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Playwrighting

From traditional tales and weighty topics to pirates and pub crawls, I have written a range of shorts and one-act plays that have been produced on stage. My writing is informed by my experience as a theatre artist, a researcher of folktales and storytelling, and an educator. For excerpts of plays that have not yet been produced or to discuss new work, please reach out!

Never None (but She)

Excerpt: Scene 1

Produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019

with Asterglow Theatre

Shortlisted for a Scottish Theatre Award

 

These are stories of resilience.

Of dark days and bright nights.

Of harm and healing. Of sowing planets and sewing stars in the sky. Generations of hurts and hopes merge in this tapestry of tales.

PAN: When you look up at the night sky does the emptiness stare back at you? Does it echo with everything you’ve carved out of yourself for others? 

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TANSY: Do you see the blaze that is in you? Does the sun's flare reflect the fire you have burning in your throat? Aching to strike out no matter what the cost?

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LILLA: Do you look for the stars, desperately? Hoping to grasp onto the light that used to glow in you? The brightness that has slowly disappeared?

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PAN: Once upon a time, a girl withered alone. 

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TANSY: Once upon a time, a girl saw too much and could do too little. 

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LILLA: Once upon a time, a girl saw the stars disappearing from the sky. 

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CAS: Once upon a time, when the world was still dark but the planets formed, a creator walked down the road of the skies. As she walked and walked and walked from nowhere to nowhere, the light missing from the skies called out to her, asking to be formed. In response, she took a sharp needle and white thread and knotted in the North Star to begin her stitch. Stitch by stitch she sewed one star, then another, then another until all the stars were sewn into the night sky. And as she sewed the final star, she laid a curse and blessing onto existence. That the stars would show the well-being and future of the world. As long as they shined bright so would the magic of the world and souls of humankind.

A water colour image of three women in the image. From left to right, the first woman, facing to the left, looking down has green hair and her face is highlighted with pink which blends into a warm yellow to colour the rest of her body. A small pink flower with a green stem and a petal floating beside it hover over her outstretched hand. She is also looking down. The second woman, facing forward has orange highlights on the top of her head which blend into a deep red, deeper oranges and bright yellows. Her hands, also various shades of red are holding a red flickering flame. The third woman, facing to the right, looks up. Her hair is a cool pale blue. Her face is highlighted with a soft orange which blends into a soft pink and into deeper fuchsia pink and purple. There are three blue stars hovering above her outstretched hand.

Illustrations by Mary Chang

Co-writing

Overlapping flat open books on an orange table

Two examples listed below, please reach out for excerpts or further examples.

Short One-Act Plays

A woman stands on a dark stage with a bare bulb abover her head. There are string lights spinning out from her arms.

Never None (but She)

Edinburgh Festival Fringe production 2019 shortlisted 
for a Scottish Theatre Award

A woman with dark hair in a black crop top, green embroidered jacket, and black high waisted ripped jeans looks directly at the camera holding a lit candle. On her right is a woman with brown hair in a white dress. On her left is a woman with blonde hair pulled back in a white short sleeve top, blue skirt, and denim apron holding a needle and thread. To the right is a slightly open cabinet on the wall and a table with a black Singer sewing machine, a lit candle, and a variety of fabric and notions. To their left, there is a table with another lit candle, notions, fabric, string, scissors, and an embroidery hoop. Behind them is a window with white light streaming in and blue curtains.

Excerpts from two produced short one-act plays.
Please reach out for others.

Photo Credit: Patrick Tomasso

Photo Credit: Gavin Smart

Photo Credit: Cordelia Ostler

Audience Reviews

"Genuine and thought-provoking"

"See the show with an open mind, ready to be shook by the power of its message"

"Superb piece of new writing with a beautiful uplifting theme, engaging performances and revealing moments"

"Very powerful and topical"

Two women stand facing each other both holding a blue plant pot in a cream hessian with brown branches coming out of it. The one on the left has red hair in a braid and she is wearing a white top, a denim apron and a blue and white striped skirt. The woman on the right has long brown hair just past her shoulders. She is wearing a white dress.

