 How do you get started?
I’ve
always told stories. When I was a child I shared a bedroom with
my younger brother. His name was Tony (it still is!) and he always
had trouble getting to sleep. Everything used to scare him. Especially
the curtains, for some reason. He used to scream at the sight of
our bedroom curtains. And so, to calm him down, I used to tell stories.
I used to base the stories on people and places we knew. Like Mr
Jones who owned the corner shop and the local rubbish tip where
we used to play. Then, once the story had got going and my brother
was hooked, I would bring in something more fantastical. In a way,
that’s still how I make up stories. I always begin with something
I know…then twist it a little bit.
The
next stage for me becoming a playwright (please excuse the pun!)
happened when I was about ten years old. Up until this time I had
always written my stories down in the form of…well, short
stories. As prose fiction. But then…oh, then we had a very
special teacher visit our school. He was still doing his teacher
training and was only with us for about a term, but in that term
he changed my life. Because this teacher was fanatical about stage
plays. He divided the class up into groups of about five or six
and asked us to write a play and perform a play. We had a week to
do this and, at the end of the week, on Friday afternoon, all the
plays would be performed in front of the whole school. I loved it!!!
I’m afraid I sort of took over: I wrote the play and directed
it (my poor school mates were bossed around horribly by me, I’m
sure) and gave myself the lead part. The play was a big success
and the head teacher me a gold star. I don’t know who that
teacher was who got me started with writing plays. I’ve long
since forgot his name. But I am eternally grateful to him. Thank
you, Mr Teacher. Thank you. |
Philip Ridley 
