Writing

As a devising performer and director, my role often involves writing. I am at times, the designated person to collate and scribe improvised discoveries and to create of a skeleton script – to be honed and polished by the group. Most of these scripts are for outdoor performance. As all outdoor spaces are fluid environments, where anything can happen at any moment, scripts for outdoor work needs to allow performers to adapt to interruptions or changing circumstances and to remain dynamic. I have worked in this capacity for most Red Herring Projects and for many others including Club Supreme for Ramshacklicious, One Kid and their Dog for Mufti Games, Garden of Curious A’MUSE’ments for Bureau of Silly Ideas.

Occasionally I work more specifically as a writer. I have worked with Walk the Plan as a writer for the Exmoor version of Green Space Dark Skies and for River Stories in Reading. This involved both the creation of audio text and also storyboarding, to create a structure for technical teams and performing participants to follow. I was a founder member of Are You Sitting Comfortably, a short storytelling evening created with Bernadette Russell and Gareth Brierley from 2008-12. This was an intimate, cosy event held regularly at the ArtsAdmin (London), where the audience listened to a range of themed short stories written by the hosts and other guests. 

I am also interested in critical writing, writing which considers the history of street theatre and the artistic process. I was an Assessor for Arts Council England for 7 years, which involved regular reviews of shows and events and I worked on a critical evaluation project for the outdoor arts sector for the National Association of Street Artists. Now there’s a Funny Thing, was a Heritage Lottery Funded project about the history of popular entertainment in Brighton. More recently I undertook a course by Total Theatre for Artists as Writers, resulting in the publication of an article called Right up Your Street inTotal Theatre online Magazine.