{"id":2174,"date":"2017-08-21T15:06:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T15:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:18:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T14:18:44","slug":"directing-your-own-work-with-paines-plough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/self-employment\/directing-your-own-work-with-paines-plough\/","title":{"rendered":"Directing Your Own Work with Paines Plough"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Paines Plough&#8217;s Joint Artistic Director James Grieve talks to Spotlight about moving from acting to directing &#8211; and how\u00a0important it is to make your own work!<\/h3>\n<p>James Grieve is the Joint Artistic Director of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.painesplough.com\/\">Paines Plough<\/a>\u00a0(\u201cPP\u201d) alongside George Perrin. He started\u00a0out as an actor before moving over to directing, and as a result, James had\u00a0a lot of great advice to share with Spotlight for those looking to direct their own work and take it to the Fringe \u2013 or indeed any independent theatre, across the UK.\u00a0Read our interview and top tips below!<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quoteMacro style1 noAuthorImage\">\n<div class=\"quoteText\">\n<div class=\"quoteTextInner\">I was seeing a lot of plays that didn\u2019t feel very relevant to me. I would be seeing a lot of Shakespearean productions that didn\u2019t seem to have much to say to me about my life, as a teenager or a person in my early twenties. I was very aware that most of my friends did not think that theatre was for them. Most of my friends were into live music, football and drinking\u2026 So, the thought was to create some work that was for my friends, about my friends \u2013 the lives that we lived, about our politics, the things we were thinking about, what was troubling us or making us happy. I don\u2019t think I ever lost that impulse.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorInformation\">\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorName\">James Grieve<\/div>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorDescription\">Artistic Director, Paines Plough<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4><strong>How did you decide you wanted to be a theatre director?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Like many directors, I realised I wanted to be a director whilst being an actor. I did a few school productions and then when I got to university at Sheffield, I read English \u2013 there wasn\u2019t a drama course \u2013 but I got involved in their theatre scene and did a couple of shows. I have heard so many stories of other directors that are just the same. It was just one day, standing on stage looking around and realising that everyone was standing in the wrong place, the lighting was rubbish, the costumes weren\u2019t appropriate, and nobody had come because the marketing was so poor. It was that thing of megalomania where you just go: \u201cI don\u2019t want to be standing here, I want to be in control of all the other elements that go into making theatre!\u201d Then I just started directing plays with absolutely no idea of what I was doing. I didn\u2019t have any idea that there might be a professional job like that out there \u2013 I didn\u2019t really know there were directors. I just wasn\u2019t cognisant of it in any meaningful way. So, I just started in university and it snowballed from there.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>What attracted you to Paines Plough specifically?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Whilst still at university, I started a company to produce work in a different way to [how it was done at] the university, which was one of those brilliant student societies, run democratically, so nothing ever gets done. I wanted a dictatorship! The company was called Nabokov, and George [Joint Artistic Director of PP] ran it with me for 10 years. We came up to Edinburgh, saw PP shows at the Traverse \u2013 we were fanboys of the shows we saw and built Nabokov in PP\u2019s image. When we went for the interview for PP itself, we kind of sat down and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to run PP for the last 10 years but on a much smaller scale, so now can we please run PP?!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quoteMacro style1 noAuthorImage\">\n<div class=\"quoteText\">\n<div class=\"quoteTextInner\">I think there was a prevailing thought when I started out that the way you got a career was to try and do some good stuff and then somebody would magically call you up and go, \u201cPlease would you come and direct Hamlet?\u201d The finger would come out of the sky and point at you! I don\u2019t really think that happens very much anymore. It certainly didn\u2019t for me. I don\u2019t think anyone should sit around waiting for something to happen.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorInformation\">\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorName\">James Grieve<\/div>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorDescription\">Artistic Director, Paines Plough<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4><strong>What is your approach to new writing \u2013 what would you say is the role of the writer at PP?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>We have an ideology that the playwright is the lead creative artist in everything that we do. That guides all the decisions that we make as a company. It comes down to placing the writer at the centre of the organisation. Sometimes writers have a show and feel like it\u2019s all in the building but they are not really allowed in \u2013 they are called upon only when there\u2019s a line that needs rewriting. But we see a writer\u2019s role in the whole process very differently. For example, when Jack [Heaton, Marketing Manager] is evolving the marketing around a show, the writer will be consulted every step of the way. We don\u2019t unilaterally come up with the marketing campaign. We represent your play in the best way, and you help us understand how you want your play to work, etc. We have the writers in rehearsals all the time, we want writers in tech, talking to the actors, designers, directors, etc. about the creative gesture of the play. We\u2019re not alone in that ideology but it is absolutely our guiding principle and I think that is distinct about PP.