Ahead of TheatreCraft 2017, we spoke to Juliet Gilkes Romero – an award winning playwright and television journalist. Juliet is a Creative Fellow at The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and in 2009 won Best Play Award at the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for her play At The Gates of Gaza.
At TheatreCraft 2017 Juliet will be hosting a workshop, alongside RSC’s Deputy Literary Manager Réjane Collard-Walker, titled “Playmaking at the RSC – A conversation about Playwriting, Dramaturgy, and Literary Management”. Secure your place at the TheatreCraft website.
TheatreCraft is the country’s largest, free careers event for young people interested in off-stage careers in theatre and will take place on Friday 3rd November at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel.
To register for your place and book your workshops, visit the website. And don’t forget to follow the event on Twitter and Facebook.
An average day for me involves…
Reading and watching a lot of news. I’ve been a broadcast journalist most of my professional life and old habits die hard. I can’t exist without the Today program or Daily Politics. The political climate is at fever pitch and I want to know what’s going on. I usually take to Twitter and rant about Brexit, Trump, whatever. Once fired up, I settle down to work on my latest draft.
The people I work mostly with are…
Now that I mostly write full-time, it’s me and my draft (which can be extremely challenging) and then literary managers/dramaturgs. That’s definitely the best part… sharing my ideas and getting feedback… hopefully good.
The best part of my day is…
My early morning swim. Usually between 6-7am. I do a lot of thinking in the pool. Its liberating and creative. I aim for 30-40 lengths.
I usually finish work at…
It depends… I’m not as disciplined as I should be. I write until I’ve had enough for the day. That’s usually around 9 or 8pm. I’ll then reward myself by binge watching favourite shows, The Leftovers, American Gods, Orange Is the New Black.
The most glamorous part of my job is…
Glamorous? Seeing the end product staged. Surrounded by people curious to see what I’ve been cooking (which is also quite terrifying). That moment of hush before the play begins…
The least showbiz part of my job is…
Finishing that draft! Just getting it done. And then I celebrate
The advice I’d give my younger self is…
Believe in yourself. Don’t compromise. Don’t worry about judgment. Angela Davis sums it up perfectly: ‘I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept.’