Writer for Act II Festival - Chiara Scoglio
Today we are speaking with Chiara Scoglio, a current student on the Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media, MFA course about her experience as a Writer for the Act II Festival.
Tell us a bit about what you are getting up to
I have written a short play that will be part of ACT II Festival in June 2021. The play is called The Relativity of the Mirror. It is a one-act short play about A, an anonymous protagonist going through their messy life while trying to juggle a meaningless office job and a difficult family and personal situation. A’s days are mere routine, until they wake up one morning and notice something odd about their reflection in the mirror: they cannot recognise themselves in it anymore. When A starts freaking out at their realisation, B - their reflection in the mirror - suddenly comes to life.
The two characters engage in a personal and philosophical exchange aimed at explaining the surreal situation they have found themselves in. While ideas of identity, reality and relativity are addressed and challenged, a final revelation offers a potential answer to the existential questions raised by the text.
When writing the play I never really had specific characteristics in mind for the actors as the characters are supposed to be as universal as possible. Eventually, Director Sara Duckworth and I fell in love with Cham’s El Hasnaoui and Sofia Renzi’s interpretations of the text, which is resulting in a wonderful collaboration. We both thought about how philosophical and abstract plays often feature men as their protagonists, so it is a joy to finally see two women take on the challenge!
Moreover, Cham’s and Sofia are respectively Moroccan-French and Italian, and - just like me - they both moved from their countries to the UK for study and work reasons. I believe it is very important to showcase a more international range of talents on stage, screen and behind the scenes (after all, this is what the UK is like!) and I am beyond happy to be able to do so with this project.
You can find out more about the Act II Festival on their Instagram, @act2festival.
How did you get involved with the Act II festival?
My course leader always shares work opportunities with us all, which is how I found out about ACT II Festival. However, once I joined the team I found out that other Central students were involved in the festival as well.
What made you want to get involved?
ACT II Festival is dedicated to the support of theatre students and lovers by trying to bridge the gap between education and industry. This sounded like a perfect first opportunity for me to stage one of my short plays, so I just applied and was lucky enough to be accepted!
How has this programme related to your coursework?
This project is giving me the chance to really put what I am learning into practice, from the constant development of my writing to wrapping my head around any difficulty popping up along the way.
What has surprised you most about your experience?
I have really discovered how powerful collaboration can be. I always struggle to open up much in regards to my writing and art, but this experience is showing me how open and respectful other creatives actually are. Moreover, I am also witnessing how vital and valuable it can be to work with other artists as a team. Everyone is extremely resourceful and talented, allowing the project to truly flourish and shine in ways I could have never dreamed of.
What are you currently working on?
The festival has offered me and the other writers free workshops with professionals from the industry to help us develop our scripts. We have also teamed up with directors and actors (also students) to workshop the text and start rehearsing it.
My team includes me, Sara, Cham’s and Sofia. Some friends of ours from outside are also helping us sorting out other business aspects, like recording, marketing, etc. It’s a good mix for a team as I am a writing student, while Sara, Cham’s and Sofia are studying respectively Archaeology, Law and Drama and English Literature. We are currently in the middle of rehearsals and all the organisational business coming with it, including spaces, lighting, sound, staging, etc!
We’ve seen some of your puppets on your Instagram. How did you get into this?
The puppets! I have always LOVED anything related to the world of puppetry and object theatre, it is literally what I grew up with. Together with this, I have always been quite crafty and creative, which has turned out to be extremely helpful for one of my current modules at Central (Puppetry and Object Theatre). We are learning how to make puppets, but also the philosophy behind this form of art, what it means to be a puppeteer, how to write for puppets, etc. My team and I have actually thought about having a few puppets of A and B on stage as a further hint to the themes of identity and relativity addressed by the play - they could work out nicely!
How did you find out about Central and decide to study with us?
I found out about Central through word of mouth. It instantly felt like the best place for me.
What are you planning to do after graduation?
All I wish for is to always keep creating and learning, to be honest!
If you want to keep up with Chiara, you can follow her on Instagram, @andramousapolutropon.
To learn more about the Act II Festival head over to their Instagram page, @act2festival.
