Besties, as part of our support for Theatre Pathways, routes for young people to discover the joy of live theatre and perhaps a career in the sector, we enjoy discovering regional activity that connects venues to that community. Creative learning and outreach programmes operate at many of these venues and provide opportunities for young people to enjoy a first experience on stage or backstage. For those who go on to drama school in pursuit of a career, the first steps into the professional world are some of the hardest. Getting an agent, attending auditions and securing a first role is highly competitive and many need a second paid job to survive or fade away from performance after a short while. Opportunities to build experience, try stuff out, and develop writing and directing skills are harder to find but provide a vital bridge from drama school to regular work.
Thanks to the support of Sir Ian McKellen through funds raised by his visiting solo show in February 2019, Theatre Royal Windsor has been able to invest in its outreach and creative learning programme and support young talent development pathways. One of these initiatives is Windsor Words where there is an opportunity to be involved in read-throughs of both original and familiar scripts. Local playwrights, performers and theatre-enthusiasts are invited to come along, and some of the shows may eventually make their way to the stage in Windsor and other regional venues. The scheme offers an aspiring writer, a performer keen to explore new material, or simply a theatre lover eager to be part of the creative process, a perfect space to connect and collaborate.
Windsor Words is where writers have the opportunity to have read-throughs of their work in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. The latest one was Kieran Usher’s Guards Up, performed at the Theatre Royal Windsor on 26 October. Kieran Usher, a young GSA graduate. explained that the idea of Guards Up has been brewing since 2024, stemming from his time living in Streatham/Brixton, local to the boxing gym that first inspired the idea, which has now sadly closed. Kieran is passionate about representing working class stories, whilst bringing a cinematic experience to stage.
Set in Brixton, seventeen-year-old Mason is thrust back into a life he once knew, following the monumental loss of his mum for whom he was the carer. Arriving at Mark’s door, his estranged father, he is shockingly attacked and robbed on a street corner when sent out to get some food and alcohol on his first night. Tony comes to his rescue and takes him to his nearby battered boxing gym where everyone is fighting something. There, he meets sixteen-year-old Kelly who helps in the gym, and LJ, another young aspiring boxer. They become rivals in the national Golden Glove competition to secure a scholarship to a Manchester boxing academy, creating tensions in the gym and with Mark who does not want to favour either young boxer. Gradually, they reveal the back stories of Mason’s mother separation from Mark and her death, the breakdown in the past relationship of Mark and Tony, and the personal losses of Tony, LJ and Kelly.
The workshop cast, who only spent a day on the script, did an extraordinary job in bringing these powerful emotional stories to life, bringing out the raw feelings, the aggressive anger and the charming tender flirtation between characters. We had seen Kier Burst, who assist directed the piece at East Berkshire Operatic Society, and Steevan Glover, who played Tony at Datchet Players and Wraysbury Players, so we knew they had plenty of experience. Mark was played by Fanos Xenofós , LJ by Louie Wanless, Kelly by Lucy Matok, and Mason by Jonas Bal. Each did an excellent job creating the characters and their relationships showing love, anger and jealousy.
It created an emotional drama about grief, father and son relationships and the power of caring people who take young kids off the street and give them a purpose and outlet for their frustrations. Despite the workshop squeezing a two act, two-hour narrative into a one-hour format with some scenes described rather than performed, it conveyed the potential of the writing. We were left to imagine the fight choreography, atmospheric lighting and underscore of the South West London music scene. Indeed, one of the real challenges of a full staging will be how to create the key boxing bouts and sparring that either looks realistic, or finds a theatrical language that provides a metaphor for them. In some ways, it is easier to see that the solution would be a TV production in Channel 5’s Play for Today format.
Attending a workshop like this as an audience member is a wonderful insightful glimpse into the process of creating live theatre and the natural talent of the cast in acting their roles with script in hand after a few hours of rehearsal. It provides the writer with a response to their work to feed into future development and a video recording to show potential producers. It provides young directors a chance to develop their skills. For young drama school graduates and writers creating their first plays, it is valuable development time. At a time when there is a shortage of new plays on our stages, we should encourage these opportunities as who know we might fund ourselves with the next James Graham in the room.
Nick Wayne