New Writing Festival

Instagram: @aleigh_wilson

For my residency with The Kew National Archives I aimed to write a piece different to my usual writing. This piece is called Feasts of the Gluttonous and portrayed the events of the Cato Street conspiracy that took place in the early 1800’s. My usual writing style follows a surrealist and comedic writing style. I enjoy writing from a female perspective reflecting upon the use of the body in performances and how we portray ourselves. Questioning the sexiness and funniness/unfunniess of the body within a twisted a warped world I have created.

Plays

• Dead Ringer
• Below the Nude
• Plant demons
• Unknown
• Just some stuff

Experience

• Residency with The Kew National Archives

Achilles (he/they) is a queer writer; their work aims at being a celebration of underrepresented identities. In their time at Central they have touched on themes of queerness, blackness and mental health, while developing their lyrical style, embedded with surrealism and spoken word.

For their Writer-in-Residence unit they worked with the National Theatre (NT) Archive, writing play synopses for the Black Plays Archive (BPA). During this time, they developed their play Mother’s song, which follows Rain as they come out to their dead mother during lockdown; the piece explores the intersectionality of blackness and queerness. Since ending the residency Achilles has kept in contact with the NT Archive and is working as a volunteer to continue his work with the BPA.

Writing credits

• Counting elephants

Set in a brain, this piece tackles the connection between mental illness and memory. 

• The spree [writer and performer]

Among the hustle and bustle of a shopping spree this solo performance piece explores gender presentation and dysphoria.

• Dead ringer [co-written with Abbie Wilson]

This surrealist piece explores domestic violence and the cycle of abuse

• Mother’s song

Set in two different times but in one space, this play follows Rain as they come out to their dead mother during lockdown.

• Shadow dance

Filled with song and dance, this piece is a celebration of blackness.

Instagram and Twitter: @amydaisykent

YouTube: Amy Kent

During my time as writer at Central I have had chance to grow my writing skills and creative confidence further than I could’ve imagined. I recently took on a writing residency role with The Brit School, spending time creating a play based on the personalities I got to know on the Community Arts Practice course. My play that resulted from these 7-8 weeks was a comedy piece about the impact that the global pandemic had on the students and their learning. It included references to TikTok and other popular culture/social media outlets that helped vast majority of us through the lockdowns.

My writing focuses on bringing topics that might not be at the forefront of society, to a mainstream audience. I aim to get a big variety of people interested in my work that may not have thought about those topics before. My previous works include two solo performances, one in person and one digital. The performances covered the topics of mental health and a comedy piece about feminism.

My influences: feminist works, mental health, comedy. I am also constantly working and growing on my style to expand.

Instagram: @becky.coote

Becky is a playwright and a freelance performing arts teacher and facilitator. She teaches Dance, Singing and Drama to children to improve their confidence, social skills and also just for them to have fun. She also records songs, the most recent being ‘Hold the Light’, and original song by Paul Thompson, which you can find on her YouTube channel.

As a writer, Becky has a particular focus regarding issues of accessibility, often relating to learning disabilities or mental health. For example, she has completed a full length play about the impact of trauma as a result of domestic abuse. She has also written about the ignorant reactions people have to her brother with Downs’ Syndrome. Representation is always a careful consideration in her work.

For her writing residency, she attended an SEN school in Southend and devised a play that they performed, she did this in collaboration with the inclusive theatre company Razed Roof.

Plays

• Paper Butterflies (impact of trauma following domestic abuse)
• Memory of a Goldfish (an insight into an abusive relationship)
• The Tragedy of Edward Coote (a solo performance combatting the assumption that disability is always a tragedy)

Experience

• 2015- present: Performing Arts Teacher (companies include Jigsaw, Rise Studios, Fresh Arts, Showtime and Stagecoach)
• 2021-present: Drama and Dance Facilitator (One Day Creative)
• 2015-2018: Volunteer Drama Assistant (Hopshed Theatre Company)

Instagram: @carlarudgyard / Twitter: @carlarudgey

After taking Creative Writing and English A-level, playwrighting has always been my passion. During my first year at Central, I worked alongside Jade Lewis to devise ‘Teddies and Blankets’, a children’s theatre piece about deforestation, where I toured Cornwall as a lead. Since, I have created two scripts about climate change: one of which, ‘The Long Haul’, explores eco-anxiety through comedy, whilst another, titled: ‘Eden’ was a political solo performance examining world leader’s attitudes towards the climate crisis through a post-apocalyptic fictional narrative.

