Young Writers Programme
In partnership with The Hat Factory Arts Centre, the Chalk Line Young Writers programme is an eight-week writing programme for new writers based in Luton or Bedfordshire with no prior writing or theatre experience required.
The weekly sessions focus on craft of playwriting, from creating a strong play structure, complex characters, and finding your own creative voice.
The sessions are playful, interactive, and aim to develop the next generation of writers in Luton and Bedfordshire in an accessible yet productive environment.
The sessions are led by Chalk Line’s Co-Artistic Directors Sam Edmunds and Vikesh Godhwani, with support from Dramatherapist Nina Mdwaba.
The programme culminates in a live public showcase featuring short script extracts performed by local actors who trained at Next Generation Youth Theatre and are directed by participants from our trainee directors programme.
Young Writer Alumni:
Despoina Bliamplia
Mohammed Shahria
Zain Hussain
Grace Clinton
Art Jones
Taylor Blomfield
Munashe Danga
Rosalie Adebiyi
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Testimonials
"I didn’t have any expectations but I was a little nervous. I wanted to learn how to create engaging scenes and I learned that and more. Chalkline were so wonderful with supporting us and mentoring through the 8 week process."
"By being a part of the course I was able to learn a number of new writing methods that will help with generating new ideas and overcoming moments of writer's block, which is what I hoped to gain."
"The course definitely met my expectations. It provided me with structured, weekly sessions that gave me motivation to write. The course also introduced me to many ways in which to generate new story ideas, as well as allowed me to explore a variety of different writing styles. The course additionally provided a wonderful opportunity to meet and work with other local young people who have similar interests in storytelling and playwriting. Finally, the showcase at the end of the course gave us a great platform to see our work be brought to life and to see how an audience reacts to our plays."
"I’ve not had any similar opportunities in Luton. Whilst I have previously been a part of a writing group, it was based in London meaning I had to commute in order to attend."
"This is the first writing opportunity like this that I have known about in Luton. This opportunity was important because it worked with writers from the creation of an idea all the way to the staging of the idea. We were guided through every aspect of writing, which was wonderful."
Trainee Director Programme
Chalk Line Theatre's Trainee Director programme is a paid attachment scheme designed to support Luton or Bedfordshire based early career directors. The programme includes:
Practical Shadowing: Participants join creative team discussions and shadow directors during research and development (R&D) or rehearsal periods.
Mentorship: Participants receive one-on-one mentorship from Chalk Line's Artistic Directors on working with new writers, leading a rehearsal room with professional actors, devising techniques, and self-producing for those keen to develop their own work.
Community Showcase Directing Opportunity: Following our young writers programme, the directors get to lead on short pieces of new writing in a community showcase at Hat Factory Arts Centre, using the skills they learned through shadowing and mentorship.
Trainee Director Alumni:
Munashe Danga
Grace Clinton
Molly Sims
Testimonials
Shadowing:
"Shadowing the R&D process of ‘How To Kill Your Darlings’ was an incredibly useful experience. Prior to being a part of the trainee directorship programme, I was unsure as to what was involved during the research and development stage of putting on play. However, by the end of the shadowing day, I found that I had a much clearer understanding of the process and felt more confident in being able to incorporate a research and development stage into my own creative practice in the future. Being able to watch how Sam and Vikesh work as directors was a really valuable experience as I was able to see different ways in which to effectively communicate ideas to actors and how to get the best performances out of them. It was then really great to watch the performance at the end of the research and development process to see the culmination of the week’s work and the growth of the piece." - Grace Clinton (Trainee Director)
Directing Community Showcase:
"When it came to directing the new writing pieces as part of the young writers showcase, I found it challenging, in a good way, as I have only ever directed pieces I’ve written. It meant I had to really think about how I could tell the scripts’ stories to the audience in the most effective way (...) One thing I really enjoyed was how different the three pieces I had to direct were as it allowed me to try out different staging and directing methods. From this I found out I’m really interested in directing more abstract pieces." - Munashe Danga (Trainee Director)
"Directing the new pieces for the Young Writers Showcase was an equally rewarding experience. The showcase provided a great opportunity to direct a variety of performance styles, since all the pieces were so different. I was able to put into practice directing techniques learnt during the shadowing process, which was really useful. Sam and Vikesh gave us a considerable amount of freedom to bring our ideas to life and stepped in when needed. I was also able to connect with other emerging local directors during the showcase." - Grace Clinton (Trainee Director)
Workshops
Part of our remit as a company is offering free development workshops which specialise in up-skilling artists.
Previous workshops have included:
- In 2020 Chalk Line began to work with the charity COMMON to provide free workshops to working class artists in how to produce their own work. These workshops were supported by The Pleasance Futures Trust.
- Throughout 2021 Chalk Line provided free skills based workshops to all applicants who applied for their Trainee Director or Producer scheme, hoping to teach some essential skills for these artists throughout the year
- Chalk Line also collaborated with various organisations providing free and accessible workshops to young people and artists across the UK. Some of these organisations included National Theatre Connections, Revoluton Arts, artsdepot, The Place Theatre Bedford, The Mercury Theatre, and Luton Sixth Form College.
- In partnership with Spazju Kreattiv we have provided UK producing workshops to Maltese artists looking to stage work overseas.
- Chalk Line have consistently delivered workshops with their, Associate Company, Next Generation Youth Theatre, galvanising talent within Luton. This has included self-producing workshops, devising workshops, and ensemble theatre making.
We deliver various programmes throughout the year and advertise them through our opportunities page.
Chalk Line Theatre have also been guest lecturers on BA & MA programmes at King's College London's Culture, Media and Creative Industries Department in the Arts Management in Practice Module.
Trainee Producer Programme
In 2021 Chalk Line delivered their Trainee Producer Programme.
Katy Galloway, who now runs Katy Galloway Productions working in the West End, was selected to join Chalk Line in the creation and development of 'Blanket Ban'. Across her Traineeship, Chalk Line Co-Artistic Directors delivered 1-1 mentorship sessions which included unlocking Arts Council funding and pitching your work to venues.
Katy spent two weeks shadowing Sam and Vikesh at Artsadmin during the creation of the play.
Lotty Holder of Cloudburst Productions and Anya Winful of Sonia Friedman Productions, also received 1-1 mentoring, including workshops in fundraising and how to create their own companies.
We are currently developing the re-launch of this programme for Luton based artists.