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>What is it that attracts you personally to a new script?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the initial impulses for me about making theatre was that I was seeing a lot of plays that didn\u2019t feel very relevant to me. I would be seeing a lot of Shakespearean productions that didn\u2019t seem to have much to say to me about my life, as a teenager or a person in my early twenties. I was very aware that most of my friends did not think that theatre was for them. Most of my friends were into live music, football and drinking. Then you go to the theatre and you see a costume drama and you think, \u201cYeah, if I brought my friends, they would never ever come again.\u201d So, the thought was to create some work that was for my friends, about my friends \u2013 the lives that we lived, about our politics, the things we were thinking about, what was troubling us or making us happy. I don\u2019t think I ever lost that impulse. It\u2019s still pretty much the same today, though the themes of the work have perhaps changed as I\u2019ve gotten older! I still feel that we talk about how we can make work that confounds people\u2019s expectations of what theatre is. And this speaks directly to what is happening today in the world. Of course, you can revive classics to speak to a new generation, but I think there\u2019s something very exciting and alive about sitting down with a playwright and saying, \u201cWe can put this on in 6 months or a year\u2019s time. What is the most important thing we\u2019ve got to say?\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quoteMacro style1 noAuthorImage\">\n<div class=\"quoteText\">\n<div class=\"quoteTextInner\">I find myself watching Edinburgh shows now and again where the story doesn\u2019t kick in until the 40-minute mark \u2013 it\u2019s too late by then!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorInformation\">\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorName\">James Grieve<\/div>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorDescription\">Paines Plough<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4><strong>How do you discover writers, and what is the PP process of developing a production?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the big reasons why the whole of PP is up in Edinburgh for the month of August is because this is such an amazing place to discover new writers. Every Edinburgh Fringe, we come away having seen hundreds of shows between us, each with a handful of names that we think are really exciting. We\u2019ll then follow their careers, try and see as much of their work as possible, and start a relationship with them that might just be a coffee when we\u2019re in Edinburgh, or maybe we\u2019ll tell them to come and see us in 6 months\u2019 time. That relationship deepens, we try and hang out with them a bit more, understand their taste, until we decide it\u2019s a good match between them and PP.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose something that\u2019s distinct about PP is that we commission to production. Most theatres will commission 10 plays and put on 2. We say to the writer that we commission that we will absolutely put their play on, because we want to put on whatever they write \u2013 they\u2019re a writer that we love. It gives it a different energy, that is like, okay, we are going to Edinburgh, here\u2019s your first deadline, don\u2019t miss it! That can be terrifying for writers, but they also come back regularly and feel it\u2019s really exciting \u2013 you\u2019re forced into an immediacy with your writing. By doing that we get work with a certain energy to it and it feels very alive \u2013 it has only just been written.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quoteMacro style1 noAuthorImage\">\n<div class=\"quoteText\">\n<div class=\"quoteTextInner\">I\u2019d really encourage people to just take the plunge and find some nice people to work with. Make some work and just put it on. Don\u2019t have any end game to that work \u2013 don\u2019t think, \u201cI need a review,\u201d or \u201cI need to sell loads of tickets,\u201d or anything like that, other than, \u201cI\u2019m just going to make my work, get some people to come and see it even if I know all of them, just to see if I can do it.\u201d The sense of satisfaction, artistic merit and reward, is amazing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorInformation\">\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorName\">James Grieve<\/div>\n<div class=\"quoteAuthorDescription\">Artistic Director, Paines Plough<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4><strong>Do you have any advice for writers regarding what makes a good show for the Fringe specifically?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>In our format, I think it\u2019s just story, story, story! I find myself watching Edinburgh shows now and again where the story doesn\u2019t kick in until the 40-minute mark \u2013 it\u2019s too late by then! It can\u2019t be a 40-minute build-up for a 20-minute pay-off. I think in Edinburgh there\u2019s so much on offer and everyone\u2019s so busy, if you\u2019re going to ask somebody to spend an hour with your story, make sure it\u2019s a really good story.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Any advice for the theatre-makers out there who have perhaps taken their first show to the Fringe, and are wondering what to do next?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Do another one. Do it again. No matter how your show goes in Edinburgh. First thing is you made a show. It puts you in the top couple of percent of people \u2013 you\u2019ve done something amazing. So even if it hasn\u2019t gone how you wanted it to go, you still have to look at yourself in the mirror and go, \u201cI\u2019ve done something really useful, important, productive and creative with my life. I\u2019ve made something.\u201d And then after the Fringe, everybody needs a lie down in a dark room. So, September is never a good time to make decisions about your life or career. Everybody leaves Edinburgh going, \u201cI\u2019m never going back!\u201d Have September off, be nice to yourself, eat good food, see your non-theatre friends, and then in October just check in and see if you want to do it all over again.