As a queer feminist writer, I explore themes of sexuality and inequality frequently, with my 3^rd year Student Led Project, a dystopian play titled ‘Baby, Be Mine’, demonstrating the bias same-sex couples face during adoption processes. My most recent project; ‘Hand Me Down’, is a non-linear drama following three maternal journeys, highlighting different generational attitudes towards motherhood and the process of emotional inheritance.

I am an imaginative writer who is well adapted to fulfilling project briefs. I have performed a monologue titled ‘Birthday Candles’ at the Freud Museum’s Nostalgia Today conference in 2019, whilst more recently I completed my writer in residency with Dance United Yorkshire, where I wrote ‘All Those in Favour of Contemporary Dancing’, a piece combining verbatim, satire and movement to showcase contemporary dance’s transformative impact on mental and physical health.

Plays

• The Long Haul
• Eden
• Baby, Be Mine
• All Those in Favour of Contemporary Dancing
• Hand Me Down

Experience

• ‘Teddies and Blankets’ directed by Jade Lewis and Devised by student of Central School of Speech and Drama
• Performed at the Freud Museum’s ‘Nostalgia today’ conference with a monologue titled ‘Birthday Candles’
• Worked alongside the Outreach Foundation to deliver a digital collaborative outreach project offering Covid-19 creative relief to young people living in Hillbrow, South Africa.

Instagram: @charlie.hayward_

Charlie is a Queer writer and amateur clown. Their most recent work is a supernatural romance “Banefire” that was written while they were in residence with Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons Trust. Their writing style is characterised by vivid narratives and lyrical descriptions and during their time at Central their plays have touched on themes such as mental health, nonbinary identity and interpersonal relationships.

In their first year of university, they played Grouch the Clown in Presto, a non-verbal musical performance which toured to schools in Oldham and centred on queer joy. After graduation, Charlie is keen to broaden their range of work and integrate their comedic performance style into their writing.

In their spare time Charlie is a professional Mario Kart 8 driver, semi-professional chef and amateur dog-trainer.

Writing Credits / Professional Experience

‘VENUS’ [Writer]

• An onstage videogame that questions moral decision making under the rule of a supercomputer and security software system.
• 2021

‘Banefire’ [Writer]

• “Burn your ghosts. Say your lost goodbyes and tell your stories. For the night, this bonfire is ours.”
• A supernatural romance story performed around a bonfire.
• 2021

‘Self-Portrait’ [Production Assistant]

• “[A] remarkable achievement of body-awareness in this disembodied age.”, Art Gate Blog
• Potluck Festival 2021, Tablespoon Theatre

‘Pixel Dinosaur’ [Writer and Performer]

• “That fucking Pixel Dinosaur!”
• An audio performance about mental health and the great outdoors.
• 2020

Those Are My Eggs! [Production Assistant]

• ‘Uncanny Avenue’ written by Katy Owen and Ali Bayli. A comedy web series about a group of monsters house sharing.
• 2020

‘Digital Youth Pride’ [Director and Deviser]

• Working with The Proud Trust, ‘Digital Youth Pride’ was an online showcase of queer creativity and talent during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.
• 2020

‘Schmoozers’ by Karis Crimson [Assistant Director]

• “They’re going on the best dates ever.” A comedy short about three narcissists on Valentine’s Day.
• 2020

‘0300 330 0630’ [Writer and Performer]

• “They look at the mess. They are determined. They begin to clean.” A spoken word performance about mental health and the transgender community.
• 2020

‘Desert Flower’ [Writer and Performer]

• “If this were a play, there would be action.”
• A short play about interpersonal relationships and non-binary identity.
• 2019

