When submitting a play to a development or production opportunity, there’s one question that consistently rises like a hungry ghoul from the application, its wide fanged grin whispering menacingly: why this play? why here and why now?

Why this play now?

• Because I am alive and have an idea and want to write it

• I’m a play guy, love plays*

• It’s actually not this play now, it’s this play eight years ago but it got stuck in theatre development hell

• Money, please!!!!

• How about YOU pick it and tell ME why this play now

  • look maybe I’m just suspicious and burnt out but it kind of feels like you want me to do your marketing work for you with this question

• Riddle me this - why Shakespeare now

• I actually don’t like this play now, but I looked at your production history and you only seem to produce work about historically disenfranchised people’s trauma, so here’s mine

• Why Art Ever

*thanks Matt Volk for this joke like two years ago