Wonder Fools are recruiting a dramaturg to work alongside the writers and creative team of a new play about the story of Billy Marshall.
Position: Dramaturg
Organisation: Wonder Fools (SCIO)
Fee: £1620 (nine x days at £180)
Dates: four days spread between June – December 2023; one week in October 2023 dates tbc
First stage application deadline: Sun 14 May 2023
They are creating a new large scale community production about Dumfries and Galloway’s Billy Marshall who across his 120 year life participated in numerous historical events that shaped modern Scotland. The show is being developed with our Young Collaborators, a group of young people who first worked with Wonder Fools on their production of And Then Come the Nightjars by Bea Roberts in February 2022 and are now collaborating with us from the inception of this new idea through to final production. Billy Marshall was a Traveller and became known as the ‘King of the Gypsies’ so together with the writers and young people, they will work in close connection with Scotland’s travelling community during the process.
The research and development process is taking place throughout 2023 including:
– research being undertaken by some of the Young Collaborators such as interviews with local historians
– connecting with the travelling community in Dumfries and Galloway and wider Scotland
– creation of a detailed treatment for the Young Collaborators to respond to
– writing of a first draft
– October R&D with full creative team culminating in a private sharing back to the community for feedback
Following this process, the aim is to debut the full production in summer 2024 in Dumfries and Galloway before onward future touring. They are currently able to offer a confirmed fee for the work in 2023 with a view to further collaboration in 2024 subject to funding. This is calculated as four days of work on the treatment and first draft, and a full time week for the October R&D.
They are looking to work with a collaborative, sensitive and creative dramaturg to support the writing of the play and realise its theatrical potential. They are particularly interested in hearing from people that identify as being from the travelling community to directly inform the writing and the representation of Traveller people within the work.
Application process
– Short written statement and CV (first stage – deadline 14 May 2023)
– Shortlist invited for informal interview
For further information, please contact jack@wonderfools.org (Jack Nurse) or visit https://www.wonderfools.org/dramaturg
