Playwriting
So, you want to get into playwriting?
An interview with playwright, Morgan Lloyd Malcom
Morgan Lloyd Malcom is a playwright and screenwriter. She was commissioned by The Globe to write Emilia which became a sell out in summer 2018 before transferring to the West End in 2019. In 2020 Emilia won three Olivier awards including ‘Best Entertainment and Comedy Play.’
Morgan’s play Belongings was produced at the Hampstead Theatre and Trafalgar Studios in 2011 to great acclaim and was shortlisted for The Charles Wintour ‘Most Promising Playwright Award.’ This was followed in 2015 by another hit play at Hampstead Theatre, The Wasp, which also transferred to Trafalgar Studios in 2015.
Other stage work includes commissions for the Old Vic, Clean Break and Firehouse Productions. In 2013 she was chosen as a member of the Soho Six (Soho Theatre). She has co-written several acclaimed immersive site specific plays with Katie Lyons, produced by Look Left Look Right, including You Once Said Yes, Above and Beyond and Once Upon a Christmas. She was part of the writing team for four of the Lyric Hammersmith’s pantomimes from 2009-2012 and wrote the Bolton Octagon’s Christmas plays for 2013 and 2014. She has written two large community plays for the Old Vic New Voices; Platform and Epidemic.
I would like to thank Morgan for agreeing to do this interview with me; I hope you find it helpful! You can find out more about Morgan on her Instagram @morganlloydmalcom and her Twitter @mogster
How did you work your way up to having a career as a playwright?
I started out performing comedy after doing a Drama and Theatre Arts degree at Goldsmiths. We would write our own shows. After 6 years of performing at the Edinburgh Fringe festival and on the London fringe I realised I wasn’t enjoying acting and wanted to focus on writing. I have several day jobs and bar jobs and eventually was able to reduce the days I work until I was full time as a playwright. I’ve done all sorts of work from Community theatre to Panto, corporate gigs to plays and telly. I always mention too that I was lucky to have a very supportive partner who has a salaried job without whom I wouldn’t have been able to go full time so quickly. I also probably wouldn’t have been able to have two kids and continue working without the stability his wage gave us. It’s important I always acknowledge this as it is a privilege to have that kind of back up.
How did you seek out opportunities when you first entered the industry?
I started out in 2003 and really there weren’t as many competitions or training schemes back then but I did do the Royal Court Playwriting course. I also did the Old Vic New Voices 24 hour plays the first year it ran and met a lot of people I then went on to make work with. We would put shows on in London fringe venues like Theatre 503 or The Old Red Lion. I learnt so much by making work myself and forging relationships with other creatives. I am still working with so many of them today.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Everywhere. The news, books, tv, conversations with friends, overheard chats on the tube, memories, research, having a think in the bath. There’s no end to places ideas can spring from.
What is a common misconception about playwrights?
That we can make a living! Unless you are playing a large venue several times a year it is really hard to make a living from writing just plays. We need to normalise the fact that we need day jobs and also to diversify our writing. Whether that’s TV work or corporate work or teaching or anything. Its totally normal to need another income because theatre can’t sustain us. Of course we’d all love a hit that runs and runs in the west end for years but the reality is most people don’t manage that. But that doesn’t mean we’ve failed. And what we write, I believe, is only enriched by the varied jobs and experiences we have. Of course the better version would be that we’re all paid loads more money to write plays and live as playwrights…but until that happens - diversify!
Had you always wanted to work in the creative industries, or where there any other careers you considered?
I was very privileged to have parents who were actors and producers. So I was brought up in this world. I always knew I would end up in it somehow because I loved it so much. I also had a pretty realistic view of how hard it is to make a living and to make your mark so I went into it with pretty realistic expectations. There have definitely been moments when I’ve questioned my decision though. I have many times wondered what my life had been like if I hadn’t joined this industry!
How would you describe your creative process?
My creative process is fairly chaotic. In small part due to having to juggle parenthood but mostly because I struggle with routines and discipline. I tend to write in burst of frenzied panic very close to deadlines. For a long while I would beat myself up about this but in the last few years I’ve decided to embrace this as my process and just make sure that in the moments when I am procrastinating, I procrastinate ‘good’. So I research, watch programs relevant to my work, read, walk and think etc. I make sure that when I get to the crunch point where I am just writing, I am completely ready and can just go hell for leather.
What is your favourite aspect of your career?
Working with other people. I find writing plays is a means to an end. What I really want is to be in a rehearsal room with brilliant actors and a director and creative team. I just love that sense of ‘putting on a show’. And then watching it in front of an audience. The ultimate goal for us all!
What is the one thing you wish you had known before you embarked on your career as a playwright?
That it will take a while and to enjoy the journey. So few people have instant ’success’ in this job. It’s a long game and that’s ok. I’m writing plays now that I would never have been able to write at the start of my career. I’m getting jobs in telly that even five years ago I would have struggled with. It’s a process. I wish I could tell my younger self to just buckle up and settle in. I was in too much of a rush and as a result found myself often disappointed.
For you, what is the most challenging aspect of being a playwright?
If you ask me this question when I’m writing I would say it’s writing. If you ask me when in rehearsals I would say it’s rewriting. If you ask me when in production I would say it’s dealing with audience and reviewer responses. If you ask me when I’m not writing it’s the sense that you’ve been forgotten and other playwrights are doing things you wish you were doing. If you ask me when on the school run I’d say it was trying to generate work when also thinking about what they need for tea and who is picking them up. There’s no one thing. But also it can be the best job in the world when it’s all going right.
What advice would you give to aspiring playwrights?
Find your people. They will be the ones you make shows with when theatres aren’t asking you to make shows. They will be the ones who come to your shows when audiences are hard to come by. They will be the ones you bring up with you and who could bring you up with them. The people I was making fringe shows with in the early 2000s are now running theatres and making the big stuff. We all still work together when we can. Which brings me onto say - don’t be a dick. We all have to work really hard in this industry to get anywhere so don’t make it harder for each other. And if someone is being a dick, call them out. There is no longer any tolerance for abusive or bullying behaviours. Join a union and report them. Find a mentor a bit further down the line who can also help you with this. We shouldn’t have to be scared or unsafe in our jobs. You are the future. And your words will shape it. I look forward to coming to see your plays!