Evangelina Telfar
I have been writing plays for over ten years now and have spent most of that time doing it alone. I don’t regret this. I love spending time making worlds and characters on my own. However, playwriting can also be a lonely process and I have grown jealous of actors and designers in their ability to collaborate in their work once we have completed ours.
I looked at what options there were and realised that the new-playwright-pipeline is pretty much broken. It has always been difficult for playwrights to develop their craft, let alone grow a career or find a writing partner to work with. Over the past five years things got worse. With the demise of Young and Hungry, the end of Red Readings, and Sandpit Workshops, along with Playmarket having less and less funds to assist new artists, it increasingly feels like the opportunities begin and end with TAHI Festival, Proudly Asian Theatre and Playwrights B4 25.
“What drew me to this project was the desire to help create the opportunity I would love to see as a playwright. And then take advantage of it myself…” - Jack McGee (Boys and Girls at the School Silent Disco)
I wanted to see what it would be like to make a show about what it means to compromise while having to compromise. I decided to find a bunch of writers and see if they would be interested in writing together. About a year and a half ago, I talked to my dear friend Jack McGee about making this show. We decided to co-produce it and spent a lot of time making a pitch for CNZ. We were not successful. We talked to the writers we had brought on for the project about if they would still want to write this show even without funding. I was honoured when most of them came back saying yes.
I went to TAHI Festival’s director Sally Richards and International Institute of Modern Letters’s Script Writing Lecturer Ken Duncum for advice. As always, they both gave me much needed wisdom and guidance, which was crucial to the development of our own process. Compromise owes equal amounts to TAHI’s Monologue Anthologies like ONO and the IIML’s workshop room.
“Playwriting can be a lonely process, so it was refreshing working collaboratively with a writing partner. While we shared a similar vision, our contrasting approaches actually benefited the work, and I feel like I learned a lot from her and this shared process.” - Jill Kwan (How to Throw a Chinese Funeral)
At the end of 2023, we gathered the writers together online. ZOOM (or Google Meet) was going to be a key part of our process as two of our writers, Nuanzhi Zheng and Jill Kwan, are Tāmaki based. At the beginning of the meeting, I set the guidelines for the short plays; you must work with another writer, you must limit yourself to a maximum of four actors and fifteen minutes, and you must make the play about compromise. I also wanted everyone to meet so that we could start to understand each other’s writing styles and agree on a process moving forward. We left that meeting having devised a questionnaire I would use to pair writers together. This decision would be based on a number of factors; their writing style, what they were looking for in a writing partner, their writing process, and how much they wanted to be challenged vs supported.
“Compromise was my first time not writing a piece entirely within the little cave of my own mind - I thought this would be scary but it was oddly reassuring. Jill and I were very well matched, and to think of writing as not an entirely isolated process was revealing and inspiring. I loved watching everyone’s minds ricochet off each other’s and make magic!” - Ella Yiannoutous (NO NO NO)
Once we had figured out the pairs, we decided to do three drafts of our scripts throughout 2024. For the first draft, no one was allowed to share the subject matter of their work outside their pair so that we didn’t influence each other’s work. After the first draft was complete, we discovered that we needn’t have worried. Great minds think alike, and two of our four plays prominently featured construction sites and builders. We all got together to give initial feedback. This feedback system resembled that of a Writer’s Workshop (such as at the IIML, where many of us studied) or a TV writers room. While it was too early to get deep in the weeds with polishing, we all walked away with a much better understanding of our plays.
Each pair figured out their own way to work together. One pair started by each writing their own draft of the play script and then squishing them together, taking the best bits from each. For another pair, one of the writers came up with the beat structure and the other wrote the script itself. Then the first writer edited the script.
My partner, Nuanzhi, and I wrote our script together online. It took time for us to not only figure out the process for this script but also to get to know one another as we’d never met before this project. We would use Google Docs during online video calls so we could write at the same time. We started by agreeing on a concept and then both researching it as we both love research. Then we came up with a narrative and wrote a rough first draft by each taking a character. We would write their dialogue and talk through their lines as we went. Once we had a rough first draft, it was easier to then map out the beats and characters of the story. I found having the ability to voice ideas to a partner greatly sped up the process of knowing what worked and what didn’t.
"You can sift through the muck much quicker when you're bouncing off a writing partner. Normally I would cling to attractive but ill-fitting ideas for way too long, but when you're working as a pair, what does and doesn't need to be in this script becomes clearer much quicker." - Īhaka Martyn (He Māori?)
