Writing
Stage
I write plays, musicals and stuff that doesn’t fit into a neat category but ends up on a stage somehow. Some of it feels commercial, some of it definitely doesn’t. All of it has, at its heart, a desire to leave the world a little bit changed and to find a shared understanding with the audience that might help us all towards common ground. I’m told my writing is filled with heart and imagination and occasionally a bit smart-arse.
Right now I’m writing two musicals: Cautionary Tale with Rebecca Applin and The Mother of All Parliaments with Jennifer Whyte.
Screen
A while back, a TV development exec saw my show The Class Project and asked me to adapt it for the small screen. I gave him an epic Catherine Cooksonesque historical family saga, when it turned out he wanted Fleabag with class politics. Inspite of that, I’ve been writing screen plays ever since. I’m told I’m great at writing emotion into ambitious storylines.
Right now I’m working on two TV pilots; The Idiot’s Guide to Polyamory, a contemporary sex-comedy about my real life experiences of opening up my marriage and Out of the Frying Pan, an epic Catherine Cooksonesque historical family saga following four generations of women in the same Black Country family. I’m also working on Chiaroscuro, a short horror film.
My screen adaptation of The Class Project is streaming from Summer 2021.
Journalism
Sometimes I have opinions that just wont go away. When that happens I write blogs for publications like the Guardian, The Stage and Exeunt. They tend to be either angry calls to arms about the importance of properly funded art to a well functioning social democracy or thoughtful meditations on the importance of properly funded art to a well functioning social democracy. (See. I told you that my writing could be a bit smart-arse.) If you want to read any of them, Google can help you out.
I also host The Legacy Tapes, a podcast exploring what it means to leave something lasting in the ephemeral medium of theatre. It’s hosted by Exeunt and you can find out more about it here.