All my protagonists struggle with thorny relationships.
It’s alright. They thrive on conflict. On stage or screen, insecurities make lives vital, engaging, desperate. Domestic bliss? Overrated.
Armed with a helpful BA in Theology and Philosophy, I initially embarked on a career as an actor, often devising scripts as well as performing. While filming four episodes of Doctor Who, I chatted with Bonny Langford, and drove Sylvester McCoy home every night, so that’s something. I’ve also worked as a bluecoat, singer and belly dancer.
Then I did a stint of playwriting workshops at the former Tricycle Theatre, tutored by playwright Bonnie Greer, and trained as a journalist at London’s City Lit. Career-wise, I ended up copywriting ads and feature-writing for mags for two decades, and have published a salacious novel under a pseudonym I can’t tell you. Obviously.
Scriptwriters & Co
The MA Scriptwriting course at Bath Spa University has given me a profound understanding of story, structure, character and the importance of collaborating. That’s why I established the networking group ‘Scriptwriters & Co’, which brings together writers, actors, directors and producers via competitive monthly scratch nights, where winning scripts are performed. At the time of writing we have almost 700 members and an amazing company of auditioned S&Co Actors! I was proud to be a finalist in three categories of the 2020 Creative Bath Awards.
Unrealistically ambitious, I aim to hone my craft and get things produced. I love travel, music, monologues, chocolate, singing, family, friends and wine. Not necessarily together or in that order.
Favourite TV: This is Us; Succession; Fleabag; Big Little Lies; Little Fires Everywhere; Catastrophe; Patrick Melrose; The End of the ****ing World; Shameless; The Bridge; Nighty Night; Black Mirror.
Favourite plays: The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter; Anthony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare; Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon; Bent by Martin Sherman; Equus and Amadeus by Peter Shaffer; Warhorse by Nick Stafford (after the novel by Michael Morpurgo).
Favourite films: Leon; Cabaret; Pulp Fiction; Kill Bill; Amelie; Chocolat; Shoplifters; Cinema Paradiso; Babette’s Feast; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; All about Eve; Some like it Hot; The Shawshank Redemption; Strictly Ballroom; West Side Story; Chicago; The Sound of Music; and Amadeus and Dangerous Liaisons – again!
Guilty Pleasure: Grey’s Anatomy (though it’s not what it was – or maybe I’m not who I was…).
Stage
CAGED BIRD – A middle-aged woman finds herself online dating after her husband develops MS, and becomes abusive and impotent. This full-length tragicomedy was described as ‘a wonderful piece of writing’… by my tutor! The first draft reached the full reading stage of the BBC Writersroom and Papatango playwriting competitions, and the eighth draft bagged me an agent.
SPROUTS – A lonely boy in an ethereal world is victimised because vegetables grow on his head instead of hair. A one-hour play for older children and adults, written in strictly metered verse, this is far from childish or cute. Instead, it’s a dark and nasty piece reminiscent of Dr Seuss, Tim Burton’s films or The Hunting of the Snark. I’m currently working with the Handful of Keys Theatre Company to transform it into a musical.
Screen
VOYEUSE – When a vulnerable teenage girl falls for a beautiful but narcissistic film director, she becomes the unwitting star of an intimate and incriminating film. My LGBTQ thriller (with film noir female lead) won Best Pilot Screenwriting at the Olympus Film Festival in LA in 2019, Best TV Series Pilot Screenplay at the New Renaissance Film Festival in 2020, and was officially selected as a finalist by three other international festivals.
HONEYLOVE – By day, eight people work at Honeylove, marketing thousands of artificial sex toys to strangers. By night, they struggle with fractured home relationships and real-life sexual issues. This brand new TV drama series, with eight planned episodes, explores the contrasts between characters’ professional and private lives. Think Cold Feet meets Catastrophe and The Office – but with sex toys.
Brainbox
Loving parents are forced to make a devastating decision after their eldest daughter’s behaviour starts to disturb their other children’s lives.
I started writing this short film script in late 2019, after watching an episode of Humans. Since I specialise in psychological relationship dramas, I wanted to create a ‘domestic’ film with an edge. What would happen if two loving parents feel they have a cuckoo in the nest? A child whose behaviour becomes unbearable for them and their other children?
Brainbox was the result. It’s about Dara, an exceptionally clever and frustrated 12-year-old whose parents struggle with her difficult behaviour, which neither they – nor she – can control. She’s sarcastic, arrogant and disruptive; at night she literally disturbs their sleep. They don’t think they can live with this much longer. So they make a life-changing decision.
I approached Bath-based film producer Jonathan Willis, of Posterity Pictures, who loved the script and was happy to provide a crew; I planned to direct it myself. Everything was in place. I hired two excellent adult actors from S&Co Actors and tweaked the script to suit Jon’s children – 3, 9 and 12 – after they asked to audition for the younger roles. And since my house was perfect for the set, we were pretty much ready to roll. Then lockdown was announced. To say I’m disappointed barely scratches the surface, but one day this film will be made. We aim to enter it in film festivals. No, delete that: we aim to win! Cannes, here we come. Well, as soon as it’s safe…