The Leonardo Playwriting Training Partnership is a European project which was initiated by international theatre writer Sara Clifford, and Dr Jess Moriarty. Brighton University has linked with partner organisations in Austria, Amsterdam, Istanbul, and Romania, and the project is an opportunity for both students and staff to learn about the theatre writing cultures of these four countries. Julie Everton took three of her students on her second year module “Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen” to Amsterdam this March. She will be visiting Istanbul with other colleagues in September. Here’s what the students had to say about the trip:

We had a fantastic time in Amsterdam working with extremely enthusiastic people from different cultures; all of whom were contributors of Project Leonardo, and were passionately involved with different aspects of theatre or playwriting. We all met in the MC theatre bright and early on Friday morning, where we heard from Dutch playwrights about theatre in Holland, which turns out is quite different from England to how playwrights and directors work.  One playwright was explaining how he had created a coupling programme for new directors and playwrights. Listening to all the other countries explain the nature of independent theatre and theatre funding was very eye opening and made us realise how much encouragement and opportunities there are for new up and coming playwrights in Britain. As a group we went to restaurants which was a great opportunity to relax and to get to know everyone. There was a brilliant theatre production arranged for the Friday evening, Kate McIntosh performed an eye opening, quirky piece which focused on sounds and collective human spirit. Saturday we met again in the theatre and heard from a young Turkish women, a lecturer and director, who spoke about the  lack of funding and emphasis placed on theatre, and the historical and political reasons behind Turkey’s theatre culture. We also heard from the Romanians and the Austrians on the same topic and we all also spoke about our (comparatively little) experiences and what we hope to achieve. The whole weekend was extremely inspiring and it was great to get to know people so passionate and devoted to their practice and learn from our cultural differences and exchanges. (Gabriella Titcomb)

Students enjoying the local cuisine

The four day trip to Amsterdam was an amazing experience where we learnt about the theatre and playwriting from the countries of Austria, Romania, Turkey, the UK, and of course, Holland. We met with a talented and enthusiastic group of students and professionals from the industry which was an insightful experience and showed how lucky we are in the UK with the amount of opportunities we have to access. We enjoyed a morning of conversation and group questions from Dutch playwrights on the Friday at the MC theatre. That evening, we attended the Frascati theatre and experienced the All Ears performance by Kate McIntosh, which focused on involving the audience and a being taken on a sound journey. It was a fantastic experience and was useful learning new techniques in theatre. On Saturday we heard from a Turkish playwright who works for one of the universities, and the struggle she faces trying to show theatre in their culture. It was an insightful lecture and I appreciated how lucky we are in the UK with such a broad acceptance of theatre. I would love to visit Istanbul in the future to further my cultural exchange with theatre across the world. The trip was very pleasurable and allowed me to develop my skills and ideas while completing my stage, screen and radio module.​ (Kerry Higgins)