Notes from a Working-Class Playwright

Award-winning British playwright, Leo Butler looks back over 25 of writing for the stage and his extensive experience teaching and mentoring emerging playwrights through the Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme.

With honesty and humour, Leo Butler shares his experiences from his working-class upbringing in Sheffield, including his disastrous state education, his years on the dole, to his breakthrough into the professional theatre industry.

This personal account criss-crosses his life and career, exploring the influences and experiences that informed critically acclaimed plays such as Redundant, I’ll Be the Devil, Lucky Dog and, more recently, Boy.

Throughout, Butler includes a wealth of tips and practical exercises, tried and tested on his students, to help the reader with their own playwriting development; discusses the challenges of how to actually make a living from this work; and considers how the landscape has changed today from 25 years ago.

Through recollections of collaborations with professional peers and ex-students (including Polly Stenham, Anya Reiss, and Nick Payne), Leo Butler gives an insight into the intricacies of the early 21st century theatre scene in which playwriting skills were developed and shared. He also includes excerpts from personal rejection letters, rehearsal notes and his notebooks to bring his playwriting journey to life.

Brutally honest, often surreal, often funny, this book will entertain and inspire anyone who has ever thought of writing, a play, or is interested in the life and practice of a playwright.

Leo Butler is an award-winning playwright from Sheffield, UK. His plays have been produced by many of the UK’s most important theatres, including the National Theatre, Royal Court, Almeida, Birmingham Rep, and Royal Shakespeare Company. He has taught and run workshops at major international theatres and cultural centres, including Teatro De La Palabra in Chile; Dot Theatre in Turkey; Studio Emad Eddin in Egypt; National Theatre in Nigeria; Reps Theatre in Zimbabwe; Market Theatre in South Africa; Teatro Britanico in Peru; and Merlin International Theater in Hungary. He has written many celebrated plays about young people, including Made of Stone (Royal Court), Redundant (Royal Court - winner of the George Divine Award), Boy (Almeida) and Decades (Brit School/Bridge Theatre Co.) He has written historical plays such as I’ll Be The Devil (RSC) and contemporary dramas such as Lucky Dog (Royal Court), Faces in the Crowd (Royal Court), The Early Bird (Queen’s Theatre, Belfast) and All You Need is LSD (Birmingham Rep). He has also adapted classics like Woyzeck (Birmingham Rep), pantomimes and comedies such as Cinderella (Theatre Royal Stratford East), and written musicals such as Alison! The Rock Opera (Royal Court/King’s Head). For 10 years, Leo Butler was Writers Tutor at the Royal Court Theatre and helped nurture a new generation of playwriting talent.