About

I am a director / theatre writer. I founded LLL Productions in 1995 and have worked professionally in the arts for 20 years. My interest in the possibilities of literature in performance led, in 2006, to a Cultural Leadership Bursary from the National Association of Literature Development to study stage directing. Since 2009, I’ve developed over 15 live literature productions, including Zones of Avoidance by poet Maggie Sawkins, which was winner of The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. With LLL, I’ve also developed socially engaged installation projects and run two ‘Penned Up’ literature festivals in prisons.

Summary of work

I develop/direct original performances with emerging and established writers, either with the writer as performer or sometimes working with actors, depending on the text, the writer’s intention and their personal style and sensibility. My directing is informed by my interest in collaboration across artforms and my parallel work in experimental theatre. Productions are often multimedia but spare and minimal. I also lead professional development courses for writers exploring approaches to performance making. LLL is committed to socially engaged work and recently this has involved me working in prisons with prisoners on the festival management committee and involved in every aspect.

Work to develop

All key areas of my work I am interested in developing internationally. With my theatre writing I received a grant from the Artists International Development Fund (in 2012) to set up a collaboration with Norwegian sampling percussionist, Thomas Strønen, and building on this model, I see artistic collaboration – and the making of something new – as central to the sort of work I would wish to develop. So, collaborations that allow the expertise I have developed as a director and in performance-making to be put to the service of a festival or of writers in another country … also international exchanges.

Contact

Email

LLL website