“ To be born a Welsh playwright is to be born with a shorter straw .”
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TIM PRICE
Celebrated playwright Tim Price chats to Gareth Ludkin about the immediacy of theatre and his continued drive to produce pertinent productions for modern audiences . pic : WARREN ORCHARD
After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in English and philosophy , Aberdare-born playwright Tim Price , in a situation all too familiar with today ’ s crop of young graduates , found himself confronted with an endless pile of rejection letters for jobs as diverse as rock climbing instructor and MI5 employee . Having not set out to become a writer from a young age , Tim admits that it took a while for him to find his path , and whilst he concedes that he “ had no direction ”, he was also constantly writing – a stint as a journalist undoubtedly helping him perfect his craft as a storyteller . Today , Tim has grown to become one of the most respected and in-demand playwrights in Wales . Genuine , modest and obviously passionate about his job , Tim ’ s work has seen wide critical acclaim throughout the UK . His Olivier Award-nominated play Salt , Root And Roe arrives at Sherman Cymru this month ( see p . 34 ), and I caught up with him ahead of rehearsals to find out a little more about what inspires him . “ Theatre in the UK is a writer ’ s medium ,” explains Tim when I ask what appeals to him most about writing for the stage . “ As a writer in the theatre you ’ re the lead creator , you have the final say on the text and the story . Theatre is a brilliant place for a writer ; you ’ re respected and also theatre can respond to events far quicker than TV and film can .” The immediacy of theatre which Tim refers to is no more evident than in National Theatre Wales ’ fantastic production , The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning , which was penned by Price in 2011 following the explosion of Wikileaks in 2010 and Bradley Manning ’ s role in leaking confidential military information . Not only was the production a brilliantly written and beautifully crafted piece of theatre , brave and inventive in its approach to a politically pertinent topic , it was also a bold defence
BUZZ 20 of Bradley Manning ’ s cause . I was intrigued to find out more about why he felt so passionate about telling Manning ’ s story . “ You always sit down to write a good piece of drama , that ’ s your first goal , to write a piece of drama that people will watch . But my super goal for the play was to raise awareness in Wales . Bradley ’ s got more family in Wales than he has in the States , and he ’ s the centre of this global story to do with politics , how the world organises itself , and how first world countries exploit third world countries ... and this lad went to a Welsh school . It ’ s an amazing story , but people don ’ t know about it .” Salt , Root And Roe touches on similarly pertinent topics such suicide and the challenges of old age ,
“ To be born a Welsh playwright is to be born with a shorter straw .”
and I ask Tim whether he feels himself being drawn to such topics . “ I think possibly , because of my training as a journalist , I tend to seek out these stories that need to be told . I have lots of peers who pull these stories out of their own imagination whereas I need a starting point of a story inspired by a real story , or an image or an anecdote or something . Salt , Root And Roe was inspired by a true story from a coroner ’ s report that I read when I was a journalist years ago .” Tim is already hard at work on another politically expedient play based on the Occupy movement , and at the same time as Salt , Root And Roe , Tim is also
working on Praxis Makes Perfect , a NTW production with Gruff Rhys and Neon Neon . Tim ’ s interest in real stories makes for captivating viewing in the theatre , and many critics have pointed him out as a writer to watch in the future . However , even though Tim is in-demand and obviously full of ideas , for all of Tim ’ s success and hard work , he also argues that there is a lot more which could be done to support Welsh playwrights . His Cardiff-based writing company was set up with friends in 2007 and is emblematic of this lack of support . “ The motivation to set up Dirty Protest was because the funded theatre in Wales was completely failing the writing community in Wales . There weren ’ t opportunities for playwrights to get together and perfect their craft . I ’ d love to not have to run Dirty Protest ,” explains Tim , “ but someone ’ s got to do it .” Whilst there are “ very green shoots ”, Tim argues that “ to be born a Welsh playwright is to be born with a shorter straw . It ’ s a lot better now , and a lot of that is down to National Theatre Wales , but there ’ s still a long way to go I think .” To this end , does Tim feel any pressure to deliver ? “ I hadn ’ t thought about it ‘ til you said . I think no-one puts more pressure on me than myself really , I ’ m the biggest critic , so to me the task of it is exactly the same as when I was on the dole and I was writing scripts . It is the same job and the same frustrations .” “ I would love to be one of these really cool writers that just puts a play on and never reads anything , but I read every single blog and tweet , anything I can get my hands on .” Warm , friendly and packed with enthusiasm , Tim Price continues to prove a dynamic and forwardthinking playwright . As he continues to grow in stature throughout the UK with a string of great plays , audiences can perhaps count themselves lucky that that he never got that job as a rock climbing instructor .