Jack McGee
The Magnificent Weirdos upcoming play-reading series celebrates eight new short plays, all created by “writers and devisers with lived experience of disability, neurodiversity, d/Deafness or mental distress.” All of these plays are twenty minutes in length, and still in a first draft stage. This isn’t by accident, no-one’s missed a deadline. It’s the whole point.
Sameena Zehra and Helen Vivienne Fletcher created First Draft in order to fight the expectations that often plague writers with disabilities. Talking to me over Zoom, Zehra observes a fear of getting started that affects artists across a range of marginalised communities…
“If they get it wrong, it feeds into that very right wing and lowest common denominator narrative of see you give these people a chance, and they can’t do anything!” Zehra says. “Ultimately, it’s all about just getting pen to paper.”
“You never make anything good without trying, and failing, and getting feedback, and writing your magnum opus which is a pile of shit until you get to the thing you really need to write!”
Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher have made clear to the writers that they're not expected to write about disability. First Draft scoffs at the perceived expectation that these writers have to “speak for” a massive community. They are individuals, artists, here to tell stories both silly and serious and the weekend's lineup of plays reflects this.
From Sam Pretious’s The Eagle Leaves A Scar, which (presumably) puts a new spin on the punishment of Prometheus, to Rem Wigmore’s The Cryptid Hunters of New Zealand which follows a group of friends seeking the Fiordland Moose, the range of work here is beyond eclectic.
Each play is followed by a half hour kōrero, facilitated by the director, Zehra. This is where the meat of the mini-festival can be found. Longer is spent talking about the play than reading it, which makes First Draft a perfect flag-ship project for it’s freshly rebranded venue The Hannah (Formerly The Hannah Playhouse). The Hannah has recently announced that it’s programming will be split 50/50 between audience facing work and behind-closed-doors works in development. First Draft, is the rare project that includes both.
This makes it an interesting proposition. As an audience, why pay to see unfinished work? Zehra believes there’s plenty of joy to be found in being part of the process, seeing “the sketch that becomes the oil painting”. The readings aren’t priced like oil-paintings either. Tickets are pay what you want, ranging from 8-100 dollars, and if you’re struggling to cover that, The Magnificent Weirdos email is open and they’re here to help.
For The Magnificent Weirdo’s, building a project to be accessible is not a consideration — it’s a given. More importantly, it’s built in from day zero. Vivienne Fletcher describes this via a construction analogy;
“If you create a building as accessible from the start, the accessibility costs will maybe be a couple of extra thousand, as opposed to trying to retrofit a lift,” Fletcher says.
NZSL interpreters are a given, as is accessible seating (courtesy of The Hannah, one of Wellington’s few accessible venues), but the most significant lift Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher have installed is quietly more radical. They’e opted to book The Hannah out for two whole weeks, instead of just the weekend of the readings. This allows the team to drop in and out, for rehearsals to be short, flexible, and take place at a gradual and accessible pace, for pack in to be measured and not manic.
Vivienne Fletcher points out that this approach isn’t just for disabled creatives, it’s great for everyone.
“A lot of access needs are not actually specifically disability needs, they're just human needs, it’s just there’s a more significant impact on a disabled person if those needs are not met.”
No one is built to be overworked, but unfortunately those with disabilities tend to be impacted disproportionately.
“I heard someone say that disabled people are like the canaries in the coal mines, they’re affected first.”
When accessibility issues are taken into consideration, everyone stands to gain. Who amongst us would not kill for a measured and gradual pack-in?
The bottom line is, creating art should be fun. While it is a form of labour, and should be treated (and compensated) as such, people should be allowed to enjoy their work. The idea of suffering for your art is something Zehra has no time for...
”(Art) should be created by jumping on mattresses and rolling in the sand or whatever the fuck floats your boat.”
With over half of the show being discussion, we the audience are part of the process. This makes this pro-fun attitude essential, not just for the writers and performers, but for us. No one wants a miserable, heavy, workshop. Let us at the mattresses.
Another way Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher are looking to make playwriting more accessible is by demystifying its processes. While there’s a million people out there who’ll tell you how to write a play, it’s difficult to find someone who can tell you what to do with it. Someone who can guide you through the playwrights calendar competitions and opportunities, the process of getting from script to stage, and the complications of licensing. Thank god for Playmarket Director Murray Lynch, who’s running an hour-long workshop as part of the festival. For playwrights, I think this is one of the most valuable parts of the whole project. Lynch is a near limitless well of advice, and an hour of his time is worth it’s weight in play-scripts.
Ultimately, the goal for The Magnificent Weirdos is that First Draft will be the first of many. It’s a joy to see established artists like Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher giving back to the community like this, and fighting to create opportunities. As referenced in Evee Telfar’s article, the new playwright pipeline is broken (if there ever really was one) and in order for the next Jean Betts to rise from waters of Te Whanganui-a-tara, write the next great kiwi play, and bring the masses back to the theatre, they need to finish their first draft. Even if none of that happens, it’s still a weekend of new plays. It all has to start somewhere...
