Talking About Women and the Arts

Lisa Parry writes:

I previously blogged about women, theatre and the importance of debate and talking in the run-up to an Agent 160/Theatre503 panel discussion. The talk took place last week. (Apologies for not blogging about this earlier - things have been a bit hectic.) The discussion, after a performance of Desolate Heaven, was really inspiring and - I hope - productive. Theatre503's rather brilliant producer Flavia Fraser-Cannon chaired and the other panellists were:

• Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, co-director of London's Oval House Theatre
• Honour Bayes, freelance theatre journalist
• Pia Furtado, director
• Amber Massie-Blomfield, principal consultant at Borkwoski.do
• Erica Whyman, deputy artistic director at the RSC

What was great about this discussion was the range and depth of experience of the panellists. In other talks Agent 160 has produced, we've focussed, understandably, on playwriting. Here, the scope was wider. The panellists touched on the current position of women in the contemporary art world and spoke about women in theatre criticism and PR. What was fascinating for me however was listening to female directors speak, because their experience was relevant to the debate in two ways: firstly as women working in theatre and second, as the commissioners of playwrights.

There was a consensus that we're crying out for new (funded) research. The Sphinx data (the much quoted 17 per cent figure) desperately needs updating and even though the arts councils have all been supportive of the idea of research, cash to fund it has yet to appear. Recent research from The Guardian only looked at the top ten funded theatres. The panel were therefore keen to stress some of their observations were anecdotal; however there did seem a consensus that whereas other areas in the arts had improved in terms of gender balance over time, playwriting itself had stalled.

A consensus was reached that to help overcome this a two-pronged approach might be needed. Women need to be confident to compete with their male peers; but also, as an industry, we need to be less ready to assume that there is only one way - the bolshy way - things should be done. Often the more considered approach frequently employed by women is better. Erica Whyman told how a female writer recently emailed the RSC once she had gone through her notes. She compiled them and sent a 'just checking - did you mean this?' email which they all thought was time saving and brilliant. Rebecca Atkinson-Lord told how, when giving notes, it was often the male writer who would immediately agree and come back with a draft, whereas a woman would go away and consider the notes more. Although the drive for a production that sees swift agreement can result in work, consideration can often result in a better draft.

Honour Bayes spoke about how important she considered mentoring and how important it had been to her in her career. Ageism and what happens after the emerging label has been exhausted was also touched on. Erica Whyman said how one of the best pieces of advice she'd ever been given was simply not to go away. We discussed the gender ratio in public relations and the differences experienced by men and women when making the leap from assisting to directing productions in their own right. Erica Whyman told a story about how she sent a male and a female for the same job and the man was asked: 'Don't you think it's time you stopped assisting now?' The woman was asked: 'Is there anyone left you'd like to assist?' Bias is there and we need to overcome it.

A real feeling came through the discussion that female directors weren't encouraged to take that leap; that women in the arts generally were encouraged to play it safe. One recent graduate in the audience told how, when she said she wanted to direct, she had been told to do theatrical admin for a while - a comment which drew pretty strong advice from the panel.

No blog post can really do the talk justice. It was a brilliant and informative evening. A huge thank you to Theatre503 and Flavia for having Agent 160 on board with this and helping us continue the debate.

This blog post also appears at http://www.tpfp.co.uk

Talking

Lisa Parry writes:

Last year, when Agent 160 launched, we held panel discussions at each venue discussing women and theatre. At the end of the session in Glasgow, one of the panellists said she hoped we wouldn't continue hosting such talks. She'd been doing them for years. She didn't think they helped. The most important thing, she said, was to get work by women onto the stage.

At the time, I completely agreed. I thought the talks were important as part of the launch but I didn't feel they were a huge part of our work. And I still do agree that getting plays written by women on is more important. But in terms of hosting the talks themselves? I've since changed my mind.

Why the change? A comment from a playwright-friend of mine along the lines of: "That's all very well, but our generation wasn't around for those talks. Maybe we need to have them too." And I think we do. Talking, debate and discussion is never a bad thing. Progress isn't always linear. Sometimes topics need to be revisited and reassessed according to the current climate.

And progress can be made through talking. A few months back, I attended Devoted and Disgruntled at Sherman Cymru in Cardiff. It was refreshing to see thoughts and opinions changing when it became clear that what people thought was happening on the ground, wasn't; that the presumed situation wasn't the actual one; what people thought playwrights wanted wasn't in fact what they did want. So too with the women and theatre debate - some people have said they think the problem isn't in fact with commissioning, but with a failure to deliver final drafts. Others have voiced concern that women directors don't want to work with women writers for fear of being pigeonholed. Debate - talk - opens up detailed arguments that need to be worked through for sustained change. Sometimes sweeping change is needed and welcome. But for real sustained change that will last decades and improve the social lot, the devil is pretty much always in the detail. And the detail tends to come up in extensive conversation.

