The Seamus Heaney proudly presents a new workshop and performance opportunity for our student and alumni script writers.

Off The Page is a scratch workshop and performance that allows scriptwriters to workshop a script (up to 10 pages), culminating in a rehearsed reading in front of an audience. We will hold regular workshops, working with actors and directors from QUB drama society to explore and develop your script, facilitated by playwright Darcey Youngman with the support of dramaturg Hanna Slättne.

At the end of the workshops the directors and actors will rehearse a reading presented at Scratch Sunday, with a facilitated feedback session to hear from audiences and performers.

Hanna Slättne is a dramaturg specialising in new work with 25 years’ experience. She is currently a Ciaran Carson Writing and the City Fellow at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's.  Hanna was an in-house dramaturg for Tinderbox Theatre Company for fifteen years, and now works freelance on multiple productions across theatre, dance and immersive performances.

Darcey Youngman is a playwright from Manchester, currently based in Belfast. She has been working with the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's for over a year, coordinating and editing weekly film and theatre reviews, and leading on new initiatives that bring writers together with actors, film and theatre makers, including a new critical writing series and these scratch nights. 

This is an incredible opportunity to see your words leap off the page, to work with a professional dramaturg and actors from the drama society and undergraduate. It's a chance to work on your own words, but also collaborate with others and to see how scripts land with audiences. 

Send submissions to Darcey at shc@qub.ac.uk by Monday 22 September. I look forward to reading your scripts and working with you!