Actors Rep has announced that it is offering a playwriting workshop called 'The Great Luxembourg Play Bake-Off' in October.

This two-part workshop has its first part on Thursday 18 October (in the evening) and the second part is on Saturday 27 October during the day. Both sessions will be at Bamhaus.

The idea is based on an exercise developed in the US some years ago by a group of mostly New York playwrights, including Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, The Baltimore Waltz, Indecent), who later popularised it. Participants meet and discuss plays and playwriting, do a short writing exercise and are given a short list of 'ingredients'. They then go and write a play. A few days later, everyone gets together to read scenes from the plays and discuss their experiences.

It is about just enjoying the process of writing a play for fun, without pressure. It is for any level of writer.

Facilitator: Erik Abbott

Part One: Participants gather to talk about plays and playwriting and to do a short writing exercise. Then a short list of ingredients, perhaps thematically linked, perhaps not, will be announced. Everyone goes away and writes a play containing the ingredients.

Part Two: Everyone gets together and we read aloud the scenes from the plays. No critiques, just a celebration of the process and a lot of fun writing, sharing and listening.
What is a ‘Play Bake-Off’?

In 1984 a group of playwrights met in a New York City loft to ‘complain’ about their careers. In frustration, they decided to create a ‘formula’—a recipe for what might make a successful new play. They came up with a list of ingredients and went home, each to write a play in 48 hours using those ingredients. They called it ‘The Great American Play Bake-Off’. Vogel has since led numerous ‘Bake-Off’ events and inspired many others to do the same.  

Now Actors Rep is bringing the idea to Luxembourg. A small group of playwrights—of any level of experience—will gather, talk about plays, get a list of ingredients, and go write plays over the course of a few days. And have fun.