As the summer term begins, and the third-year actors begin their final development workshops with Henry Waddon and Gabe Winsor, we thought it was high time we announced our next New Writing team.
As we’ve talked about before, the New Writing Scheme is central to our training ethos here at OSD. We are passionate about training students who are connected with the industry they’re about to enter, and this scheme is a central part of that preparation.
Writer Georgia Bruce and director Scott Le Crass will work with our One Year Course to develop a newly commissioned play, which will be performed in London this August as part of our New Writing Scheme. They’ve already had their first few development workshops with the One Year Course; we can’t wait to learn more about the show as the development continues over this Summer Term.
Here’s a little more about Georgia and Scott:
Georgia Bruce is a writer and actor from London. Their first play Time, Like the Sea, was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize, the George Devine Award, the Papatango Prize for Playwriting, the Theatre503 Playwriting Award and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. They are currently developing work with the Almeida Theatre as part of the Genesis New Writers Program 2023-2025. They were a member of BBC London Voices 2024.
Scott was born in Bristol, grew up in Birmingham, and trained as an actor at Arts Ed. He was a director on the Birmingham Rep’s first Foundry Programme and in 2022 completed the National Theatre Director’s Course. His credits include Rose (West End), Cut The Crap (West End), Elmer (UK and International Tour/Sell A Door), Sid (Arts Theatre and UK Tour), Toxic (HOME, Manchester/UK tour), Buff (UK tour), Jab (Finborough Theatre/Park Theatre), The Witches (Watford Palace), Alice in Wonderland (Old, Rep, Birmingham), Rose (Hope Mill Theatre/Park Theatre), and Country Music (Omnibus Theatre).
A key component of OSD training is bringing our students together with young writers and directors to workshop and develop new work. These projects are incredibly valuable for our students and form part of the larger networking and professional development elements of their training.
“OSD has become a valuable and celebrated ‘engine room’ for new work creation over the past 20 years” says Head of Acting and the One Year Course, John Ward, “commissioning two new plays every year; giving opportunities to emerging writers and makers to explore epic, ensemble-led stories in collaboration with our students.”
“The opportunity for our students to be engaged in ‘real world’, authentic, purposeful and audience-facing pieces of new work gives them the invaluable experience of being ‘in service’ to a story or idea and to work collaboratively, as artists, with creative professionals as they transition from training into the industry.”
We’re excited to welcome Georgia and Scott into the OSD family and can’t wait to see what they create!
Stay tuned for announcements about our Third Year New Writing Show, which will come to the New Diorama Theatre in June. You can read more about Henry and Gabe, who are working with our third-year actors, here.
