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The Writer
A young writer challenges the status quo but discovers that creative gain comes at a personal cost. Ella Hickson's play The Writer premiered in April 2018 at the Almeida Theatre, London, in a production directed by Blanche McIntyre.
88 pages, Paperback
Published April 9, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 21, 2019
The first play to shock me into myself. Be it as a theatre enthusiast, writer, lover, woman, or a combination of the above, there is something about Hickson’s play that makes me want to unravel and better come together.
June 6, 2019
This play is a revelation. It’s thorny and knotty and I can’t stop thinking about it.
The first scene is incendiary and I had to keep putting it down to be able to breathe. It gets more complicated as it goes on and I’m not sure what to make of the patriarchal resonances in the relationship at the end, but this is without a doubt one of the most burning, powerful things I’ve ever read.
The first scene is incendiary and I had to keep putting it down to be able to breathe. It gets more complicated as it goes on and I’m not sure what to make of the patriarchal resonances in the relationship at the end, but this is without a doubt one of the most burning, powerful things I’ve ever read.
November 13, 2021
4.5, rounded down.
On my review of Hickson's previous play Oil, I wrote "This is now the fourth of Hickson's plays I've read, and I always come away impressed by her ambition ... but disappointed at how her ambition almost always exceeds her grasp... As with the other three plays, there are scenes of power and theatrical magic - alongside ones that just seem to go nowhere and mark time."
I somewhat felt the same on this fifth play of hers I've now read -- although - except for the clunky third scene (which comes complete with photographs in the printed text - huh? ... and some very unmanageable stage directions: 'A new state has been achieved. The new world is built' ), it seems more daringly innovative, while at the same time being incredibly didactic - so not sure how it would play - reviews on the premiere production at the Almeida were decidedly mixed. Still, can't recall any OTHER play that ends with two lesbians pegging each other on stage - so credit for that ... I guess.
[PS Odd coincidence - just prior to this I reread Penelope Skinner's [book:The Village Bike|11923559] - both that and this play starred Romola Garai in their initial productions!]
On my review of Hickson's previous play Oil, I wrote "This is now the fourth of Hickson's plays I've read, and I always come away impressed by her ambition ... but disappointed at how her ambition almost always exceeds her grasp... As with the other three plays, there are scenes of power and theatrical magic - alongside ones that just seem to go nowhere and mark time."
I somewhat felt the same on this fifth play of hers I've now read -- although - except for the clunky third scene (which comes complete with photographs in the printed text - huh? ... and some very unmanageable stage directions: 'A new state has been achieved. The new world is built' ), it seems more daringly innovative, while at the same time being incredibly didactic - so not sure how it would play - reviews on the premiere production at the Almeida were decidedly mixed. Still, can't recall any OTHER play that ends with two lesbians pegging each other on stage - so credit for that ... I guess.
[PS Odd coincidence - just prior to this I reread Penelope Skinner's [book:The Village Bike|11923559] - both that and this play starred Romola Garai in their initial productions!]
December 30, 2023
4.5 ⭐️
September 26, 2021
26/9/2021:
It still seems so so daring, and also really not as daring as people made it out to be. It's determined, sure, and it's a loud, focused shout for/to attention. I guess I'm fascinated now by the criticism of it at the time of its premiere. The vitriol with which some people watched it, the anger you could feel as the characters were making their (perfectly justified) anger clear. But what was missed in so many quarters - including probably my own - is the way Hickson has shaped the form to allow that anger (and sentiment and indulgence) to be constantly criticised and dramaturged within the form of the play itself.
20/6/2018:
Between this and Oil, her last play, Ella Hickson is doing so seriously interesting stuff. She's formally playful, linguistically vibrant, and also REALLY FUCKING ANGRY. That rage is palpable in The Writer, where the eponymous character rages against the confining, patriarchal constraints of the theatre, and how all her relationships collapse in on themselves because of male expectation (That's a terrible way of putting it. Read it and you'll see what I mean.)
It's a slippery piece, it's not until the last couple of pages that you get a real sense of destination - though perhaps that is in itself a patriarchal way of looking at it.
It still seems so so daring, and also really not as daring as people made it out to be. It's determined, sure, and it's a loud, focused shout for/to attention. I guess I'm fascinated now by the criticism of it at the time of its premiere. The vitriol with which some people watched it, the anger you could feel as the characters were making their (perfectly justified) anger clear. But what was missed in so many quarters - including probably my own - is the way Hickson has shaped the form to allow that anger (and sentiment and indulgence) to be constantly criticised and dramaturged within the form of the play itself.
20/6/2018:
Between this and Oil, her last play, Ella Hickson is doing so seriously interesting stuff. She's formally playful, linguistically vibrant, and also REALLY FUCKING ANGRY. That rage is palpable in The Writer, where the eponymous character rages against the confining, patriarchal constraints of the theatre, and how all her relationships collapse in on themselves because of male expectation (That's a terrible way of putting it. Read it and you'll see what I mean.)
