Since its launch in August 2021, the Sherman Literary Department has connected with, empowered and nurtured Welsh and Wales-based writers through a comprehensive range of opportunities and initiatives. Sherman Theatre has become home for writers through schemes including two flagship, nine-month long initiatives – Sherman Writers Group and Cylch Sgwennu which saw 16 writers nurtured through a structured programme to develop an initial idea for a play into a final draft. The Unheard Voices initiative saw 20 writers from under-represented groups share their voice, be inspired by industry-leading practitioners and be supported by their peers and Artistic Team at Sherman Theatre. Other schemes have included one to one pit stop writers’ sessions, town hall meetings, reading clubs, writers’ nights and unsolicited script submission windows. Over the course of the last year the Literary Department has engaged, developed and supported an estimated 240 Welsh and Wales-based writers.
Arts Council Wales has awarded Sherman Theatre an additional year of funding to enable the Literary Department to build on the foundations laid by Literary Manager Branwen Davies and Literary Associate Alice Eklund. Branwen and Alice will be passing on the mantle of their inspirational work as they move on to new opportunities. Sherman Theatre will be looking for two new team members to lead the Literary Department in this next phase of its activity.
Sherman Theatre’s pioneering Introduction to Playwriting programme has supported and developed 45 young writers since the inception of its first phase of activity in 2018. Participants have been given the opportunity to explore and grow their creative writing skills. Through the programme, which is free of charge to participants, the Sherman has become somewhere the young people can discover their voice and share it with others. The first phase of the programme, supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, was highly productive seeing 26 plays being written and shared, 24 monologues created and performed and 13 audio dramas written and recorded. The programme, which is led by Sherman Theatre’s Creative Engagement team and works with expert sector practitioners, reached thousands of young people and involved 120 freelancers.
An expanded three-year-long second phase of the programme will begin in Autumn 2022 thanks to generous support from the Moondance Foundation. The funding will also ensure that Introduction to Playwriting will remain free of charge to participants. Introduction to Playwriting will continue to grow the learning and skills of young writers and giving them the invaluable opportunity to have their work developed and shared. This new phase will see the programme renew its focus on providing opportunities to a diverse range of writers whose backgrounds are currently underrepresented across the wider arts sector.
Joe Murphy, Sherman Theatre’s Artistic Director, has said “This is wonderful news for Sherman Theatre and the artists and communities we serve. We are hugely grateful to Arts Council Wales for the additional year of funding for our Literary Department. Over a very short space of time the brilliant Literary Team have connected with hundreds of Welsh and Wales based writers at varying points in their careers. The writer development programmes have shown how vibrant writing talent is in Wales and we have been proud to provide platforms for writers whose voices needed to be heard.
We would like to thank and pay tribute to the inspirational work of Branwen and Alice and wish them the very best for the future. We are very excited about what we will achieve over the next year and look forward to welcoming a new team to the Sherman.
We are justifiably proud of Introduction to Playwriting which has had such a profound impact on its remarkable young participants and we are delighted that thanks to the Moondance Foundation this will continue. Introduction to Playwriting proves that there is huge cause to be excited about the future of Welsh theatre and no scheme better encapsulates our mission to change and diversify who the storytellers in Wales are.”
Sherman Theatre’s Creative Engagement Manager Timothy Howe has said “We are incredibly proud of how much the Introduction to Playwriting participants have achieved over the past four years. These young people are not just the theatre makers of tomorrow, but the creators of the here and now. Our enormous thanks go to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for supporting this project since 2018. We’re now so pleased to announce that Introduction to Playwriting will continue in September free of charge thanks to support from the Moondance Foundation. We cannot wait to celebrate and share even more stories from exceptional young creatives.”