It’s here… at last!! And here’s another writer for you…

Well, StageWrite week is finally here and we are very busy in the theatre rigging, and starting rehearsing. It’s already fantastic to start to see the pieces come to life!!

We will be blogging a lot throughout the week so make sure you keep up!! We are almost coming to the end of our series on the writers but we still have a couple to whet your appetites! So today it’s my great pleasure to introduce you to Danka Throne who, as a staunch supporter of our venture in 2014, she bravely submitted her play, Voucher.

Danka, why don’t we start with you telling us a little bit about yourself?

Born in Bulgaria, I have very colourful and rich life experience. I lived some twenty odd years under Communist rule, and then experienced the changeover of power in the Eastern bloc. Sometime later I moved to live in England and got used to a different culture. I met many interesting people, worked as film editor in the Bulgarian Cinema Centre, as a night croupier in a big casino, while also studying part-time Theology up to Master’s Degree during the day and later moved to be a Programme Director for a cable channel. I have been a private English tutor for many years and supply teacher in the UK. I raised my two children, who are young adults now. My heart has always been in the theatre. I grew up close to the Bulgarian Broadway in the capital Sofia and in my teens developed in a master theatre crusher. I did not have the money to finance my need to watch plays seven evenings a week, so I started mixing with the smokers outside after the antrakt, sliding into the toilets inside the building. Than when the second part started it was always easy to find free seat in the dark, many times with the help of the staff, who were trying to accommodate the late viewers. The best news was that there are approximately nine theatres on that street and I changed the place I crashed every evening. I have never been caught and know off by heart the second parts of a number of plays to this day. In many different ways now I make a conscious effort to repay all my tickets from those days.

Wow – that’s some experience. How long have you been writing plays for and what started you off writing?

I always wanted to write, but took a long while to gain the tenacity and find the time to actually to do it; I also didn’t feel mature enough until a few years ago. I have one completed novel in English and am working on another in Bulgarian.

And what prompted you to write Voucher?

Voucher is my first theatre play. The class differences, the uneasy multiculturalism and the divisions I observe prompted me to create this snap-shot of the British society we live in. Indeed in a supermarket I was waiting once for so long, that I thought we may as well just camp here. Than all of a sudden the characters came one by one, each with their different life story, each existing in their own right. I know well that the truth is like the art – depends on the point of view. The problems start when many right, but conflicting points of view have to define a situation or take a decision that accommodates all. Finally all boils down to two issues – who is orchestrating the show and who picks up the bill.

Interesting! Tell me about your process of writing?

I love watching people; their body language, attitude and interactions are simply live theatre. The characters of the play formed and existed for a sometime in my mind. I’ve got to know and like them and when I started writing and put them together I just let them be. They did the rest and it’s a pleasure and fun like no other. During the story development sometimes they surprised me, as they did not react or say what I expected them to. I discovered great satisfaction in writing; it’s like a confession for me. I am incredibly grateful to LifeBox Theatre Company for accepting my play “Voucher” and bringing it to life on their stage. As for the public –I dare to hope they will grant me their indulgence.

Well we are looking forward to seeing your piece on the Stage, Danka. If this sounds like your kind of thing you can see Voucher this Wednesday at the Place Theatre kicking off at 7.30pm. Tickets are available online here or from the Central Box Office on 01234 718112.

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