Willy Russell: A life in writing

Did your childhood influence your becoming a writer?

I was brought up in post-war rationing years in a close-knit working-class estate near Liverpool – it was supposed to be knocked down but there was so little housing! My mother was an assistant at Rainhill, a psychiatric hospital, while my father was a miner, insurance man, roving librarian, factory worker, then shop owner. My writing has undoubtedly benefited from the women in my life, including my play agent Peggy Ramsay, my wife Annie who was always a great script reader, and my teacher, Jean Collingwood, who was a great support when I went back to do A-levels, aged 21. When I was a hairdresser at 17 in 1964, I liked listening to women's take on the world. At home with all my aunts and my sister, it was a female-dominated family because the men were out doing shift work.

How did you go from the security of teaching to full-time writing?

Incrementally. The Arts Council once funded regional theatre more generously than today, which fed the explosion in new writing in theatres like the Liverpool Everyman. TV was producing single slot dramas so, like Alan Bleasdale, I could get two theatre play commissions a year including two ‘tellys’ and three episodes of Crown Court. When my John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert opened in the West End I had two TV commissions.

I knew I could keep us going for 18 months even if everything dried up. My first professional work was at a teacher training college, when my TV play was broadcast during my first year. I didn't leave teaching until I’d had a play running in the West End for half a year (1974-75). I’d only been teaching for 18 months, but I carried on because I knew how difficult a writer's life could be.

Did you ever come close to quitting?

I was shortlisted for a competition for a £4,000 Radio Times fellowship, a year's money then. My wife was pregnant; I was teaching and writing. Four of us were shortlisted. They’d decided on the winner but said there’d also be two payments of £500 for runners-up. As my script was the only one accepted for production, I thought at least I’d get £500, but mine was the only name not announced. I was so annoyed I stormed out and a man rushed after me, saying, ‘Don't go! I'm Hugh Whitemore. It's a travesty what happened to you and I want to take your script to Peggy Ramsay!’ The next day I was teaching, and someone came into my classroom saying I had a phone call. A woman on the phone said, ‘Hello darling, do you want some dough?! I believe you’re teaching. Is that in a school?’ It was Peggy. She believed that the writer got their due and she negotiated fiercely on my behalf. She said, ‘Darling, never be grateful. They’re buying it because you wrote it and if you don't write it nobody else goes to work.’

Do you think schools should reassess how they define ‘achievement’?

Completely. You shouldn't teach kids on the basis that they’re going out to perform jobs. Teach the whole human being. In my D stream there were kids as talented as I was who were crushed by the system. At the same time, to be fair, we expect schools to sort everything out, while constantly devaluing teachers. I think educators are absolutely vital, which is why I’ve written about them so much. I know so many teachers who’ve left because they’re not allowed to teach any more. We should put emphasis not on material wealth but on the wealth within.

What impact do you think your plays have on Drama students?

I would hope my plays engage, intrigue, challenge and move all who see or read them, including Drama students. Perhaps they may be expected to scrutinise, analyse, and weigh the content of a play with more perception and a deeper understanding than the so-called general audience – if so, I consider this to be something of a folly and an arrogance.

What do you think about Drama education?

As with all the arts, Drama has the potential to be a highly effective medium for learning. Anyone involved with Drama and its teaching will understand the diversity and depth of the disciplines involved. As with all subjects, though, in the wrong hands, the teaching of Drama can be cripplingly counter-productive. And I firmly believe in state support for the arts – the benefits are incalculable. I don't, though, believe that any artist has an automatic right to support.

Blood Brothers by Willy Russell is currently touring the UK – for details of performances and venues go to: http://www.kenwright.com/portfolio/blood-brothers