‘Presto’ directed by Leo Steinbeck [Dramaturg and Clown]

• A non-verbal, musical show about queer joy, which toured schools in Oldham.
• 2019

‘Gary Potter and the Chamber’ of C Block written by Todd Brand for the 6^th Form Review [Props, Costume Design and Set Design]

• A comedic parody show including the 6^th Form students and staff at Mayflower High School
• 2019

‘Staff Wars’ written by Cameron Hill for the 6^th Form Review [Props, Costume Design and Set Design]

• A comedic parody show including the 6^th Form students and staff at Mayflower High School
• 2018

Mayflower High School’s ‘Sister Act’ [Audio Assistant, Props Assistant and Performer]

• Sister Act: The Musical, performed by Mayflower High School at Civic Theatre in Chelmsford.
• 2018

Adjudication for Brentwood Theatre [Adjudicator]

• My role was to watch non-professional performances, and then join meetings to determine nominees and winners for the Brentwood Theatre Awards.
• 2018

Young Expressions [Props Coordinator and Audio Assistant]

• I worked alongside the cast and crew at Young Expressions, on summer shows and Christmas pantomimes including Bugsy Malone, Cinderella and High School Musical: On Stage.
• 2017 – 2018

‘Alice in Wonderflower Land’ written for the 6^th Form Review [Writer, Performer, Set Design and Costume Design]

• A comedic parody show including the 6^th Form students and staff at Mayflower High School
• 2017

‘Percy Jackson and the lighting theif’ Written by Charlotte Neale for the 6^th Form Review [Performer and Costume Design]

• A comedic parody show including the 6^th Form students and staff at Mayflower High School
• 2016

‘The Executioner’ by Chris Carter [Writer and Performer]

• ‘The Executioner’, a crime fiction novel originally written by Chris Carter, adapted for performance.
• 2016

As a writer-in-residence with The National Archives, Dominic was inspired by talking with experts and exploring historical documents to write the radio-play “Your Unfortunate Servants” set in Cardiff in 1855, dramatising the plight of paupers under the New Poor Law and behind the doors of the Victorian Workhouse…

The produced recording is directed by Susie MacDonald with composition and sound-design by Sam MacDonald; it stars Alexandra Lewis, Billy McCleary, Bethan Maddocks, Dion Lloyd, and Kerry Frater, and is available to listen to at www.domgreen.co.uk. 

Instagram and Twitter: @dylan_marc

Dylan Verley (he/him) is a writer from North West London. Dylan is a Mixed Race Black individual with Carribean, Indian and British heritage, who writes on themes of race, gender, queerness and the complexity’s identity. 

Dylan is currently completing his residency at The Young Vic Theatre, where he is beginning to develop his newest play surrounding themes of gentrification, comedy and queer black messiness, examining the how to find the comedy, fun and celebration within your own “mess”

Outside of Central, Dylan has worked professionally as a choreographer and self defence teacher. He is passionate about creating a diverse and open space that welcomes and recognises the need of social discussions and storytelling from a range of perspectives. He is currently in the process of setting up a queer network of artists that regularly engage in current conversations via a podcast medium, providing an insightful voice due to their unique experiences.

Writing Credits / Professional Experience

2021

‘Special Cigarettes’ [Writer-in-Residence]

Play currently in development as a continuation of my Writer-in-Residence unit at The Young Vic Theatre.

‘Don’t Talk, Say Less’ [Writer, Performer]

An abstract short film discussing the themes of masculinity within a workplace environment, using the style of performance poetry in a naturalistic environment. 

2020

‘Order Up’ [Writer, Performer]

A solo performance combining themes of slam poetry and spoken word in order to discuss the experience of a QPOC body on stage and performative activism.

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Pelican Radio Collective’ [Writer, Dramaturg]

A project working with Barnet Council to produce a series of audio dramas alongside an interactive game for children surrounding themes of road safety.

Barnet Council

2019

‘Bent Domino’ [Writer]

A short play about the intersections of queerness and race, with an underlying theme of black masculinity.

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Presto’ by Milk Presents & RCSSD [Performer, Dramaturg]

A non-verbal performance about queerness and the history of music.

