Writing Is Rewriting (Yuck!!!) - a workshop with Yve Blake (Sydney)

Writing a musical tends to take many, many many drafts. 

But how do you identify what needs to change? How do you take a lumpy, uneven draft and make it tight and electrifying?

This workshop is about just that. 

We’ll look at heaps of classic 'first draft problems' - and how to address them. Plot too saggy? Scenes too long? Melodies not hooky enough? Lyrics not hitting the way you want? We'll look at tricks and techniques to address all of these and more. 

In this 3 hour workshop (including a lil break!) I’ll share some of the tools I’ve learned when it comes to punching up every part of a musical. How do you decide if a song must be cut, cut down, or simply re-written? How do you keep your audience on the edge of their seat? And how do you make them care?

You'll learn:

👉 Ways to solve issues with PLOT, STORY and STRUCTURE

👉 How to figure out if you need to cut a song (gah!), cut it down, or simply re-write it

👉 How to make a song really earn it's place - how to punch up LYRICS, improve MELODIES and keep things exciting!

👉 How to tighten and improve your SCENES to keep your story cracking along!

👉 PRACTICAL TIPS for developing new work (How to develop work economically, what to do when you get stuck!)

😎 This workshop requires ZERO musical ‘talent’ & ZERO writing experience. Just curious? feel welcome! 😎

FAQS:

🤔 Do I need to bring anything? only something to write with! I reccomend paper and pen.

🤔 Do I need to already be writing a musical? Not necessarily! I welcome anyone who is purely curious. 

🤔 Will there be a Q&A at the end? 100% there will!

🤔 Do I have to be a specific age to attend? no bestie! All ages welcome!

🤔 What's the deal with the $19 tickets? If you identify as Trans, Disabled, or First Nations then these tix are for youuuuuu.

My Bio / about me but suddenly we're talking in 3rd person?

Yve Blake is a multi-award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and songwriter, born and raised on Gadigal land.

She's best known for writing the Book, Music and Lyrics for the musical FANGIRLS, which premiered at Belvoir and Queensland Theatre in 2019, before embarking on a national tour in 2021, returning by demand in 2022 at the Sydney Opera House, and premiering in Lonodn in 2024 - produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.

For FANGIRLS, Yve has been awarded the AWGIE award for Music Theatre, a Green Room award for New Australian Writing for Musical Theatre, an ARIA nomination for Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album, and the Stage UK x Netflix Debut award for best Composer, Lyricist or Bookwriter. FANGIRLS is now on high school curriculums in three Australian states.

Yve is an alumni of the Royal Court Writers’ Programme, was a 2024 Women in Music Australia Soho House Fellow, and has been a visiting artist at Princeton University. She's also developed and presented her own work in London at Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre, Old Vic New Voices, the National Theatre Studio and The Barbican. Her 2019 TEDxSydney talk about Fangirls has been promoted to an official TED talk on TED.com, where it has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

In 2026, her play Mackenzie will premiere in Sydney and Melbourne, produced by Bell Shakespeare. She is currently developing a screen adaptation of FANGIRLS with Fremantle, a family musical for Mark Gordon Pictures, a new spooky musical for Sydney Theatre Company, and various other projects.