20 June 2025 – Flesh & Blood Stories, the theatre initiative from Neil Anthony Docking and Maxine Evans (the team behind Olivier-nominated The Revlon Girl), is delighted to announce the dates for its first round of free story seminars, hosted at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea.
The seminars will be held on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th July and form part of F&B Stories’ wider Audiences Wanted programme, an 18-month initiative supported by Arts Council Wales, which aims to develop new writing talent and expand the supply of mid-scale touring productions across Wales by summer 2026.
Following a highly successful submissions period in service of this aim, the story seminars are designed to support writers whose scripts are not yet stage-or-screen ready, helping bring promising work up to production standard. At the same time, they are open to all writers, including those who have not yet engaged with the initiative, offering an opportunity to explore the core principles of dramatic storytelling in a welcoming and accessible setting.
The seminars will be held at at the iconic Dylan Thomas Centre, a cultural hub dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of Wales’ most beloved literary figure. Located in the heart of Swansea, the Centre regularly hosts exhibitions, workshops, and community events, a fitting venue for a day devoted to the craft of storytelling.
Seminar One: Architecture (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
The first session will explore the foundations of classical story structure, alongside how to build, maintain, and pressure-test a compelling narrative. Writers will leave with practical tools to shape their ideas into strong, dramatic frameworks with insights ranging from Aristotle to bees.
Seminar Two: Roadmaps (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Picking up where Architecture leaves off, this session will focus on character development, examining arcs, archetypes, and the inner-workings of emotionally resonant journeys. An essential session for writers looking to strengthen their characters to deepen their storytelling.
All sessions are free to attend, and writers are welcome to join one or both seminars. Attendees will also receive a follow-up information pack by email.
Flesh & Blood Stories co-creator and producer, Neil Anthony Docking, said: “The volume and standard of scripts we received in our submissions window has been overwhelming, exciting and daunting in equal measure. There is little doubt that there’s an untapped well of talent out there - it's what we do with that talent that's important to us now. This is no longer about telling stories, it's about telling them well…
“These seminars will be another chance for us to dig into the fundamental mechanics of dramatic writing; not only to give writers the tools they need to develop their work to a professional standard, but also to ensure that theatres and audiences across Wales are supplied with the very best theatre on offer."
For more information and to book tickets, visit the F&B Stories events pages for Seminar One and Seminar Two. Further details will be released via the F&B Stories newsletter, with sign up available here.