By
Monica Chen
London
I'm raising £6000 to fund my second year in the best drama school in the UK!
I'm a full-time MFA student on the Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. I write for stage, radio, television, and film. I'm also researching game and comic book writing with my course mates.
I have the good fortune to lead a, not exactly extraordinary, but quite unusual and surprising life.
As a Taiwanese girl born in Belgium, who later moved back to Taiwan in her early teens, I am no stranger to being the odd one out. Growing up, I was “la chinoise”, “the girl from abroad” or simply “a girl” when I entered a “language elite class” in a boys’ high school. With labels come distance and exclusion, and while in my case it was never cruel or even intentional, it still doesn’t change the feeling of estrangement I have had all my life. The feeling pushed me into the safe embrace of writing. I have spent most of my childhood and student years reading and writing, and started working in theatre productions in university. I am trying, as a writer, to connect to the world. And maybe a little arrogantly, connect the worlds I know.
I want to tell stories, and I want to be good at it. I want to work in different media and experiment with all forms of storytelling. With my personal cultural background and professional experience, I have much in my hands just waiting to be molded and told. I know I still have a lot to learn.
In terms of theatre and filmmaking, a year in London made me feel like a child going to school for the first time, realizing that home is so small and there’s a bigger world out there. After the initial shock of a peek at a brand new world, I am more than ready to go back to school.
All of the money will go into my tuition fee for a second year in Central .
I don't have much to offer other than my writing. I'll be dedicating my works to you or take up writing commissions for short plays.
You can take a look at the works of the theatre group I'm part of on the Long Distance Collective Facebook Page , our first production before the group was formed at Taipei Fringe Festival 2015, and my blog Drama Is My Business where I share news and reviews of plays I've seen in London. (I'm sorry that all of the websites are mainly in Mandarin.)
You don't need to give money to help me succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support me – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog. In fact, share it with everyone you know as I think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely I am to make this work out brilliantly. And I know I said you don't need to give money to help us, but I'd love it if you did! Please sponsor me and help make this happen.
Select this reward if you just want to donate to the project without receiving a reward.
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For everyone who donates, I'll say a massive thank you on social media, send you a personal thank you email and include you on the list of supporters names on my final Sustained Independent Project.
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Estimated delivery: 1 July 2018
For you wonderful people who donate £30 or more, you'll get a unique piece of new writing from me to you. A 5 min two-hander will be written just for you. Prompts and commissions are welcomed.
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Estimated delivery: 1 July 2018
For you wonderful people who donate £50 or more, you'll get a unique piece of new writing from me to you. A 15 min short play will be written just for you. Prompts and commissions are welcomed.
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Estimated delivery: 1 July 2018
For you crazy people who feel really generous and donate £100 or more, you'll get a unique piece of new writing from me to you. A 30 min middle-length play will be written just for you. Prompts and commissions are welcomed.
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Estimated delivery: 1 July 2018