Shimali de Silva’s Pull Back the Curtain

Next up in our Pull Back series, we have Shimali de Silva whose script received a staged reading during Pull Back the Curtain 2014! Apply now to take part in Pull Back the Curtain 2016!

How did you find out about Pull Back the Curtain?
I had done the flagship musical (A Chorus Line) the year before and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was on the look out for new opportunities to work with YAF. When I saw the Pull Back promos floating around the inter-web I thought that the idea of writing a play, instead of performing in one, seemed fairly daunting, but I reflected that since I loved literature (and writing lame little poems and short stories) as much as I loved performing, this might be a good opportunity to merge two spheres of interest I had up till then kept very separate.

What was the programme like?
It was a really supportive space to start creating material. For the first couple of weeks we would start each session with all these wacky games and think-tank exercises and end with some really bizarre performances of the work we had produced throughout the evening. It was great, quick-fire way to get a feel of what was good dialogue in theory (on paper, with words like '[pause]' and '[A Beat.]' ) and what just missed the mark slightly when spoken. We laughed a lot and learnt not to be precious about our writing - I think that's a totally invaluable lesson. Later on in the programme we got to focus on producing more fully fleshed out scripts. This was when I started to get really excited. I had an idea for a play already stewing within me from a news article I had read, and was able, through Pull Back, to find a co-writer, get feedback on my work, and finally, to do a blocked reading of the piece at the arts centre with some talented young actors. I had never written a play before so to be offered the creative infrastructure to do that with my first bumbling attempt at a script was just amazing.

What were your greatest learnings?
Hmm…probably that writing for the stage is a really different ball-game to writing material that goes straight from the page into a reader's head. I think a play script is much less tolerant of literary self-indulgence and 'showing off'. With a script, I learnt, it's not so much about you - you're creating a blueprint for other creatives to work from…and if you're lucky they might be able to make more of it than you ever could!

What were the biggest challenges?
One thing I struggled with in the programme was the issue of developing 'taste'. That sounds really…uppity, but what I mean is: how do you tell if writing is good or bad, especially when it's your own? I think developing instincts for words, justifying your preferences in other people's work, and trusting you own literary convictions while responding to feedback is just a really long, confusing, unending process, in my experience at least. It's different for everyone. Pull Back acquainted with questions like that, questions that artists every industry imaginable probably face everyday.

What's next for you?
Well, a few days ago I got a conditional offer to read English at Cambridge! So, IF I don't make a meal of these next few months and manage to satisfy my final exam conditions that might be where you'll find me in the not-so-distant future. Studying English after high school wasn't an obvious decision for me, coming from a family of Engineers and Accountants and so I owe a lot to YAF for allowing me to meet mentors and creatives with so much talent and dedication.The challenges, mini-victories, and other people YAF exposed me to really convinced me (and my family) that I could pursue something a little different.

How has being part of this programme helped you?
​ After Pull Back the Curtain I went on to write more stage material and direct some original work at school - all of that featured quite heavily in my uni applications. So yeah, practically speaking, I'd probably be in a very different spot right now without having done the programme. But apart from that, if I hadn't given it a shot, it would have taken me much, much longer to realise that in addition to acting out other people's words, I could offer my own ideas and experience up for performance.