Short Plays

I’ve written many short plays for festivals, commissions, and rehearsed readings.

Keep Off the Grass

A site-specific comedy about revenge, a butter knife and a ghost, set in a restaurant.
Performed at La Petite Pétanque, Southend.
Directed by: Janet Steel.

The Contract

A short play in response to David Cameron’s Big Society.
Winner, Capital Festival of New Writing.
Directed by: Catherine Edwards

Jessica

Part of Women Redressed. AD 33, Jerusalem. Six women lay the table for a Passover supper, anticipating the arrival of Jessica and her six female followers.
Performed at The Arcola Theatre (2016)
Directed by: Ashley Davies,
Review:” the surprise element made the message about historical censorship instantly accessible”, Laura Sampson, everything-theatre.co.uk

Skin

Part of Women Redressed Act 2. Two women in love – but can their relationship survive their backgrounds and traditions?
Performed at the Park Theatre.

BOLDtext Playwrights

BOLDtext Playwrights is a West Midlands collective. Formed in 2014, presenting site-specific work and evenings of short plays on topical themes – often followed by panel discussions –including work for Birmingham Rep’s Open Door and other projects responding to politics, history, and place.

Chains of Gold

Part of Gem of a Place, performed in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.
Two women try to agree on their wedding rings as they confront the troubling provenance of gold.
Directed by: Jennifer Davis.

The Price of Tea

Part of Power of Invention at Soho House, Birmingham (2021).
Inventor James Watt, the Lunar Society, and an entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade.
Directed by: Janet Steel.

New Doggerland

Part of No Planet B at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
Shawna lives on a hill, Malik wants to turn back the tide, and Rona has more than her own survival on her mind. ‘New Doggerland’ is the name they gave the stretch of water that now covers most of England.
Directed by: Ali Belbin.

Rafter

Part of Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up, at Steelhouse Lane.
1901, Birmingham, Chief Constable Sir Charles Rafter, navigates the chaos of a political riot and a crowded lock-up, as he envisions a more just and inclusive future for policing.
Directed by: Jo Gleave

Reflection Perfection

Part of Disorder, at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
About narcissism and the distorted reflections we fall in love with.
Directed by: Ola Animashawun (2016)

Illusions of Democracy

Part of Eurotrashed at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
1975, the day of the Common Market Referendum. Hairdresser Janice wants to move into a commune, while Tony plans to change their lives with his time machine.
Directed by: Bob Eaton (2016).

One Small Step

Part of Leap, at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
Three strangers decide to jump from the same bridge at the same moment.
Directed by: Peter Leslie Wild (2016).

Here

Part of Sunstroke, a response to the attack on tourists at Sousse, at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
In an airport shop, a lonely woman meets a stateless man.
Directed by: Jessica Dromgoole (2015).

Hundreds & Thousands

Part of The Russell Brand Effect: The Morning After, a response to the General Election, at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
In a cluttered Birmingham flat, Fenella, struggling with financial troubles, tries to hold her life together by baking cupcakes.
Directed by: Ola Animashawun (2015).

And Breathe

A monologue.
Part of Selfies, at Birmingham Rep, Open Door.
Directed by: Jessica Dromgoole.

Kali Theatre

Short plays and monologues developed with Kali Theatre – often in co-productions –  exploring community, heritage, migration, and the environment, drawing on lived experience and local histories from the UK and the Global South.

New Doggerland

New Doggerland was expanded for Seedlings: A Climate Theatre Festival for the Curious and the Hopeful.
Presented by Kali Theatre, New Earth Theatre & Tara Theatre. A day-long festival of new theatre and discussion exploring the impact of the climate crisis on the Global South. Directed by: Trina Haldar.

Walking With Jelly Babies

An online monologue, part of Solos, created during the Covid pandemic.
Uncle Madhu (from My Big Fat Cowpat Wedding) takes a country walk.
Directed by: Helena Bell.

Like Happy Stuff


Part of Twelve, a collection of short plays on the theme of honour-based violence. Produced by Kali Theatre; toured London and the Midlands (2015); originally staged at Tristan Bates Theatre (2014).
Directed by: Janet Steel.

Shared Memories – Arcola

Short plays and monologues based on local memories of childhood and the pioneering spirit of the diverse community who now call Dalston home.
– A First Time for Everything
– Weaving
– Bears from the Mountain
– A House Over Night
– Independence
– A Beautiful Game
Directed by: Janet Steel.

Shared Memories – Curve, Leicester

Short plays and monologues based on interviews with older local, indigenous, and immigrant communities about their childhoods. Produced by Theatre Writing Partnership and Kali Theatre Company at Curve, Leicester.
– Blanket of Stars
– Cliff Richard and the Exodus
– Sweet Fruit of Youth
Directed by: Kate Chapman.