Oldham Schools Tour

2017

‘Bubblegum’ [Writer, Performer]

A short detailing the adventures two siblings go on all stemming from finding a UFO in their back garden.

Sylvia Young Theatre School

Instagram: @indy_nile / Twitter: @IndyNile

Hi, I’m Gabriel! I’m a writer, theatre-maker and drag artist, currently in my third year at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. A lot the inspiration for my work - both within drag and theatre – is drawn from exploring identity, masculinity, and class, often through a queer, surrealist lens. I am currently completing a residency with Little Fish Theatre, which involves leading workshops to help young people achieve their Arts Award, as well as write their very own short play.

My identity as a working class trans man has very influential in developing my artistic voice. The most recent example being my digital solo performance Bindr, a comedy which explores the isolating and degrading obstacles that many trans people face whilst dating. As a writer, I have always had an affinity for comedy, and aim to subvert to often tragic representations of trans people in fiction by creating joyous representations within my work.

I have been working a drag artist since 2018. My drag persona, Indy Nile, is a brash, garish, wannabe lady-killer who subverts the tropes of the working men’s club comedian (with incredibly tacky suits to boot). My proudest achievement as a drag artist is being the current reigning winner of London’s most chaotic drag competition – The Gold Rush.

Recent Work 

• Bindr (2020)
• Why Do You Have To Go and Make Things So Complicated? (2020) – A solo performance in which my drag persona, Indy Nile, gives a lecture on mansplaining.
• Raccoon (2019) – A surrealist comedy drama.
• Indy Nile’s Big Dick Energy (2019) – An hour-long solo stand up show, performed as Indy Nile, exploring my trans-masculine identity.

Link to an excerpt of Bindr.

Instagram: @james_mockler / Twitter: @JamesMockler_

I am a playwright fascinated by love, death, family, and queerness. I am intrigued by how queerness can inform creative processes and can embolden work, and I have a great interest in working with communities, particularly LGBTQ+ youth and healthcare contexts.

Professional Experience:
 

• Facilitator and creative for 3 months with the Proud Trust in Manchester. I facilitated and delivered a digital online pride showcase, which presented the talents of LGBTQ+ Youth.
• Writer, producer, editor and interviewer for a podcast called ‘Hear Me Out’ in collaboration with the NHS for 3 months.  I worked with elderly COVID-19 patients on a hospital ward to create a private episode for each participant and their family about positive experiences in their life.
   
• Facilitator delivering workshops to secondary school children on creating procedural authorship narratives. This was part of their unit turning A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a choose your own adventure style game, to be created and performed by the students and NHS workers. Additionally, I wrote alternative MSND storylines for the project.
• Facilitator working with care home residents for 3 months. I delivered workshops working with participants writing poems, creating narratives for VR experiences, and part of a collaborative writing process to produce a film made by and starring the participants.

Previous Works

• Ghosts and Crime in The Palace – A short film made and written with care home residents.
• Save the Last Dance for Me – A short play about care relationships, and the complex realities of family and forgiveness.
• The Godfather – A short play exploring the depths of grief, guilt and the ability to save oneself.
• The Strap On – A short play depicting the complexities of internalised homophobia, and the cognitive dissonance that can occur between heterosexual identities and queer actions.
• Tea and Cake on a Beautiful Summers Day – A short play about a lovely lady whose world begins to fall apart around her; how do we maintain our identity in a world which no longer makes sense?

Instagram: @ultimatekton / Twitter: @K_C_Owen

I am a queer creative and writer based between London and Oxford, whose work ranges across a variety of genres and formats – from an apocalyptic comedy sketch show at The Edinburgh Fringe (The Doomed, 2016) to an online digital installation about fatphobia (Self-Portrait, 2021). In my work, I aim to engage with topics and themes that are often left unarticulated or underrepresented. The work I have produced during my time at Central has touched on themes such as female masturbation, body image and queer identity.

