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A PLAYWRIGHT'S PERAMBULATION
A little about me...With a lifelong passion for theatre and dance, I graduated with First Class Honours Degree in Performing Arts in 2007.
My diverse career has included acting, directing, and designing, alongside various roles as a university and college lecturer and founder of a touring theatre company. In recent years, I have found a love for playwriting, producing works for the amateur and professional stage, and leading a growing youth theatre in the South West of England.
My plays have been performed across the UK and US, including the 2025 premiere of my first full-length play, Dancing in Bluebells, in Devon.I hope you enjoy having a look round, and if you have any queries, please do get in touch.
3 October 2026
Exciting news this week ... Seeing Stars is now available through Lazy Bee Scripts! A one act play for two women, it explores family dynamics and moving on from the loss of a parent. Based on the hills of Dartmoor, miscommunication brings underlying issues to a head, before allowing mother and daughter to reconnect over their grief.
With many of my shorter plays now in the final stages of editing, it's time to get back to the keyboard and go through a few ideas that have been kicking around for a while.
The Lady Molly Mysteries were fun to write! Three are already available on here for perusal ... The Pearls of Truth... Passion, Plumes and Poison and A Shot in the Dark. Two more plot outlines set in the 1920s are ready to be tackled.
Also, there are a couple of murder mystery dramas with sketched out plots.
And two one act comedies for mature actors.
A one act thriller based on an old folk tale/poem from the Tors of Dartmoor, half written.
It's like a true sweetie shop that I really don't know which jar to pop my hand into next.
1 October 2026
How can it be October already!
September was a month of edits, and script development for the youth theatre - two short pantomimes, linked by a gorgeous fairy. Onstage in December, we have just 6 sessions to rehearse as we only meet fortnightly. But I'm convinced my fantastic team of budding actors are on the case already.
One gem of an idea has been kicking around for over two years. I know there's a story there but it's been a hard birth. Based on an original court transcript of three poor women that society at the time wished would just disappear - the Bideford Witches. Set in the late 1600s, these women were the last three witches to be hanged in England. They were destitute - they were 'other'. But they offered healing and hope to those that medicine at the time could not give. And they paid the ultimate price by being different.
It's getting there!
Also this month, my first book of short plays is now available on Amazon! Six 20 minute pantomimes for youth and community theatre, all royalty free! Tried and tested with my own youth group, these are fantistic little pantomime shorts.
Check out 6:20 to Pantoland.
24 August 2026
Well, what a summer it's been so far!
Yet another of my plays has been published by Lazy Bee! That now makes five - 4 full length, and a one act comedy. And there's more to come...
NODA Summer School in early August saw me and a number of other playwrights participate in a 'making a murder mystery' week. Fabulous tuition from Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi who led to us in collaboratively writing a 10 minute murder mystery. This was performed at Yarnfield Conference Centre to other students who had been variously learning about musical theatre, acting, filmography and backstage pursuits. I cannot recommend this summer school enough - I've been going for over 20 years and made many good friends along the way.
The 'Performable Playwrights' (www.performableplays.com) held an open session, having been given the theme of '100' to each write a 10 minute play. These varied from the exploits of Marilyn Munroe, Queen Elizabeth, David Attenburgh, a 100th birthday, and an adaptation of a novel which was published in 1926. All very varied, and well received by the audience who gamely participated in the table readings.
Youth Theatre summer school sadly had to be cancelled. Active participation for young people in 30 degree + temperatures was not an option. Roll on the next term, which begins on 19th September.
Before I went off to summer school, I had a bit of a tidy up of files. I now realise I have 5 in progress, 17 in outline... and when going through notebooks, there are at least ideas for 6 more plays! I'd better get on with it! No matter... winter is coming! In the meantime, I've managed to do final edits on a couple of one act plays, which are now on this site... Lost Connections, and Another Life.
18 July
Well, I've made it to the school holidays for another year! Although, drama is not over for the summer - yet!
I've made a few tweeks to the web site so that if you wish to read more about the casting options for any play, a list of characters is available on the main page (click on any title to access and dig deeper into anything that takes your fancy.)
Lazy Bee are coming up trumps with another of my plays now published on their web site - Fragments. Still two more in the list to be published.
Upstage Publications are also in the process of publishing more of my works - all of which appear on this site.
During August, I will be heading off the NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) Summer School to immerse myself - with around 250 others - in a week filled with dramatic enterprise, writing and fun. A summer school that I have been going to every year (with the exception of 4 where I was running a B&B) since 2001! I've done some acting skills, dance, choreography, youth theatre, lighting and a BTEC in technical theatre. I've studied Tom Stoppard and Greek theatre. More recently I've done courses on playwriting, adapting classic novels for the stage, and this year it's all about Agatha Christie and the mystery genre (well, it's 50 years since her death so seemed appropriate.)
On my return, I shall be running a youth group summer project - leading 4 days of script work, devising and performing for friends and family.
Then I might - just might - get back to some of my UFO - unfinished objects, i.e. drafts that need attention! There are several...
For now - enjoy your summer.
2 July 2026
This last month has been a month of delving into the thriller/mystery genre - a bit of a departure from my usual scribblings, but I'm really finding it suits my very complicated, twisted brain!
With the scorching heatwave and a week away, it's actually been a great time for writing. I've been reading a number of cozy murder mysteries over the last couple of months - think Agatha Cristie - but to be honest, these have rather been over done given the anniversary of her death this year.
So I looked further afield to see if anything inspired me, and came across Baroness Orczy - a prolific short story writer. I'm still to make my way through the some 50+ short stories that she wrote, but she has given me some food for thought. Her Lady Molly of Scotland Yard stories, plus my love of the early 20th century history and past research into Emmeline Pankhurst, and her daughters Christobel and Sylvia, gave me the impetus to get writing.
