The Skeleton Key - Unlocking the Secrets of Writing Outstanding Plays For and By Young People

The Skeleton Key is for anyone - writers, directors, teachers, students - anyone interested in making new plays which have a writer at the heart of the process

It offers an insight into how leading professional theatre-makers practice their craft and it is both inspirational and practical

The book focuses on new plays and has three broad sections ...

First, it asks five leading companies to unpick one of their productions, revealing some of the key steps to how it was written and made

Then Charles Way, one of the UK's leading writers for young people, offers a very personal insight into his process and the challenges he faces as a writer

Finally, the book explores a number of approaches which are being taken to encourage young writers, including a vivid account of one eighteen year old woman's journey to becoming a writer

These contributions are framed by two pieces - Lyn Gardner's look at a range of approaches to working with writers and John Retallack's reflection on the essence of quality in young people's theatre

The contributions reveal a thirst amongst young people, companies and writers to work collaboratively

Two key questions emerge in the book...

How best can a collaborative process use an individual writer?

And where is the space for the individual writer to develop his or her own unique vision?