For my Writer-in-Residence unit I worked at The Museum of Oxford, using their Tales of Our City archive to produce a verbatim performance about the history of LGBTQIA+ spaces in Oxford. In Autumn of this year, I hope assist with the staging of the play alongside a roaming exhibit that will travel to spaces of queer historical significance within the city centre.

I am also the CEO of Those Are My Eggs!, a production company that aims to challenge elitism in the film industry and create opportunities for underrepresented artists, and in my free time I curate my dog’s Instagram account (@Buddy_Horne).

Writing Credits / Professional Experience

2021

‘Come In’ [Writer-in-Residence]

• Play currently in development as a continuation of my Writer-in-Residence unit at The Museum of Oxford.

‘Self-Portrait’ [Writer, Performer]

• “[A] remarkable achievement of body-awareness in this disembodied age.” Art Gate Blog
• Potluck Festival 2021, Tablespoon Theatre

2020

‘Viv’ [Writer, Performer]

• A comedy clowning routine about the joys of masturbation.
• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Schmoozers’ by Karis Crimson [Co-Writer]

• “They’re going on the best dates ever.” A comedy short about three narcissists on Valentine’s Day.

2019

‘Posterity’ [Writer]

• A short play about memory and the things we inherit from our parents.
• Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Presto’ by Milk Presents & RCSSD [Performer, Dramaturg]

• A non-verbal performance about queerness and the history of music.
• Oldham Schools Tour

‘can’t cum’ by Ariella Stoian [Director]

• “I can’t cum.” A piece about two sisters.
• New Writing Night, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

‘Masterpiece’ by Ella Godfrey [Director]

• The history of art gets painted over.
• New Writing Night, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Nostalgia Stand-Up’ [Writer, Performer]

• Stand up about Freud, and there aren’t even any dick jokes!
• The Freud Museum Nostalgia Conference

‘The Opinion Vote’ by Isabelle Kirkham [Performer]

• Do we ever truly know what we’re voting for?
• Star Starts POWER, TukTuk Bar London

2018

‘Everything and Nothing’ by Skye Hillgartner [Director]

• A play about control and horror films.
• New Writing Night, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

‘Divided Skies’ by Shayon Banerji and Sarah Smith [Performer]

• A musical about the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• Previews, Magdalen College School.

 2017

‘Checking Out’ [Director, Writer, Performer]

• A solo performance about the joys of customer service in a busy hotel.
• Intermix Jungle Pop-Up, Oxford

 2016

‘The Doomed’ [Director, Writer, Performer]

• Comedy sketch show about the end of the world.
• Greenside@Nicolson Square, Edinburgh Fringe 2016

2015

‘The Duchess of Malfi’ by John Webster [Director, Dramaturg]

• One-hour adaptation of Webster’s classic, retold with an all-female cast.
• The Miriam Margolyes Drama Studio, Oxford

‘Last Call for Providence’ by Noah Altshuler [Performer]

• “The damn sea rolls on as it always has…” A man attends his own funeral.
• Just the Tonic@The Caves, Edinburgh Fringe 2015

‘A Christmas Carol’ [Director, Dramaturg]

• Modern-day reimagining of Dickens’ tale.
• The Miriam Margolyes Drama Studio, Oxford

 2014

‘A Christmas Carol’ by Box Clever [Directing intern]

• Directing internship shadowing Iqbal Khan.

2013

‘The Government Inspector’ by Flintlock Theatre [Intern]

• Production internship for Flintlock Theatre, shadowing members of the team.
• The Old Fire Station, Oxford

Instagram: @lauryn.jackman

Lauryn Jackman (she/her) is a writer from Berkshire, who graduated the Brit School of Performing Arts in 2017. Lauryn is a Mixed Race Black Caribbean and White British individual, who writes on themes of race, gender, belonging and muddled identity. 

Lauryn completed her residency at The Hampstead Theatre, where she began to develop her newest play about interracial relationships and romantic comedies, examining the Hollywood lens through which black women learn about love. She is also one of Central SU’s Women’s Officers, where she has worked with staff to implement anti-racism changes on her course.