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always gotten to October and gone, yep, I want to do it all over again. And if you go, \u201cNope, I don\u2019t really fancy putting myself through that again,\u201d then that\u2019s absolutely fine. If you\u2019ve got the itch, then start again. And of course, Edinburgh is not the only Fringe \u2013 there are plenty of other places and spaces available. There\u2019s a lot of doom and gloom about new writing in big theatres, but on a smaller scale, new writing is as strong as it has been in a generation. We\u2019re touring our new plays to over 60 small scale venues every year, and people are really passionate and exciting at those venues. Even if Edinburgh hasn\u2019t been all that people dreamed about, there\u2019s a lot else \u2013 it doesn\u2019t end at the Fringe!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-replace hoverZoomLink\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/spotlightuk\/image\/fetch\/w_1536,c_limit\/https:\/\/spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/1671\/35672414263_1b73ed245a_o.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/spotlightuk\/image\/fetch\/w_{width},c_limit\/https:\/\/spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/1671\/35672414263_1b73ed245a_o.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Top Directing Tips from James<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4><strong>1. Make your own luck<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>My big advice would be \u2018do it!\u2019 It\u2019s a very different industry to the one I joined 20 years ago, far more competitive. There are far more people in it, particularly actors. I think there was a prevailing thought when I started out that the way you got a career was to try and do some good stuff and then somebody would magically call you up and go, \u201cPlease would you come and direct Hamlet?\u201d The finger would come out of the sky and point at you! I don\u2019t really think that happens very much anymore. It certainly didn\u2019t for me. I don\u2019t think anyone should sit around waiting for something to happen.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>2. Be prepared to get stuck into small-scale productions<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>If you\u2019re an actor, that can be a difficult cycle with auditions, not getting them, etc. I think the more people who can take ownership over their careers, the better. Having produced my own work for 10 years at Nabokov, I found that so rewarding and exciting, and I am now able to pay the rent consistently by doing the thing that I love the most, which is directing plays. But I am only here because I scrabbled around and got actors to do plays with me in tiny theatres above pubs for years and years.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>3. Do it without expectations!<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>I\u2019d really encourage people to just take the plunge and find some nice people to work with. Make some work and just put it on. Don\u2019t have any end game to that work \u2013 don\u2019t think, \u201cI need a review,\u201d or \u201cI need to sell loads of tickets,\u201d or anything like that, other than, \u201cI\u2019m just going to make my work, get some people to come and see it even if I know all of them, just to see if I can do it.\u201d The sense of satisfaction, artistic merit and reward, is amazing. We\u2019re increasingly in a world where self-producing is the way forward, it\u2019s absolutely necessary. It\u2019s a gig economy.<\/p>\n<h4>4.\u00a0<strong>If you can\u2019t pay, be sure to take care of your team<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>I find this very complicated, because ideologically I believe everybody should be paid. However, I can\u2019t get away from the fact that that wasn\u2019t the case when I was starting out. I didn\u2019t get paid personally for about 5 years. When I got paid for the first time when Nabokov got an Arts council fund in 2004, I paid myself a wage from it and it felt both miraculous and almost fraudulent! Before that everybody worked for free. I think there\u2019s something very important about treating everybody properly. If you can\u2019t pay people, I think it\u2019s really important to have a verbal contract within which everybody understands what is going to be asked of them and everyone mutually agrees that they want to be a part of it. If you look after people properly, they\u2019ve got a bottle of water in rehearsals, you can buy them a pint at the end of the day or buy them some lunch \u2013 just make them feel good about themselves for a day, take care of them.<\/p>\n<h4>5.\u00a0<strong>Don\u2019t be deterred by the big theatres<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Small independent theatre companies are taking more and more power from the big theatres. The future will look very different. There is an opportunity for anybody who wants to just make work to go out and make it. Use technology, use whatever you can imagine to make work in an interesting way. Go for it!<\/p>\n<p><em>Thanks to James for giving us his time. Catch the variety of excellent PP shows on in Edinburgh this week at the Roundabout at Summerhall, or when the shows tour across the country over the next few months! Dates and locations can be found online\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.painesplough.com\/places\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Image credits: Jonathan Keenan and Matt Humphrey<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paines Plough&#8217;s Joint Artistic Director James Grieve talks to Spotlight about moving from acting to directing &#8211; and how\u00a0important it is to make your own work! James Grieve is the Joint Artistic Director of\u00a0Paines Plough\u00a0(\u201cPP\u201d) alongside George Perrin. He started\u00a0out as an actor before moving over to directing, and as a result, James had\u00a0a lot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":3153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[85,123,118,112,81,145],"class_list":["post-2174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-employment","tag-christina-care","tag-directors","tag-edinburgh-fringe","tag-making-work","tag-theatre","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Directing Your Own Work with Paines Plough | Spotlight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paines Plough&#039;s James Grieve shares expert advice on transitioning from acting to directing and the 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