you should come!

What contemporary piece of writing would you like to still see performed, talked about, studied in 500 years time?

You know what, I'd really like there to be more short plays studied and published and performed. It's how everyone cuts their teeth in playwriting but it isn't given the same attention as a full play, even though knowing how to tell a short story enormously helps you to tell longer stories. Pre-pandemic some of the best new work I saw were shorts, and I'd love to see more of that in the future.

Describe your career and work as a movement director and choreographer this past year in 3 words.

What a ride!

What song never fails to brighten your day?

What advice would you give someone who wants to get into movement directing? Get to know yourself so you understand what you are bringing to the room as an artist and a human.

By engaging the industry’s very best artists, makers and educators The Mono Box ensures that those benefiting are able to train with and receive advice, guidance, mentorship and hands on learning from the very best our industry has to offer. The work is always of a high artistic quality and standard. It encourages those taking part to think widely, take risks, and explore new areas of their creativity. I have often commented on how I wished there was an organisation like this one when I was starting out. The information, guidance and mentorship on offer is incredibly sought after and quite literally has no price.

As by Stevie Wonder

Movement Director Ingrid was at The Mono Box for her invigorating LET'S MOVE workshop in late November and we caught her for a quick chat.

SUPPORT US / DONATE

Please help nurture the theatre artists of the future.

As a small not-for-profit our work to support, nurture and encourage emerging theatremakers of all ages and backgrounds would be much harder without the generosity of our donors and supporters. Every donation, whether it is £5 or £500, makes a difference and helps to make projects like PLASTART, Reset the Stage, Creative Exchange and our library (4,000+ play texts and 100+ digital monologues) possible.

How you can support us! You can support us by visiting our JustGiving page or via a direct bank transfer. You can also support us by setting up a monthly donation which provides crucial sustainable income and helps us plan for the future.

If you would like to find out more about the work of The Mono Box and other ways you can support us or to make a donation, please contact Helen Waters on Helen@themonobox.co.uk.

THANK YOU AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Before we leave you to enjoy your festive break, we have to say a HUGE thank you to all of the facilitators, panellists and artists who've shared their wisdom, experience and enthusiasm with our participants this year. Thank you to the participants who've engaged with us this year bringing energy and dynamism to our online and in-person spaces. And lastly but not least, thank you to everyone who's supported us this year, financially or otherwise. We couldn't do this without you!

CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES

UMULISA GAHIGA

Umulisa is a 23 year old actor of Rwandan origin, with professional credits on Apple TV, Prime Video and Channel 5. She studied at the Identity School of Acting.

TIGGY BAYLEY

Tggy is a writer, director and performer from South-West London. She trained at Jacques Lecoq Theatre School in Paris, before obtaining an MA in Liberal Arts at Bristol University. In 2018, Tiggy spent time in LA where her love of film evolved and strengthened. She has written and performed in several shorts. Since moving back to London, Tiggy works freelance in film for companies such as Heyday Films, Dragonfly Films LTD and Coverfly alongside writing her own material. Tiggy’s latest short film, TILDYPOPS, in which she played the lead, played at the Cannes Short Film Corner 2021 in July and premiered at Athens International Short Film Festival. Tiggy is an active member of Southwark Playhouse’s Young Company and is currently working on her debut feature which is being produced by Lena Vurma and a short about a fictional pop group in the 2000s.

DIPO

BARUWA-ETTI

Dipo is a filmmaker, playwright, and poet. As writer-director, his short films include awardwinning THE LAST DAYS, a BFI Network/BBC and starring Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn (SMALL AXE, LOVERS ROCK). He also has original projects in development with Blueprint Pictures and Duck Soup Films. His plays include THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE STARS (Theatre Royal Stratford East), AN UNFINISHED MAN (The Yard Theatre), HALF-EMPTY GLASSES (Paines Plough) and THE CLINIC (Almeida Theatre), published by Faber & Faber. As a poet, he has been published in The Good Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Amaryllis, and had his work showcased nationwide as part of End Hunger UK's touring exhibition on food insecurity.

ISLEY LYNN

Isley is an American-born, London-based playwright. Her upcoming show JOBSWORTH (written with Libby Rodliffe) will be shared as work in progress at Vault '23, and her newest play THE SWELL will be on at the Orange Tree Theatre in June-July '23. She’s currently under commission to The Donmar, Vicky Graham Productions, and is writing a new musical with Emmy The Great. She was a Women's Prize for Playwriting 2022 Finalist for her play FURIES. Isley’s play SKIN A CAT played at The Bunker as their premiere production in 2006. It was nominated for four Off West End Awards, including Best New Play. Her adaptation of WAR OF THE WORLDS in collaboration with Rhum And Clay enjoyed a completely sold out five week run at New Diorama Theatre in 2019 before running at the Edinburgh Festival and touring internationally.

INGRID MACKINNON

Originally from Canada, Ingrid is a London based movement director, choreographer and teacher. Ingrid currently teaches actor movement at Guildhall and Central School of Speech and Drama. Selected credits for movement direction include FIRST ENCOUTERS: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (RSC), #WeAreArrested (Arcola/RSC), THE BORDER (Theatre Centre) and TYPICAL (Nouveau Riche/Soho Theatre). Ingrid is co-founder of MoveSpace, an informal network for movement directors and movement teachers to share practice and connect with peers.

YOUSSEF KERKOUR

Youssef is an award-winning actor and writer best known for portraying Syrian refugee Sami in the comedy-drama series HOME. On stage he spent five years with the Royal Shakespeare Company (THE TWO GENTLEMAN OF VERONA, HENRY IV (PART 1), HENRY IV (PART 2), RICHARD II, LIFE OF GALILEO, MEASURE FOR MEASURE) and has also appeared in productions at Manchester Royal Exchange, Sheffield Crucible, Birmingham Rep, Theatre Royal Haymarket, National Theatre & Nottingham Playhouse. On screen Youssef starred in Ridley Scott's film HOUSE OF GUCCI and is set to appear in Scott's upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte drama KITBAG. He was also recently announced as a series lead in ITVX's new drama SIGNIFICANT OTHER. He was nominated for a Best Actor in a Comedy BAFTA in 2020, was a BAFTA Breakthrough honoree 2020, Nominated for a Comedy Performance (Male) at The Royal Television Society Awards 2020 and won Comedy Performance (Male) at The Royal Television Society Awards 2021.

Workshop photos: Charlie Lyne and Helen Murray Skin a Cat still: Richard Lakos and David Monteith-Hodge