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As a Creative Community Producer I work with emerging artists and community groups to develop large scale arts projects that engage audiences and offer career development to writers, as well as personal development to community participants.
My own writing covers novels, short stories and plays where I like to create dark and intriguing works that are shot through with sparks of humor, and often incorporate spectacle such as magic or music.
My most recent work has been as a mentor and writing tutor specialising in supporting older writers and marginalised people, helping them use writing as a means of exploring and understanding their worlds. This work covers writing for therapeutic purposes and I have a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and Wellbeing from Teeside University .
SURPRISING FACT – I have been commissioned to write over 30 plays which were seen by over half a million people! Why don’t you know about those? Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the answer.
My Current CV: PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
WRITING PROJECTS & COMMISSIONS:
2023/4: I ran a series of Novel Writing Workshops for Gloucestershire libraries, and am now running a support network for those writers to develop their novels further.
2023: I created a community written poem for the Knife Angel project in Partnership with Gloucester cathedral and the Cavern
I also produced a podcast series called ‘The Art of Silly’ – an ACE funded project to explore why we lose the confidence to do silly stuff once we reach adulthood. This has its own website with links to the episodes which you can find HERE
2022: ‘Belonging’, a project that developed unheard voices of Gloucester in partnership with Gloucester Culture Trust, Gloucester Cathedral and The Cavern
‘Let’s Talk About Cough’ was Welcome Trust project exploring stories around chronic cough in partnership with Imperial College London and the University of Manchester
2021: ‘Women’s Voices’ was a community writing project commissioned by Gloucester City Voices Festival which involved writer development workshops and a series of podcasts.
2020: ‘Tales from the Cross’ was an interactive digital exploration of the city streets in Gloucester, commissioned by Gloucester History Festival
Cardiff Gang Show Online – I was commissioned to work with twelve young writers to create scripts for zoom recording and online sharing after their theatre performance was cancelled due to C-19
‘Invisible’ a short play for older women performers was produced at Red Herring Theatre in Columbus Ohio, USA
2019: ‘The Bechdel Test’ was performed at Theatre 503 directed by Jailin Cai
I was a member of the Adult Company at Oval House Theatre, London
Writer with Scenic Route Theatre Company to collaboratively create a piece of physical theatre performed at the Drayton Arms, London.
2018: ‘The Whisperer’ an interactive audio play commissioned by Hannah Brady and Gloucester Culture Trust, used at Gloucester Cathedral
I was a member of SOHO Theatre Writers Cohort in London
Come to Where I’m From – Gloucester. Script commission from Paines Plough, performed at the Fountain Inn Gloucester. Click on the bar below to hear me reading my script ‘The Gloucester Citizen’
2017: ‘The Mysterious Gentleman’ my play featuring live stage magic which tells the story of JN Maskelyne, the Victorian magician who explored life after death and the possibility of connecting to the spirit world was performed at the Courtyard Theatre in Hoxton with Partners in Mischief Theatre Company in 2017
**** ‘Beautifully written, magical gem of a show’ (Fairy Powered Productions)
**** Magic tricks presented on stage are astonishing (Everything Theatre)
**** A really entertaining mixture of great storytelling, acting and magic (London Theatre1)
Creative Producing Project ‘Tapestry’, an ACE funded play about the circle of life. I was the lead writer and producer weaving together writing of twelve emerging playwrights for performances in May 2017 at Gloucester Cathedral.
2016: ‘The Secret Life of Dads’, my family friendly comedy with live music was produced at the Guildhall in Gloucester with ACE funding.
‘On the dark side’ my short play was performed by Director’s Cut Theatre Company at St James Studio London directed by Heather Ward, and ‘The road not taken’, another short play was performed at Theatre 503 directed by Kasia Rozycki.
2015 : I successfully produced three plays for Gloucester Scriptorium in partnership with Gloucester Museums, and was awarded a Writer’s Guild Theatre Encouragement award for this.
My play ‘2 Up, 2 Down, 1 Back’ had a sell-out run at the Edinburgh fringe, performed by Midsummers Theatre Company.
2014 : My play ‘The Mysterious Gentleman’, about Victorian magician JN Maskelyne was staged in partnership with Jenny Wren Productions at the Playhouse Theatre in Cheltenham, with funding from ACE, and receiving 5* reviews.
2013: My play ‘Urban Myths’ was performed at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford as part of the Shattered Fragments project with the company 6 Foot Stories.
2012: ‘The Dripping Man’ my short play, written as part of Theatre West’s A-Z project was directed by Chris Loveless and performed by Theatre West at the Alma Tavern in Bristol. As part of the Skylines Young People’s Theatre project with Theatre Centre London an excerpt of my play for 8-12 year olds ‘The Secret Life of Dads’ was given a performance at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham directed by Natalie Wilson. I also wrote and directed ‘Our Crazy Summer Adventures’, a pageant/play, which was performed by pupils of Oakridge School, Stroud.
2011: I was commissioned to write two plays for the Young Actors Companies in the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, which were performed in the Studio Theatre. I also ran workshops for young writers at Parabola Arts Centre and worked as a Video and Drama Tutor for Artshape, working with adults with learning difficulties.
1995 to 2011: I was a Science Presenter & Creative Practitioner with Timezones Curriculum Support, working for clients such as Education Business Partnerships and Careers Wales, I have written over 30 interactive Theatre in Education pieces about Science & History for KS1&2, as well as issue based plays for KS3, and large-scale historical re-enactments for City Councils and the Tussauds Group.
These plays have been seen by more than 500,000 people across the UK!