Examining alchemy: writing Soph and the real world

This thesis comprises a creative work; a play entitled Soph and the real world, and an exegesis which examines the process by which this work was created. As the play is my first, the thesis demonstrates the active establishment of a playwriting praxis, utilising my existent musical skills with sound and rhythm and my bodily experience of the live performed moment. It illuminates a writing experience which is peculiarly musical and sensory, and one, also, which gives particular attention to dreams and the Unconscious as sources of inspiration. Beginning with the question, 'How will I, using my existing skills with music and prose, write a play, and in so doing, establish a new playwriting practice?', I proposed that the writing would be a type of alchemy, in that a multitude of influences would combine in the crucible of my body where the creative process would occur; the transformation of the raw data of my every day, what I termed trash, into the gold of the play. My creative practice led the inquiry and consequently the exegesis is as much a study of practice-led research methodology as it is of the creative process itself. As the play uses jazz to build atmospheres and features it as a significant influence in the back story of the main character, I drew specifically on my experiences of jazz throughout the writing, something which became clear upon reflection. Seeking a stance to unify the project, I then drew on these techniques of practice to develop a personal jazz-based methodology which applies to both the creative and exegetical elements. This thesis, in its entirety, aims to enhance understanding of creative processes and demonstrate a different way of inquiry for creative and research practice.