• Agent 160 is co-producing the talk Women and the Arts at Theatre503 on Wednesday, February 27.
• The discussion will take place after that evening's performance of Desolate Heaven and will last about an hour. 
• Other panellists include Rebecca Atkinson-Lord (co-director of Oval House Theatre), Amber Massie-Blomfield (principal consultant at Borkwoski.do), Pia Furtado (director), Honour Bayes (freelance theatre journalist).
• To book, visit www.theatre503.com or telephone 020 7978 7040.

February 21st Writers' Night at The Bush: Money the game show

Dear Agent 160 friends, below are some links and pictures for my play Money the game show, on at The Bush till the 9th March.

On the 21st February, so next Thursday, there's going to be a 'writers' night' with the actors Brian Ferguson, Lucy Ellinson and me, chaired by the amazing Selma Dimitrijevic, dramaturg at The Bush. We're going to talk about dramatising contemporary political issues and events. I might talk a bit about writing non-gendered roles as a feminist strategy, as the end of Money is scripted for the 'Loser' and 'Winner' rather than the female and male characters 'Queenie' and 'Casino'. I'll definitely be mentioning Agent 160. I think we'll also be talking about the role of actors/performers in the process of directing your own work. If any of that sounds of interest it would be great to see you there. Clare x

MONEY the game show - praise from the press:

''This playful, thoughtful and riotously entertaining piece is right on the money', 

The Guardian.

'Engagingly explores the build-up to, and the aftermath of, the 2008 financial catastrophe',

Financial Times

''Hilarious and tragic...the writing glitters',

The Scotsman.

'Think Deal or No Deal but 100 times more entertaining', A Younger Theatre

MONEY the game show, by Clare Duffy, is into its 3rd week at the Bush and delighting critics and audiences alike, who have been getting stuck into gambling with the £10,000 loot on our stage.

Due to demand, the show is extending until 9 March - giving you even more chances to catch it - but book quick as performances are filling up.

Agent 160 in Belfast: Panel & Workshop

On October 25th, the day after the shows ended,  Lunchbox & Agent160 held two events:
The first was a workshop exploring how to perform being a female playwright. The aim of the workshop was to unpack what we think, assume, hope and fear being a woman and a playwright is and creatively explore the tricky, fruitful and sometimes paradoxical relationship between the two. Agent160 Writers, Ioanna Anderson & Clare Duffy asked: 'If you are a woman who writes, how do you feel about being a 'female playwright'?

What the participants had to say about the events:

Inspired me to write more

I found both events very encouraging and inspirational as well as being realistic about the challenges that can be met in getting work produced. The workshop was very enjoyable. It didn't provide new methods of writing for those attending but I don't think that was the aim of the workshop. It did promote discussion in an open forum and encouraged sharing of experiences and writing, promoted confidence and networking within the group of female writers.

The panel was incredibly informative. Hanna kept a great focus and I was inspired by each of the speakers

I found the event very informative. Interesting to have heard from those involved in different aspects of theatre across the UK/Ireland.

Clare Duffy (Agent160)

Ioanna Anderson (Agent160)

Workshop participants Playwright Shannon Yee, Director Mary Lindsay, and screenwriters Christine Morrow & Elvina Porter

This was followed by a panel, chaired by Hanna Slattne of Tinderbox, Belfast, with the aim of discussing women in the Irish Theatrical Landscape.

The Panel members were:

Hanna Slattne, (Tinderbox, Belfast), Richard Lavery (Accidental Theatre, Belfast) Suzanne Bell (Royal Exchange, Manchester) Alice Coghlan (Wonderland Productions, Dublin) Andrea Montgomery (TerraNova, Belfast) Louise Stephens Alexander (Agent160) Aislinn Clarke (Wireless Mystery Theatre & Fickle Favours)
Topics:
1. Does the 17% Figure applies to Northern Ireland: & Suzanne & Alice  how they are doing in their parts of the world?
2. Aislinn and Louise: setting up new companies focussing on female practitioners. What were the main reasons behind it? 
3. Richard and Andrea's experiences, both in setting up their own companies and how they work with women writers. 
4. Has the abundance of female theatre makers contributed to the healthy figure that we have? 
(i.e. Does the gender of the director make an impact? the gender of development teams? And from the writer's p.o.v. - Is there a pressure to write in a certain way, about certain issues, - Is there a female aesthetic? )
5. Winter is coming,( i.e. cuts) - how can we protect that figure? why is it so important to keep the figure up? 