First Draft Runs from the 15th to the 17th. You can book tickets here.
“If they get it wrong, it feeds into that very right wing and lowest common denominator narrative of see you give these people a chance, and they can’t do anything!” Zehra says. “Ultimately, it’s all about just getting pen to paper.”
“You never make anything good without trying, and failing, and getting feedback, and writing your magnum opus which is a pile of shit until you get to the thing you really need to write!”
Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher have made clear to the writers that they're not expected to write about disability. First Draft scoffs at the perceived expectation that these writers have to “speak for” a massive community. They are individuals, artists, here to tell stories both silly and serious and the weekend's lineup of plays reflects this.
From Sam Pretious’s The Eagle Leaves A Scar, which (presumably) puts a new spin on the punishment of Prometheus, to Rem Wigmore’s The Cryptid Hunters of New Zealand which follows a group of friends seeking the Fiordland Moose, the range of work here is beyond eclectic.
Each play is followed by a half hour kōrero, facilitated by the director, Zehra. This is where the meat of the mini-festival can be found. Longer is spent talking about the play than reading it, which makes First Draft a perfect flag-ship project for it’s freshly rebranded venue The Hannah (Formerly The Hannah Playhouse). The Hannah has recently announced that it’s programming will be split 50/50 between audience facing work and behind-closed-doors works in development. First Draft, is the rare project that includes both.
This makes it an interesting proposition. As an audience, why pay to see unfinished work? Zehra believes there’s plenty of joy to be found in being part of the process, seeing “the sketch that becomes the oil painting”. The readings aren’t priced like oil-paintings either. Tickets are pay what you want, ranging from 8-100 dollars, and if you’re struggling to cover that, The Magnificent Weirdos email is open and they’re here to help.
For The Magnificent Weirdo’s, building a project to be accessible is not a consideration — it’s a given. More importantly, it’s built in from day zero. Vivienne Fletcher describes this via a construction analogy;
“If you create a building as accessible from the start, the accessibility costs will maybe be a couple of extra thousand, as opposed to trying to retrofit a lift,” Fletcher says.
NZSL interpreters are a given, as is accessible seating (courtesy of The Hannah, one of Wellington’s few accessible venues), but the most significant lift Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher have installed is quietly more radical. They’e opted to book The Hannah out for two whole weeks, instead of just the weekend of the readings. This allows the team to drop in and out, for rehearsals to be short, flexible, and take place at a gradual and accessible pace, for pack in to be measured and not manic.
Vivienne Fletcher points out that this approach isn’t just for disabled creatives, it’s great for everyone.
“A lot of access needs are not actually specifically disability needs, they're just human needs, it’s just there’s a more significant impact on a disabled person if those needs are not met.”
No one is built to be overworked, but unfortunately those with disabilities tend to be impacted disproportionately.
“I heard someone say that disabled people are like the canaries in the coal mines, they’re affected first.”
When accessibility issues are taken into consideration, everyone stands to gain. Who amongst us would not kill for a measured and gradual pack-in?
The bottom line is, creating art should be fun. While it is a form of labour, and should be treated (and compensated) as such, people should be allowed to enjoy their work. The idea of suffering for your art is something Zehra has no time for...
”(Art) should be created by jumping on mattresses and rolling in the sand or whatever the fuck floats your boat.”
With over half of the show being discussion, we the audience are part of the process. This makes this pro-fun attitude essential, not just for the writers and performers, but for us. No one wants a miserable, heavy, workshop. Let us at the mattresses.
Another way Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher are looking to make playwriting more accessible is by demystifying its processes. While there’s a million people out there who’ll tell you how to write a play, it’s difficult to find someone who can tell you what to do with it. Someone who can guide you through the playwrights calendar competitions and opportunities, the process of getting from script to stage, and the complications of licensing. Thank god for Playmarket Director Murray Lynch, who’s running an hour-long workshop as part of the festival. For playwrights, I think this is one of the most valuable parts of the whole project. Lynch is a near limitless well of advice, and an hour of his time is worth it’s weight in play-scripts.
Ultimately, the goal for The Magnificent Weirdos is that First Draft will be the first of many. It’s a joy to see established artists like Zehra and Vivienne Fletcher giving back to the community like this, and fighting to create opportunities. As referenced in Evee Telfar’s article, the new playwright pipeline is broken (if there ever really was one) and in order for the next Jean Betts to rise from waters of Te Whanganui-a-tara, write the next great kiwi play, and bring the masses back to the theatre, they need to finish their first draft. Even if none of that happens, it’s still a weekend of new plays. It all has to start somewhere...
First Draft Runs from the 15th to the 17th. You can book tickets here.