Melanie Bell

Author, Writer, Editor

Tag Archives: playwriting


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The Collaborative Process of Making a Play

Three actors prepare to take their (fictional) IQ test.

This month, I’ll have a play performed at London’s Tower Theatre for the second time. It’s been a massively collaborative process to get it there!

Last year, my short play The Pictures of Dora Gray was one of five chosen for the Writers’ Room showcase, featuring new writing from the Tower Theatre’s playwriting group. I’ve been a part of that group for two years now, meeting monthly. I’ve learned an immense amount from the experience, and it’s been great fun!

My fellow playwrights have gone on to produce, to direct, and to have full-length productions put on. Dora Gray was performed twice – at the showcase, and at the Barons Court Theatre’s scratch night. It was wonderful to see two different casts’ and directors’ takes on it. And the Writers’ Room showcase was the Tower Theatre’s most successful show of the year.

So, last year was great. Onward to this one! The creative team added new elements to the process this year, extending the development and rehearsal time. 

The showcase includes four plays, and we all had dramaturgical input. We got to see earlier drafts of the plays at a preview night, limited to the creative teams working on them. Then I worked with the director and assistant director to further develop my script. 

My short play An IQ Test for my Birthday went through several rounds of edits as we honed in on story arcs and worked to make the dialogue reflect, as clearly as possible, the unusual scenario of strangers meeting to take a group exam.  

One directorial suggestion was to use improv to flesh out some of the scenes. So, I shuttled back and forth to London for rehearsals. The cast members, each of whom brought a new dimension to their character, acted out their own versions of my scenes. The director recorded their improvised lines, and we drew on them while editing the script. 

It was a lot of work, and a lot of working together. Last year, I handed in a script, went to one rehearsal, and then saw the final play onstage. This time, I felt almost like part of the cast. I went to a dress rehearsal of the four plays last weekend, and it was magical to watch them all come to life together.

The play is stronger for all that collaboration. It will be performed from December 12-16, along with the other plays in the Home-themed showcase. You can get your tickets here. I can’t wait to see it shine!  


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New Play and Chasing Harmony Book Tour

Lots of good writing news lately. September was my book tour to celebrate Chasing Harmony’s one-year anniversary, following shortly after its ebook release. What a whirlwind!

From August 28 to September 22, a variety of book blogs hosted guest posts, excerpts, gift card giveaways, and reviews for my YA novel. You can catch up with the tour stops here! I had fun writing about everything from the cover design process to my research and forthcoming books.

Last year, I had a short play performed in the Tower Theatre Writers’ Room showcase. I’ve stayed involved with the Writers’ Room this year, and am delighted to have a play chosen for performance in the showcase again!

It couldn’t be more different. Last year’s play was a dark, feminist Dorian Gray-meets-Faust story about art and death. This one is a comedy called An IQ Test for My Birthday, directed by Ragan Keefer:

Callie gets a surprising birthday present from her father. An appointment to take an IQ test. Upon her arrival she meets a straightlaced journalist, a hard working mum and her energetic daughter. All are here for the same thing, to pass the test for their own personal agendas. Will they pass? Will their nerves get the best of them? A play that deals with themes of family, acceptance, and pride.

The Writers’ Room Showcase this year has the theme of “Home” and features four brand-new short plays that explore the theme from different angles. They’ll be onstage from December 12-16 in London.

“Home: A place? An ideal? An emotion? Tower Theatre writers explore a range of ideas suggested by this richly evocative little word in an exciting programme of short plays. Come along and see some ground-breaking new writing!” 

There’s more information on the showcase here. I hope to see some of you in the audience this winter!


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Oh, the Drama!

These last couple months have been exciting ones for my short play, The Pictures of Dora Gray. I’ve seen it read by two different casts. And at the end of the month, I’ll see it performed at the Tower Theatre’s Writers’ Room showcase.

In Oscar Wilde’s classic novel, The Pictures of Dorian Gray, a young man makes a supernatural bargain to preserve his beauty. My play features a woman who decides to use her beauty as a bargaining chip. It’s about gender, art, death, and the costs of greatness. 

It was a heady week in October when I met the cast of Dora Gray for the showcase and heard their first read through of the play. I’d met the director and assistant director earlier, and was confident the play was in good hands. Colin Guthrie gave a lot of thought to characters and relationships, and we collaborated on a few revisions. Then came the read-through. It was surreal to watch other people perform the words and story I wrote. I admit I cried a bit. 

That same week, Dora Gray was one of three short plays performed at Barons Court Theatre’s scratch night, The Sunday Fix. I watched in real time as a director directed it and a group of actors rehearsed and acted it out. At the end of the night, the plays were performed and the audience gave feedback to the writers.

It was a fascinating process to see the play evolve, and to watch two different directors’ takes on it. Not to mention meeting some great theatre people! I can’t wait to see a fully staged production after this.

If you’re in London, you can watch the Writers’ Room December showcase between 29 November and 3 December.