After we had done two drafts of the scripts, we organised a day-long script workshop. We flew Nuanzhi and Jill down so that, for the first time, we had all the writers in the same physical room. We had the brilliant Lia Kelly direct the workshop and brought in a stunning team of actors (Megan Connolly, Abby Lyons, Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin, & Matt Loveranes) to read. The workshop greatly helped us writers all figure out the tone of our work and where we needed to develop the scripts in the third and final draft.
“The best thing about Compromise is that it was a reason with a prompt and framework for me to work with a friend whose writing I respect and admire. When coming up with the idea for our script, we just so happened to be on the same wavelength and the rest was easy. It was a flattering added bonus to find that our writing styles are complementary and that it is really fun to write together (it helped that we settled on a topic which could be silly and playful). We have had so much fun working through Compromise that we have decided to flesh out our idea into a longer play and have hopes to include it in the 2026 NZ Fringe Festival. Watch this space!” - Emilie Hope (Confessions With A Kangaroo)
It wasn’t until the third draft that mine and Nuanzhi’s script really started to click into place. I think the fact that by this point, we knew each other better helped. We could be more honest about ideas and bounce off each other faster and with more ease. We also got to have more fun and push the ideas into weirder places.
“The process of writing Compromise has been a blast! Writing can often be a lonely and solitary process, and as they say, two heads are better than one.” - Nuanzhi Zheng (Chick Habit)
Meanwhile, Jack and I pulled together the production team for putting on this show at the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2025. We managed to find a small amount of funding and we completed the third drafts all by the end of 2024. It was amazing to read the third drafts and see how far each piece had come. In our final discussions, it was also quite special to see how each pair had grown a friendship alongside their creative work together.
All of our writers have been heavily involved in the production of their past plays. Not because they necessarily wanted to but because, in this day and age, there is no other way to get a play onstage but produce it yourself when you are an emerging playwright. All of the writers are excited to hand over their plays to our trusted director, Lia Kelly, and for once, step back in a way they never have before. It’s an awesome prospect for all of us to work in this new way.
“Compromise has been a playful and hilarious dream. As a writer and director, I’ve never given my writing to someone else to direct until now. However, because Compromise has built such trust and quality, I am happily entrusting my work with new creative partnerships.” - Mitchell Botting (Shift Your Paradigm)
We have now started rehearsals and we can’t wait to stage this show called, you guessed it, Compromise, at Gryphon Theatre from the 18th-21st February. Come along to see us if we’ve compromised or been compromised. You can buy tickets here: https://tickets.fringe.co.nz/event/446:6215/
“What drew me to this project was the desire to help create the opportunity I would love to see as a playwright. And then take advantage of it myself…” - Jack McGee (Boys and Girls at the School Silent Disco)
I wanted to see what it would be like to make a show about what it means to compromise while having to compromise. I decided to find a bunch of writers and see if they would be interested in writing together. About a year and a half ago, I talked to my dear friend Jack McGee about making this show. We decided to co-produce it and spent a lot of time making a pitch for CNZ. We were not successful. We talked to the writers we had brought on for the project about if they would still want to write this show even without funding. I was honoured when most of them came back saying yes.
I went to TAHI Festival’s director Sally Richards and International Institute of Modern Letters’s Script Writing Lecturer Ken Duncum for advice. As always, they both gave me much needed wisdom and guidance, which was crucial to the development of our own process. Compromise owes equal amounts to TAHI’s Monologue Anthologies like ONO and the IIML’s workshop room.
“Playwriting can be a lonely process, so it was refreshing working collaboratively with a writing partner. While we shared a similar vision, our contrasting approaches actually benefited the work, and I feel like I learned a lot from her and this shared process.” - Jill Kwan (How to Throw a Chinese Funeral)
At the end of 2023, we gathered the writers together online. ZOOM (or Google Meet) was going to be a key part of our process as two of our writers, Nuanzhi Zheng and Jill Kwan, are Tāmaki based. At the beginning of the meeting, I set the guidelines for the short plays; you must work with another writer, you must limit yourself to a maximum of four actors and fifteen minutes, and you must make the play about compromise. I also wanted everyone to meet so that we could start to understand each other’s writing styles and agree on a process moving forward. We left that meeting having devised a questionnaire I would use to pair writers together. This decision would be based on a number of factors; their writing style, what they were looking for in a writing partner, their writing process, and how much they wanted to be challenged vs supported.
