Initial Reading
Read the following text as quickly as you can, and underline the lexical cohesion devices it uses.Then complete the exercises that follow.
[1] These days, one of the biggest challenges is saying no. Opposite the National’s script library stands a bundle of envelopes and A4 paper, several feet high. This is the slush pile; four or five unsolicited manuscripts land on it each day. The number is rising: the National gets 1,500 a year, and, although its panel of freelance readers assiduously work their way through every one, the theatre has stopped offering feedback on plays it doesn’t intend to pursue.
[2] Even theatres that specialise in new writing are struggling to cope with the volume of unsolicited scripts. Edinburgh’s Traverse gets 400 a year. The Royal Court gets 3,000 and valiantly promises to offer feedback on every one. Manchester’s Royal Exchange reads only one script per writer per year (it still gets more than 350) and is focusing efforts on a playwriting competition that accepts anonymous contributions—partly to encourage female writers. According to recent research by campaigning theatre group Sphinx, just 17% of new plays staged in the UK are by women.
[3] Feedback requires a light touch, says 31-year-old Jo Combes, an associate director at the Royal Exchange. “When plays go through many drafts, it’s easy to lose sight of what the original seed was,the thing that really excited you. Writers should be able to listen to notes, but also write what they want. It has to be their play.” Your own taste evolves, she adds. “I cringe at some of the notes I gave even three years ago, some of the plays I really believed in. Your ability to develop plays really shifts.”At the National, Born agrees. “Some people feel that a play isn’t worthwhile unless it’s been through 12 drafts. I completely disagree. The best situation is when someone sends you something that is good,and you do it. Plays die if they’re handled too much. Working with writers is a subtle, delicate and slightly unquantifiable business.”
[4] The Bush in London thinks it may have found a solution to the slush pile. It has launched a bold experiment that has taken two years and £60,000 of Jerwood Foundation funding to create: a website called Bushgreen. This aims to be a Facebook for playwrights, a destination for the 1,000-plus scripts the Bush receives each year. “We had this simple idea: what if you were able to give writers the ability to publish their work online?” says Josie Rourke, the theatre’s artistic director. “Think how fantastic social networking can be, and how you might use some of those tools professionally.”
[5] Bushgreen does look like a pared-down social networking site, albeit one with echoes of Harper Collins’s Authonomy site, an online community for wannabe novelists. There’s an “editorial” section,containing survivors’ tales from familiar names, such as Neil LaBute and David Eldridge; this will also be filled with rehearsal diaries and how-to tips. And there are a lot of new plays. In the first few weeks,1,000 people joined the site and some 300 scripts were uploaded.
New Words and Expressions
slush /slʌʃ/ n.烂泥，稀泥浆；废话
slush pile 废稿堆
unsolicited /
ʌnsə
lɪsɪtɪd/ adj.主动提供的；未经请求的
manuscript /
mænjuskrɪpt/ n.原稿；手稿
panel /
pænl/ n.专门小组
freelance /
friːlɑːns/ adj.特约的；自由职业的
assiduously /ə
sɪdjuəsli/ adv.勤勉地；孜孜不倦地
feedback /
f iːdbæk/ n.反馈；回复
valiantly /
væliəntli/ adv.勇敢地；英勇地
anonymous /ə
nɒnɪməs/ adj.无名的
campaign /kæm
peɪn/ vi.参加∕发起运动；参加竞选
associate /ə
səʊʃieɪt/ adj.副的；准的
draft /drɑːft/ n.草稿
cringe /krɪndʒ/ vi.畏缩；卑躬屈膝
worthwhile /
wɜːθ
waɪl/ adj.值得（看/做）的
handle /
hændl/ vt.处理；操作
subtle /
sʌtl/ adj.微妙的；敏感的
delicate /
delɪkət/ adj.微妙的；精细的
unquantifiable /ʌnkwɒntɪ'faɪəbl/ adj.难以估量的；不可测量的
launch /lɔːntʃ/ vt.开展；发起
bold /bəʊld/ adj.大胆的；勇敢的
destination /
destɪ
neɪʃn/ n.目的地，终点；目标
fantastic /fæn
tæstɪk/ adj.极好的
pared-down /'peəd'daʊn/ adj.压缩的；简化的
albeit /ɔːl
biːɪt/ conj.虽然；即使
upload /
ʌp
ləʊd/ vt.上传；上载
Phrases and Expressions
1. a bundle of 一堆；一包；一捆
2. specialise in 专门从事；专门研究
3. cope with 处理；应付
4. focus on 以……为重点；致力于
5. lose sight of 忽视；忘记
6. cringe at 畏缩，退缩
7. go through 经历；通过
Related Information
1. The National：即The National Theatre，英国国家剧院，位于伦敦泰晤士河南岸。英国国家剧院全年演出传统和新兴剧目，剧目交替相当频繁，最多两周内要演九场不同的戏剧作品。整个剧院由三个分剧院组成：（1）奥利佛剧院（The Olivier），三个剧院中最大的，可容纳1 200名观众；（2）利泰尔顿剧院（The Lyttelton），一个较为传统的双层舞台剧院，约能容纳900人；（3）科泰斯洛剧院（The Cottesloe），三个剧院中最小的，更适合观众与演员间的密切互动。
2. Edinburgh’s Traverse：即Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre，爱丁堡特拉弗斯剧院。该剧院始建于1963年，以表演现代戏剧而出名，是苏格兰倡导“新写作”的重要剧院之一。
3. The Royal Court：即The Royal Court Theatre, 皇家宫廷剧院。它位于伦敦斯隆广场（Sloane Square）东侧，始建于1888年，可容纳500人左右。该剧院被称为“剧作者之家”，致力于演出实验性强的原创剧本，为英国乃至世界剧坛培养了一批匠心独具的剧作家。皇家宫廷剧院见证了英国当代戏剧的繁荣。
4. Manchester’s Royal Exchange：即Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, 曼彻斯特皇家交易所剧院。该剧院始建于1976年，可容纳750人左右，其形似飞船的建筑结构极具特色。多年以来，许多杰出演员都在此剧院的舞台上演出过，如阿尔伯特·芬尼，李奥麦肯恩和汤姆·康特奈等。
5. HarperCollins：哈珀柯林斯出版集团，由James Harper和John Harper兄弟俩于1817年创建于纽约。它曾是马克·吐温、勃朗特姐妹、狄更斯、马丁·路德金、肯尼迪等世界名家的出版商。1990年，哈珀柯林斯出版集团被新闻集团购入，并与英国的威廉柯林斯出版社合并，形成世界性出版巨头。哈珀柯林斯出版集团主要在文学、小说、经济类图书、儿童图书、烹调图书、宗教图书方面有较大影响。通过不断与世界著名的出版社并购，又不断向电子图书领域进军，目前，哈珀柯林斯出版集团已成为世界上第一家将图书内容数字化并创办全球数字书库的出版商，同时也是全球最大的英文书籍出版商之一。