b'in terms of both environmental issues and poli- The Playful Playwrighttics, it often feels pressurising to believe that we must be the future generation of problem-solvers.EssayYet, our final open-air performances allowed us to make a choir, as doth the prisoned bird, and singCharlotte Smithour bondage freely (Cymbeline 3.3), stepping out of the cage of myopia and alienation that current- Charlotte Smith writes about her experience of co-creating the play Footprints as part of the Northcott Production module. ly limits and lethally distorts our relationshipsShe discusses how learning to be playful and to collaborate as a playwright can help to remove self-made obstacles to creativity.to all those who dwell on this planet, creating a well-needed escape from reality and filling the stage with the Earth (Chaudhuri et al, 2018).The cooperative approach to writing an originalIndeed, at random intervals during our lengthy play, Footprints, for the Northcott Theatre haswriting sessions, Niazi would force us to abandon informed my personal journey as a theatre-mak- our work and play dodgeball. A personal chal-er; it illuminated how differing perspectives canlenge that I have struggled with when writing unlock psychological barriers that limit creativity.over extended periods of time is getting caught As theatre producers Chris Foxon and Georgeup in fixed desires of how to produce the best Turvey assert, to become a professional play- possible script. For example, I would encounter wrightruns counter to many of our culturalblockages by dismissing potential ideas that I reference points, which perpetuate the romanti- feared would not meet Niazis professional stand-cized image of the writer as a lone genius (2018:ards. Originally, I had assumed that planning 7). The contemporary writer must often work withand structure were the most elements of creating numerous production team members and arework under a strict deadline, especially when relied upon to meet strict deadlines. That is whyworking as a team. Yet these preconceptions were overcoming writers block is more integral thancalled into question. Being trapped in my own ever to the duties of the profession. This bringsheadspace with limited inspiration, the initial into question the paradoxical nature of mistakesthought of playing an unrelated ball game ap-and failure. Can the playwright write efficientlypeared counterproductive. However, breaking and freely if they are unable to let go of fearsconcentration and physically releasing the ten-based on predetermined expectations of right andsions that had built acted as a catharsis; its inter-BB (Denys Watkins-Pitchford), (1947). The Wild Lone: Thewrong? In this essay I reflect on how the playfulruption from the ineffectual expectations of my Story of a Pytchley Fox, Eyre and Spottiswoode: London methodologies of Northcott director, Yusuf Niazi,inner critic enabled these psychological pressures Chaudhuri, U. with members of Climate Lens (2018).and playwright, Lucy Bell, have transformed myto be let go. As Janet Neipris emphasises, the Climate Lens Playbook, found at https://www.climakazemiami. process of overcoming writers block and reframedact of getting there is sometimes the surprise. If org/the-climate-lens-1, accessed 1st June 2022. my understandings of success as a playwright.I knew everything about my play before I began, Svendsen, Zoe, 2021. Climate Contexts: Some Principles forwhat would be the joy in writing it? (2005: 23). Theatre in an Era of Ecological Chaos, August 30th, foundAn integral phase in redefining my personalThis notion connects Niazis incorporation of ball at https://medium.com/@zoesvendsen/climate-contexts- relationship with writers block was connectinggames with the freeing pleasure of writing on some-principles-for-theatre-in-an-era-of-ecological-cha- the role of play and spontaneity with overcomingimpulse. I now realise that my process had been os-3269d0e7530ahttps://medium.com/@zoesvendsen/ mental obstacles. According to author and musi- so focused on forcing a successful original idea climate-contexts-some-principles-for-theatre-in-an-era-of- cian Stephen Nachmanovitch, play is a form ofthat any sense of fun and spontaneity had been ecological-chaos-3269d0e7530a, accessed 1st June 2022. innate liberation, because it has no psychologicalsacrificed. This meant that Niazis child-like phi-desire for a set outcome; his assertion that thelosophy brought the limitless of communal play work of creativity is unblocking the obstaclesback into our writing. It encouraged us to explore to its natural flow suggests the playwright mustbeyond the rigidity of text and build a collective let go of tensions to achieve an imaginative sensepsychophysical energy for renewed focus. This was of freedom (1991: 9, 17). Thus, when approach- evident as the groups overall concentration was ing the task of devising scene one of Footprints, itheightened after the activity and so it encouraged became integral to adopt Niazis playful method- a shift into a more receptive collaborative head-ology. His dedication to using theatre to make aspace. In turn, we were more impulsive in sug-positive difference to community groups informsgesting our ideas, which unlocked a creative flow. his approach to theatre-making, which championsThis suggests that playfulness is necessary for wellbeing and togetherness in its process over theeffectively overcoming writers block. The process achievements of a finished product (Niazi 2021).became liberating as I had a newfound curiosity 18 19'