NEXT STAGES - Dramaturgy and Beyond: Writers and their Careers on the 29 - 31 March 2007

At Manchester Metropolitan University, Celebrating 25 Years of North West Playwrights

In 1982 members of the Theatre Writers' Union set up NORTH WEST PLAYWRIGHTS to support and promote new writing for stage in the
North West of England.

The quarter-century since then has seen an explosion in writer development - carried out by producing companies, academic
institutions and independent agencies.

NEXT STAGES is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on this diverse ecology and to consider: where do we go from here?

This event is supported by the English Research Institute at MMU, Arts Council England: North West, and the Writers' Guild of
Great Britain.

CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE:

David Edgar the distinguished playwright and leading teacher of dramatic writing.

Mary Luckhurst of York University, academic and playwright, author of Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Modern Theatre.

Brian Quirt (Canada) director, playwright, dramaturg and Chair of Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas.

Charlotte Keatley playwright and dramaturg.

Julie Wilkinson writer and lecturer in Creative Writing at MMU.

Les Smith and John Blackmore on the groundbreaking collaboration between the Octagon Theatre and University of Bolton.

Speakers from the Royal Exchange Theatre, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, BBC Radio and ITV Productions Drama Manchester.


For further details and booking information, go to: www.eri.mmu.ac.uk/events/nextstages/ or contact North West Playwrights
on nextstagesconference@hotmail.co.uk, or +44 (0) 161 237 1978.