Outside of Central, Lauryn has completed the National Theatre’s Playwright’s Toolkit, the Soho Theatre Comedy Lab, and worked professionally as a freelance Script Editor. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion across all creative industries, and is currently working at A Younger Theatre as  an Outreach Officer, where she encourages young people of colour to pursue arts and theatre journalism.

Lauryn’s best claim to fame is that she once made Gary Oldman a cup of tea whilst working at a film company.

Instagram @lilian.mcgrady / Twitter: @lilymcgrady 

Lilian McGrady is a playwright and third-year BA Writing for Performance student at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. The plays she has written so far have been described as “funny, but they still have plots.” She intends to keep writing such plays.

She recently completed a residency with Mosaic LGBT+ Young Person’s Trust and produced a script based on traditions of storytelling. She has written numerous plays throughout her time at Central, including The Burning Bush. Last fall, she also completed a full-length play entitled What the Hell is She Doing Here? 

Lilian is a disabled playwright who believes the first step in making theatre accessible is writing accessible theatre. She is passionate about educational theatre and has written many plays for you people and children. She is originally from Chicago and her work has been inspired and shaped by the Chicago theatre scene and its beloved playwrights. 

Instagram: @michaelsismeyherd

Over the past three years, I have set out to create work that explores notions of identity - including mental health, morality, gender and sexuality. Through the lenses of fantasy, horror, and comedy, I stride to tell stories that are both captivating and challenging. In addition to studying at CSSD, I also work as a poetry and creative writing tutor at Core Arts Ltd, a position taken up after completing my residency with the same organisation.

I am currently in the early stages of producing my one person show, ‘Welcome To Hell’, a comedy piece inspired by ‘Dante’s Inferno’ that will begin as a virtual performance before hopefully being taken to the stage with a higher emphasis on audience involvement. For upcoming information about this project, you can follow me on Instagram @michaelsismeyherd.

I am also currently working on my latest script ‘Cold Bodies’, which tells a story of the treatment of sex workers while simultaneously making a personal commentary on the cultural relationship between transgender women and cisgender gay men.

Instagram: @sherwinrdouki / Twitter: @sherwindouki

Sherwin Douki is a passionate actor, musician and writer. His parents emigrated from Iran to a small German town near Heidelberg, where Sherwin grew up between two cultures. He traces his contrasting emotivity and boldness back to the diverse cultural mix by which he found himself surrounded. 

As part of his final year at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he was a Writer in Residence at Theatre of Debate, where he developed a short play that discusses the influence of AI technologies on modern-day-meanings of life and death.

In his ERP (Extended Research project), Sherwin wrote a musical that shines a light on and celebrates gay history throughout the past centuries in the city of London which he is determined to produce in the future. Influenced by his origins, as a writer as well as an actor and musician, Sherwin’s joy lies within channelling a diverse spectrum of underrepresented voices and amplifying them through moving stories, complex characters and dramaturgical twists.

Twitter: @tay_culture

Taylor Waggoner (she/her) is a Scottish writer from Perthshire. Taylor takes great influence from her own life and in the traditions and culture of her home. She is keen to experiment with form and structure, her favourite play text (after some debate) is The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil – a play that inhabits all of her favourite things about theatre: community, culture & politics.

During her time at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Taylor has embarked on multiple projects.

Writing credits include

• This Is Not A Test – inspired by the Faslane Peace Camp
• Memory Lane – read at the Freud Museum
• Oven – an autobiographical performance exploring miscarriage
• Feadan Dubh – audio drama utilising Scottish storytelling traditions
• Schiehallion – commissioned as part of ‘Framework Fridays’
• Taylor has also written for her hometown magazine PerthLife

Most recently, Taylor spent ten weeks with Perth Museum & Art Gallery, researching the digital collections to uncover women’s history. This research led her to write Leaving Perth Today, a site-specific piece of theatre, taking place at Perth Train Station, the plot follows multiple women from Scottish history as their era’s and lives collide while waiting on a train.

In May 2020, Taylor co-founded The Wee Theatre Company along with her friend and writing partner Margaret MacLeod. Since beginning, the company has secured funding from Creative Scotland for their flagship project and co-ordinated a virtual St Andrews Day cèilidh.