It's a slippery piece, it's not until the last couple of pages that you get a real sense of destination - though perhaps that is in itself a patriarchal way of looking at it.
November 14, 2022
an incredible play that made me think and pulled my insides into the most horrific shape; it was very interesting to re-read this now, having more of an insight into the writer's process and am very interested to see my response again in a few more years.
I am almost ashamed to admit that from my first reading a few years ago, all I could remember was the first scene.
I am almost ashamed to admit that from my first reading a few years ago, all I could remember was the first scene.
August 2, 2024
another blinder from my fave playwright
October 22, 2024
Very yummy stuff
November 19, 2023
i really wanna watch it! the way the scenes kept coming out of themselves, like unpicking them selves was cool and i wanna see how that would play out on stage
the last scene was strangely constructed tho
after my lecture: managed to understand parts of it a bit more but i’m still very intrigued to see it staged
the last scene was strangely constructed tho
after my lecture: managed to understand parts of it a bit more but i’m still very intrigued to see it staged
November 28, 2023
incendiary and enraging and definitely imperfect and yet it cracked open such a visceral response in me that i have to give it a five. so good.
May 21, 2023
Deftly written, and rather clever in places, although hardly revolutionary (at least as it appears on the page; it might be something else altogether on stage.) Play-within-a-play scenes were kind of interesting.
Despite all the sound and fury, the core of the work seems rather conventional: Artists might prefer to create “pure” art, but ultimately at least most of them have to pay the bills. So art gets folded, spindled, and mutilated in the pursuit of paying audiences. We see that illustrated here, as an idealistic young playwright’s draft ends up edited beyond recognition by the time “her” play opens. Look What They’ve Done to My Song. Protagonist expresses anger that she can't make her art free from commercial constraints, but the play offers no solution to what one might call the tyranny of reality. Vincent Van Gogh had Theo to support him, but barring that kind of help who's going to pick up the tab?
Despite all the sound and fury, the core of the work seems rather conventional: Artists might prefer to create “pure” art, but ultimately at least most of them have to pay the bills. So art gets folded, spindled, and mutilated in the pursuit of paying audiences. We see that illustrated here, as an idealistic young playwright’s draft ends up edited beyond recognition by the time “her” play opens. Look What They’ve Done to My Song. Protagonist expresses anger that she can't make her art free from commercial constraints, but the play offers no solution to what one might call the tyranny of reality. Vincent Van Gogh had Theo to support him, but barring that kind of help who's going to pick up the tab?
January 6, 2021
This is so good. Fuck. Any words to describe it would feel like part of what the play is rebelling against. It’s not truthful, or honest, or beautiful, it’s a rage against these value judgements. It’s fucking fierce.
October 24, 2022
Some parts of this play made my soul ache from the rawness.
I need to read it again in order to give it 5 stars, I think. It's layered and very interesting to think about - it's meta in a way and very self-conscious.
I need to read it again in order to give it 5 stars, I think. It's layered and very interesting to think about - it's meta in a way and very self-conscious.
November 22, 2022
any words that try to describe the experience of reading this play would feel wrong and not adequate enough, but i will say this: rarely have i felt such a desperate need to see a play performed after reading it than with this magnificent piece
August 26, 2023
Meta as fuck. A play about the modern writer. About women. About the state of the whole theatre industry. And about the patriarchy, an ever present force surrounding and controlling the three.
Hickson is, as ever, urgent and sharp as fuck in her storytelling.
Hickson is, as ever, urgent and sharp as fuck in her storytelling.
September 6, 2019
A meta play about a writer writing the play we are watching. A very smart funhouse of a story.
March 4, 2021
Urgent and provocative and captivating. I want to see it on stage. Different from any play I've ever read.
Read
April 5, 2021I don't want to judge this having not seen the show; I found the script difficult to get on with, but feel like it would be much better in actual form!
November 13, 2021
Yay! A good play that has depth, emotion and something that can't be taken to the screen - a connection to the audience!
October 14, 2022
beautiful, crafty, poignant
January 15, 2023
literally shocked me to my core in the best way possible, i will never be the same person i was before i read this and i am so happy about that
September 26, 2023
I really enjoyed this play. It was written perfectly and is extremely eye opening. I would recommend this play for anyone and I would love to see it on stage or be a part of the show.
February 24, 2024
THE OPENING AND CLOSING MONOLOGUES!!!! SO GOOD!!! + how it can be produced in a loop 🔁 so genius
June 29, 2024
queering the construction and the theme... a masterpiece
July 25, 2024
Fucking brilliant.
August 21, 2024
'WRITER. Does it scare you that the future might speak a language that you can't understand?'
July 14, 2025
complicated. still working out the picasso
October 12, 2025
she should have murdered her boyfriend
October 13, 2025
I love when women
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews