This friendly and accessible workshop by Douglas Maxwell offers an introduction to playwriting from a practising playwright’s perspective.

During the session you will explore how playwrights create scenes that hold an audience’s attention and carry emotional weight. There will be playful writing exercise that examine character and empathy, before moving into the foundations of dramatic writing and the practical realities of the playwright’s craft.

Suitable for complete beginners as well as experienced writers looking for a fresh approach.

Douglas Maxwell

Douglas Maxwell has been one of Scotland’s top playwrights since his debut in the year 2000. His new play Inexperience is part of Alan Cumming’s opening season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in 2026. His recent work includes the hit So Young. First produced by The Citizens, The Traverse and Raw Materials in 2024, So Young won a Fringe First, Best Play at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland and the Hector MacMillan Award for Best Play as voted for by Scottish Playwrights and was revived in 2025 on the mainstage of the newly re-opened Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. 2025 also saw a revival of his popular show Man’s Best Friend at The Tron and a Scottish tour. The Sheriff of Kalamaki, produced by A Play A Pie and A Pint, won Best Play at the 2024 CATS. He wrote the book for the mainstage musical Orphans, which opened at the SECC Armadillo concert hall in Glasgow, and the short play Fatbaws, both produced by the National Theatre of Scotland.

Fatbaws was screened on BBC Scotland, watched by over a million people and nominated for a Scottish BAFTA for its actor and director, Peter Mullan. Other plays include Charlie Sonata, The Royal Lyceum, The Whip Hand, Birmingham Rep/Traverse, Yer Granny, NTS, Fever Dream: Southside, The Citizens, Mancub, Vanishing Point, Promises Promises, Random Accomplice, Too Fast for The National Theatre UK, A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity, PPP, and Decky Does a Bronco for Gridiron as well as many more. His plays are performed in translation all over the world, including in South Korea, where his debut show Our Bad Magnet ran for over a decade and has developed a fan community who call themselves The Iron Filings. Douglas is an honorary Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literature.

For more details please visit www.douglasmaxwell.co.uk

Tickets are pay-what-you-can from £5.

Contact the host of Online Workshop: Playwriting with Douglas Maxwell