"Engaging with often unspoken themes in a touching way, the story moved me deeply"

Photo Credit: Andrew Perry

Professional Reviews

"Innovative take on an underpublicized subject [...] pressing contemporary issues with a folkloric aura"

*** the wee review

"Imaginative quality [...]

beautifully written"

*** All Edinburgh Theatre

"Sense of urgency [...] most impressively convey the idea that each and every action counts"

*** the List

Two women stand next to each other. The woman on the right is wearing a green floral jacket and a black dress. Her blond hair is half up and she is frowning at the woman beside her with her hands on her hips. The woman on the left has short brown hair. She is wearing a patchwork apron and a black dress. She is smirking playfully, her left hand out and her right pointing upwards as she leans towards the woman beside her. There is a wooden coatstand in the background.

"Love, passion, humour and music", "impactful", and "empowering"

**** Lew's Reviews

Photo Credit: Andrew Perry

In the foreground there is a woman kneeling beside a wooden box, handling some red fabric. She is wearing a patchwork apron and a black dress. In the background, out of focus behind her there is a woman in a black top and red flannel handing a white envelope to the two women on the far right. There is a wooden coat stand between the woman standing and the two sat down. The woman on the far right is wearing a white top, denim apron and blue skirt with white sneakers. The woman to her left is sat on a pale box and she is wearing a white dress and green hiking boots.

Short One-Act Plays

Ha/ollowed Bodies

Produced as part of November 2018 Candlewasters Shorts after accepted submission (pictured above)

An abstract short play about historical and continued oppression of a lineage of women

CLOVE: They had hollowed out backs, cheeks, stomachs, carved empty to fit the lives of others
SOLEIL: They carried their souls outside of themselves
ALTHEA: Like a lantern
SOLEIL: To light the way for those around them
CLOVE: Not for themselves
SOLEIL: Never for themselves
ALTHEA: Bright through the dark, like fireflies
SOLEIL: Lost in the mist
CLOVE: Obscured by the dead leaves
ALTHEA: But existing nonetheless
CLOVE: At what price
SOLEIL: At what price
ALTHEA: They kept their heads, their tongues
SOLEIL: For as long as they could
CLOVE: For such a short time
ALTHEA: They kept their stories, their light, their children
CLOVE: Did they?
SOLEIL: No. They lost everything they tried to grasp.
CLOVE: It slipped from their hollowed out hands
SOLEIL: It was burned
CLOVE: Torn
SOLEIL: Removed.
CLOVE: No matter their strength, their courage, their hope
ALTHEA: But they kept their hope
SOLEIL: Did they?

Continue On

Produced as part of Not Alone at Bedlam Theatre

A short play following healthy and toxic relationships within a group of friends

JO: I don't know. Nothing. He’s perfect.
EVA: And…
JO: Nothing… 
LIGHTS CHANGE SLOWLY AND EAR RINGING SOUND BECOMES LOUDER
JO: Nothing is sitting right. You know that feeling when someone's watching you and you can feel your skin tingle so you turn and look directly in their eyes? For a split second the attention might feel nice, but then it just unnerves you. Or when someone has been following you ten minutes too long and your heart begins to speed up and blood pumps and you are ready to run but you know they probably are just going in the same direction as you? That's how I feel with Scott.
EVA: Scared?
JO: Maybe... I guess just unsafe. Trapped. 

Photo Credit: Andrew Perry

Co-writting

Let's Get Kraken

In the upper left in dark green all cap letters is "Lets get kraken". An illustration of seven kraken tentacles in dark green coming up from the bottom right. There is a light green background.

Produced as part of Candlewasters April 2018 after accepted submission 

A short one-act comedy about pirates who find and raise a kraken

Co-writer: Riley Singh

Across the top in sketched faux Greek lettering is "Nobody Enjoys a Pub Crawl." There are scribbles on the left and an illustrated fire numbered with a four. There is a road coming up the center from the bottom and a dotted line squiggling across it and onto each side like a treasure map. To the right of the road is a martini glass with olives in it numbered with three. There is a number four that has been crossed out next to it. On the far right there is green cyclops in a red bowtie with a water drip next to it. The background is textured yellow orange.

Produced as part of BedFest 2018 at Bedlam Theatre

A 50 minute one-act play reimagining Odysseus's journey as a modern day pub crawl

Co-writer: Jacob Brown

Nobody Enjoys a Pub Crawl

Design by Orla Newmark

Design by Riley Singh

Never None (but She) Exerpt
Never None (but She) Reviews
Short One-Act Plays
Co-writing
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