Bemoaning the fact that new writing is in terminal decline is an annual blood sport for theatre commentators; I must confess that I've participated in it with varying degrees of enthusiasm in the past. But this writing-off of new theatre writing is, as usual, over hasty. This year alone I've seen terrific plays by Dennis Kelly, Fin Kennedy, Duncan Macmillan and Enda Walsh. The Royal Court has offered striking new voices in Alexandra Wood, Bola Agbaje, Polly Stenham, Lucy Caldwell and Mike Bartlett, and elsewhere I was sorry to miss new plays by Jack Thorne on the London fringe and Stephen Sharkey in Liverpool. Looking at that list doesn't make me think there's an urgent need to call out the emergency services.
What these articles about new writing also fail to mention are the high levels of activity that are taking place in British theatre in areas other than new writing. That makes me wonder whether new writing theatres are thinking as creatively as perhaps they should and whether they are still using outdated models of what a play is and should be. Over the last few years, the energy in theatre has moved elsewhere to the site responsive work of companies such as Punchdrunk, Grid Iron, Dreamthinkspeak and Wildworks and the more collaborative work of companies such as Kneehigh, Frantic, Signal to Noise and Improbable.
Live art and street theatre strike me as being more vibrant than they have been for years and they are attracting new audiences who like what they see. In Edinburgh this year, there were few plays, but plenty of fledgling physical and visual theatre companies and a surprising number of people doing experimental work. Audiences, thirsty for new theatrical experiences, are increasingly fearless, embracing the work of companies such as News From Nowhere and Uninvited Guests as easily as swallowing a glass of water.
I don't think that individual playwrights writing plays that reflect their singular vision are going to disappear; I'd be the first to dial 999 if I thought the situation was critical. The playwright scribbling away in his or her garret will always be with us and will always find a place in British theatre - and so they should. But for a new generation of theatre-makers, text is often just one element of a process in which writer, director, designer, choreographer, actors, lighting and sound designer are all crucial parts of the creative mix and nobody is afforded special status. The script - if indeed there is one - emerges out of the process and is often not the starting point.
Not all writers will want to work this way and while some will be energised by the process, others may well be crushed - particularly if they come into contact with directors determined to play auteur. This is still pretty new ground for British theatre, and people are still finding their way and developing the necessary skills. But this collaborative way of writing is as much new writing as the final draft of a new play that lands on a literary manager's desk. So why have the literary departments of so many new writing theatres been slow to latch on to this revolution which is gathering speed without them?
The word "literary" probably provides the clue here. It is a pity, because it is increasingly clear that many of the most talented and creative practitioners entering the profession want to make theatre rather than stage plays. Our new writing theatres could be very much part of that radical shift and there are small signs that some are beginning to realise it. Last July the Royal Court's Rough Cuts season presented collaborative work drawing on the choreographed and the visual. I note that the Soho Theatre's autumn programme of workshops includes a session on the marriage of verbal and visual theatre. It's good news, but at the moment too many theatres still seem reluctant to see beyond the words on the page.
