Notes from a Working-Class Playwright

Both a practical guide to playwriting and a memoir, Butler talks eloquently about childhood and place (he was raised in Sheffield) as an endless deep well for him to draw on as a playwright. * The Stage *
For me, [Leo] Butler is a poet of the human damage of poverty. His language is terse and fractured. He reminds me as much of Emily Dickinson as he does of many playwrights. He is, I think, as close as English theatre has come to the master of Bavarian naturalism Franz Xavier Kroetz. * Simon Stephens, playwright *
This book is much more than an autobiography. Using his experience of mentoring playwrights all over the UK and beyond, Butler offers lots and lots of excellent advice about writing: getting started, how to develop an idea, how to structure a play, how to find the hidden play inside you, and then some super stuff about coping with rehearsals, press nights and all the rest … His enthusiasm for the work of other playwrights runs like a thumping heartbeat throughout the text. He also pays tribute, not only to directors, but also to lesser known inspirations such as Ola Animashawun of the Court’s Young Writers Programme, and the late Elyse Dodgson of their International Programme. And so much of this is deeply personal, such as extracts of rejection letters and honest recollections of downs as well as ups. Flicking through the book you get a real sense of the author’s personality: leftfield, often inspiring, sometimes cranky, theatrically ambitious and extremely practical. It’s occasionally surreal, sometimes funny and always revealing. Filling you with the feeling of creativity unleashed … Notes from a Working-Class Playwright is a really fine book about playwriting that’s both fascinating as a life story and compelling as a series of good ideas, all of which glitter in the mind long after you’ve put down the volume. * Aleks Sierz *
A really fine book about playwriting that’s both fascinating as a life story and compelling as a series of good ideas, all of which glitter in the mind long after you’ve put down the volume. * Aleks Sierz Blog *