So here they are - the first three in what I think may be a collection of five full length murder mystery stories, set between 1910 and 1914. The Pearls of Truth, Passion Plumes and Poison and A Shot in the Dark. Two more are still brewing, but that's it for this month.
Now on to something a little more in the comedy line - I think! But maybe still a bit of a story with a little intrigue and mystery.
6 June 2026
Well, the dog has been in 'bed rest' since an operation, which has given me 10 days to sit at the keyboard and write! Heaven!
Another full length play has thus been added to my collection. This time, it's a tense courtroom thriller, based on a re-imagining of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
Did Henry Dashwood commit suicide, or was he murdered?
Jane Austin as you've never seen her work before!
Witness for the Deceased is available now.
22nd May 2026
Having recovered from the youth theatre production (just about!), my mind has turned back to the ever growing files of ideas, fighting to be heard.
With three scripts half finished, I knew I had to do something about getting back to the keyboard. So of course, I started another one act play...! But I've also edited and finished another full length this week. So that's pretty preductive overall.
So... Hot off the press, expanded and edited version of A New Garden (a 10 minute play inspired by a writing exercise undertaken at NODA summer school last year),Garden Fate is now available for perusal and performance. A small cast 35 minute one act play about a small country village, with the local post mistress and church warden welcoming the new vicar and his wife to the parish following the unceremonious removal of the previous vicar by the Bishop.
But the lovely lawn of the vicarage gets smaller and smaller as Geraldine, the vicars wife, keeps digging new beds for natural compost and wild flowers. Nothing sinister there then!
A combination of murder mystery and farce, quick paced dialoge and fast changes are the order of play.
Check it out now - Garden Fate. A new one act play for 1 man and 2 women, with simple staging and props.
9th May 2026
Having been busy directing a local youth theatre for the last four months, all the plotting and planning over the recent weeks has finally come to fruition with last night's opening night of my play version adaptation of The Wind in the Willows - The Adventures of Toad and Friends. They have totally smashed it!
Not a musical, but with a couple of songs and original music, I am very proud of what they have achieved.
Another of my plays is on stage this week in Virginia, USA. The June Bug Centre is staging Finding Alice - a youth theatre adaptation of Lew Carrol's classic trilogy - Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass and The Hunting of the Snark. Break a leg guys!
Finally, having stepped away from directing, I've been inundated with ideas for new plays. Funny how the brain suddenly makes space for fresh ideas when it has a chance to slow down. So - there's a new community theatre panto on the block - a mash-up or 'Patchwork Panto' of The Big Egg Bandits of Storybook. With a similar feel to 'Jack and the Beanstalks', the story weaves characters from different nursery rhymes and traditional tales into one, following the antics of Humpty Dumpty, Alice, Goldilocks, Rumplestiltskin and the Big Bad Wolf and their seemingly dastardly criminal activities. Caught by Sergeant Hatter, Constable Hare and Dective Dormouse, they are put in jail after a ridiculous trial scene where Tweedledee and Tweedledum did them no favours!
Red Riding Hood to the rescue... putting in an appeal, she puts everything right in the end, revealing the surprise real villains in the village of Storybook.
Is this your 2026/27 panto? Perusal copies available.
WEBSITE UPDATE:
6 May 2026
Following a facebook poll of followers, a new page has now been added to this web site. Plays by Cast Size.
The page is ordered via Minimum casting, with a note of maximum cast and run times noted underneath. Each title is linked to the full description of the play.
Now, back to writing!
NEW YOUTH PLAY ADDED!
Today I have have a brand new adaptation of The Steadfast Tin Soldier added to the site. Ideal for schools and youth groups, with more movement based storytelling than text to learn, it provides an opportunity for improvisation and teamwork.
The Steadfast Tin Soldier was Andersen’s first original fairy story, and it sets the trend for what was to follow. It contains many of his trademark features, most notably the tragic central character and the doomed love between the soldier and the ballerina.
The Brave Tin Soldier is about the hopelessness of a toy tin soldier’s love for a paper ballerina. Is it hopeless because it can never be, or simply because he accepts that it will never be? The title emphasises his courage and his ability to bravely face all the hardships he experiences.
The production comes to life with simple physical theatre movements, optional dance sequences, puppetry, and mime.
*Production notes contain suggested rehearsal/movement development sequences, and puppetry construction.
Sunday, 3rd May 2026
Today, I am incredibly proud to be going into production week with a youth theatre company in Devon.
We have been working incredibly hard on my play, The Adventures of Toad and Friends, since January. Over the next few days it all comes together with a technical rehearsal, followed by the first dress rehearsal tomorrow.
This has been such a fun show - with several bouts of corpsing by the cast during rehearsals. But this time next week, it will all be over until the next time.
Welcome theatre lovers!
Taking a few days away from the various plays that I am working on, I'm now bringing you my bang up to date, hot off the keyboard, selection of plays for all ages and tastes - a collection of playscripts for all stages!
Some of my plays are available through Upstage Publications, and others are awaiting publication with Lazy Bee Scripts. But all synopses are available here for you to look through to see if anything takes your fancy. Eventually (technophobe that I am) I am hoping to put up extracts of each play - watch this space! Some extracts are already available on www.performableplays.com - set up by a small group of like minded amateur writers.
Whilst some of my plays have been performed locally in Devon, others have been staged elsewhere in the UK and in the US,. The next outing for my adaptation - The Adventures of Toad and Friends - is onstage in Devon at the beginning of May.
On Wednesday 20th May, my comedy Date (K)Nights is being read, together with another comedy by local fellow playwright Kathryn West. at PrimRaf Theatre in Callington, Devon. If you're a local, do come along.
