Five day autumn writing intensive with Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu and Somebody Jones
Welcome to SCRUM’s summer workshop series! You can explore the full programme here: https://www.scrumtheatre.co.uk/current-workshops
The workshop will run 10am-5pm every day from Monday 26th-Friday 30th October and participants should be available to attend the whole course. If you have any questions please email [javascript protected email address]
And now the event information you’re here for!
Led by award-winning director and writer Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (Deep Azure, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, Pig Heart Boy) and award-winning playwright and dramaturg Somebody Jones (winner of the Tony Craze Award, finalist for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting), this five-day playwriting intensive will help you kick-start and develop your next piece of theatre.
Using Tristan's own Tell Me A Tale Method — a practical framework for building story from the inside out — you'll develop a bold script set in the Speculative world (fantasy, sci-fi, horror), working across devising, structure, character, dramaturgy and world-building. Expect hands-on exercises, elements of embodied practice (no performance experience necessary), and a safe, creative space to explore the fantastical and unlock your writing — including through physical work on your feet.
This intensive is for:
Writers and theatremakers ready to start work on a brand new play
Writers and theatremakers who want to bring an existing piece/ideas into the room to work on and develop further
Writers and theatremakers who are interested in exploring fantasy, horror, sci-fi and magical realism
Actors, devisers and companies are also very welcome
What to expect across the week:
Day 1: Understanding the world
Day 2: Understanding the characters
Day 3: Understanding the story arcs
Day 4: Dramaturgy work on your scene
Day 5: An afternoon reading of scenes within the group, with questions and feedback from Tristan and Somebody
What you'll come away with:
A world bible to keep building your play — and to be able to write your story across other mediums (screen, radio and beyond)
A host of reading material to further expand your delve into Speculative Fiction
A brand new scene from your play
The experience of hearing your words read aloud by fellow creatives
Practical next steps to keep developing your work after the week ends
Your practitioners:
Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu is an award-winning director and writer. His theatre work includes; (as Director): Pig Heart Boy (Unicorn/Fiery AngelTour), For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (Nouveau Riche/Boundless/New Diorama/ Royal Court Theatre), Deep Azure (Shakespeare’s Globe), Little Baby Jesus (Orange Tree); (as Writer/Director): Sweet Like Chocolate Boy (JackStudio/BAC/Tobacco Factory/Theatre Peckham), Sundown Kiki (Young Vic), Hyde & Seek (Guildhall); (as Writer): Rumble In The Jungle (Rematch ltd).
Tristan’s awards include: 2019 JMK Young Director Award, 2022 Black British Theatre Award for Best Director, 2025 UK Theatre Award for Best Children’s Show, 2025 Bruntwood Playwrighting Prize Longlist, 2022 Oliver Nominee for Best New Play, 2025 Arts Foundation Future Fellow.
Somebody Jones is a Los Angeles-born playwright and dramaturg, currently living, working, and dreaming in London. Jones holds a BA in Theatre with an emphasis in Playwriting from the University of Southern California and an MA in Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University of London. Jones's work celebrates and champions Black culture in all of its charms and complexities. As a playwright and dramaturg, Jones primarily works within the genres of horror, magical realism, verbatim, and, more recently, Black fantasy.
Jones's debut play, How I Learned to Swim, premiered at Roundabout at the Edinburgh Fringe before touring to Brixton House and Bristol Old Vic. How I Learned to Swim was a finalist for the Women's Prize for Playwriting and shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2021. In 2022, Jones won the Tony Craze Award for All My Friends Are Dead.
As a dramaturg, Jones was Lead Dramaturg for Mrs C's Collective during its 2022–2023 Writers' Collective and served as dramaturg on Deep Azure by the late Chadwick Boseman at Shakespeare's Globe in 2026.
The name Somebody Jones means: the more you run from your past, the more you'll run into it.
TICKETS
The cost of this workshop is £480 and we also have a limited number of discounted tickets available which will be released to our SCRUMmunity members via our mailing list, which you can join here.
There are four free bursary places available for this workshop for those facing financial barriers. Bursary applications will be open soon, please keep an eye on this page, our website www.scrumtheatre.co.uk, our socials, or join our mailout for further information here.