“Compromise was my first time not writing a piece entirely within the little cave of my own mind - I thought this would be scary but it was oddly reassuring. Jill and I were very well matched, and to think of writing as not an entirely isolated process was revealing and inspiring. I loved watching everyone’s minds ricochet off each other’s and make magic!” - Ella Yiannoutous (NO NO NO)
Once we had figured out the pairs, we decided to do three drafts of our scripts throughout 2024. For the first draft, no one was allowed to share the subject matter of their work outside their pair so that we didn’t influence each other’s work. After the first draft was complete, we discovered that we needn’t have worried. Great minds think alike, and two of our four plays prominently featured construction sites and builders. We all got together to give initial feedback. This feedback system resembled that of a Writer’s Workshop (such as at the IIML, where many of us studied) or a TV writers room. While it was too early to get deep in the weeds with polishing, we all walked away with a much better understanding of our plays.
Each pair figured out their own way to work together. One pair started by each writing their own draft of the play script and then squishing them together, taking the best bits from each. For another pair, one of the writers came up with the beat structure and the other wrote the script itself. Then the first writer edited the script.
My partner, Nuanzhi, and I wrote our script together online. It took time for us to not only figure out the process for this script but also to get to know one another as we’d never met before this project. We would use Google Docs during online video calls so we could write at the same time. We started by agreeing on a concept and then both researching it as we both love research. Then we came up with a narrative and wrote a rough first draft by each taking a character. We would write their dialogue and talk through their lines as we went. Once we had a rough first draft, it was easier to then map out the beats and characters of the story. I found having the ability to voice ideas to a partner greatly sped up the process of knowing what worked and what didn’t.
"You can sift through the muck much quicker when you're bouncing off a writing partner. Normally I would cling to attractive but ill-fitting ideas for way too long, but when you're working as a pair, what does and doesn't need to be in this script becomes clearer much quicker." - Īhaka Martyn (He Māori?)
After we had done two drafts of the scripts, we organised a day-long script workshop. We flew Nuanzhi and Jill down so that, for the first time, we had all the writers in the same physical room. We had the brilliant Lia Kelly direct the workshop and brought in a stunning team of actors (Megan Connolly, Abby Lyons, Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin, & Matt Loveranes) to read. The workshop greatly helped us writers all figure out the tone of our work and where we needed to develop the scripts in the third and final draft.
“The best thing about Compromise is that it was a reason with a prompt and framework for me to work with a friend whose writing I respect and admire. When coming up with the idea for our script, we just so happened to be on the same wavelength and the rest was easy. It was a flattering added bonus to find that our writing styles are complementary and that it is really fun to write together (it helped that we settled on a topic which could be silly and playful). We have had so much fun working through Compromise that we have decided to flesh out our idea into a longer play and have hopes to include it in the 2026 NZ Fringe Festival. Watch this space!” - Emilie Hope (Confessions With A Kangaroo)
It wasn’t until the third draft that mine and Nuanzhi’s script really started to click into place. I think the fact that by this point, we knew each other better helped. We could be more honest about ideas and bounce off each other faster and with more ease. We also got to have more fun and push the ideas into weirder places.
“The process of writing Compromise has been a blast! Writing can often be a lonely and solitary process, and as they say, two heads are better than one.” - Nuanzhi Zheng (Chick Habit)
Meanwhile, Jack and I pulled together the production team for putting on this show at the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2025. We managed to find a small amount of funding and we completed the third drafts all by the end of 2024. It was amazing to read the third drafts and see how far each piece had come. In our final discussions, it was also quite special to see how each pair had grown a friendship alongside their creative work together.
All of our writers have been heavily involved in the production of their past plays. Not because they necessarily wanted to but because, in this day and age, there is no other way to get a play onstage but produce it yourself when you are an emerging playwright. All of the writers are excited to hand over their plays to our trusted director, Lia Kelly, and for once, step back in a way they never have before. It’s an awesome prospect for all of us to work in this new way.
“Compromise has been a playful and hilarious dream. As a writer and director, I’ve never given my writing to someone else to direct until now. However, because Compromise has built such trust and quality, I am happily entrusting my work with new creative partnerships.” - Mitchell Botting (Shift Your Paradigm)
We have now started rehearsals and we can’t wait to stage this show called, you guessed it, Compromise, at Gryphon Theatre from the 18th-21st February. Come along to see us if we’ve compromised or been compromised. You can buy tickets here: https://tickets.fringe.co.nz/event/446:6215/