Panel in full swing

Hanna Slattna very kindly offered to chair the panel: and started off by addressing the question of; is Northern Ireland the same as the rest of the UK? Do we only produce 17% of female authored work on our stages?
In fact , NI is doing well- A 50% commission & production rate of women's plays. However of Hanna's incoming scripts only 20% are from women. 
Suzanne told us that in the 1st Bruntwood – which worked on an anonymous submissions policy – the scripts were 80% male authored:. Now after pushing, it has risen to 50/50- The rise in female submissions is now reflected in winners as well.
Alice, working for the Abbey Theatre,in Dublin, stated that 23% of unsolicited scripts were from women and that 31.5 of new commissions in the abbey this year were female authored .However, she describes the abbey's programme jokingly as 'men, men, men and Marina Carr" Using information provided by the Irish Theatre institute, it would seem that of the new plays produced in 2010-211 (Both original & adapted) the figure stands as 29 % (However, this could be slightly inaccurate: no research of this kind has been undertaken to date in the republic.) 

Moving on to the rationale behind setting up Agent 160 , Louise said it had been as result of a combination of  things: the Vamps Vixens & Feminists conference at the Sphinx theatre in 2010 & the fact that Lisa Parry (Agent160 AD) was seeing some good women's work at the time. Just not enough of it.  She had then begun thinking about setting up a company of Female playwrights. Aislinn (Fickle Favours) after chatting to actress colleagues and seeing that in her own productions at Wireless Mystery theatre, there were not enough plays produced with challenging strong roles for women, including in the classical repertoire. She wanted to get away from the tendency for people to think of women's writings as a 'genre'- and to create a platform for just 'good theatre. ' She wanted to be able to include actresses and writers of all ages, using the Agent160 short Nancy as a great example of a strong piece both in writing terms & as a role for an older woman. 

Richard Lavery From Accidental Theatre said that when he first put a call out for scripts, just 10% were from women- but that in interestingly, he'd found an large increase of expression of interest from female directors, something that is reflected in their productions this year.

Hanna mentioned that to get their figures up, Tinderbox set out to address the gap 8 yrs ago-when she first joined the company- she had to form a strategy, one of which was creating projects to work with women. She said that she could not leave it to random chance: this was something that all companies would have to undertake to avoid.

Aislinn thinks the problem is deeper than that: why are young women not thinking 'I could be a playwright?' She thinks no one in schools/ thinks of playwrighting/directing as a career:  An audience member agreed, saying that there were not enough female dramatists on the school curriculum. Vittoria (Agent160) pointed out that in her research for the panel, she had noticed that Educational theatre companies in the republic of Ireland, only one had a female authored play in their repertoire, and when looking at companies doing classical plays there were none by women- understandably since it's not on the curriculum, but she wondered why someone like Aphra Benn wasn't ever mentioned at school. 

Andrea Montgomery talked about how studies of sociological/psychological analysis of gender and speech have shown a difference in the way that women put themselves and their work forward- that many women had a culture of 'I put me down, you pull me up' – Suzanne agreed, saying that it was perfectly reasonable for a man to come into a meeting saying 'this is a great script, - it's fantastic etc” whereas if a woman did the same, even other women would be taken aback.
Aislinn said she also found this as a female director: one was supposed to act in a certain way. Suzanne pointed out that female linguistic structure and male linguistic structure were distinctly different- something that Andrea backed up. With Terranova, she works with women in many different countries- She spoke about how important is to remember cultural differences affect women's voices also: working with women in Tehran, she found their voices and ideas very different than say somewhere like Hong Kong. 

Suzanne noted that while, 67% of audience are women- they expect male stories, and wanted to pose the question to the panel and audience: Why is there a lack of exploration of female sexuality on stage?
An audience member pointed out - women are punished for being sexual in plays. The panel thought that was no reason not to show it: Both Hanna-& Suzanne- emphasized that you should write what you want to write- Write passionately- not what you think a certain theatre wants, or doesn't want. Hanna mentions that she finds when it comes to sexuality , she sees that female writers censor themselves. Is it Cultural? The conversation came back to schools and kids- and what they see both at school & in society- &  to help change the perceptions we need to make sure that the younger generation don't just watch the same old dramas. Alice and Hanna have both done scriptwriting workshops with children: Alice said that if you get the kids around age 8-10 they are super confient- the seeds could be sown then. 

Andrea bought up what she sees as the main problem in NI: As a member of NITA (NI Theatre Association) she is struggling to communicate to politicians of benefits of theatre -it's seen as a hobby - theatre not regarded as 'professional' An audience member seconded that, recounted countless mentions of others to her work as 'her wee play”
Hanna pointed out that the press were not overly interested in theatre here: that that would have to be addressed to combat that issue.
Alice found that surprising, describing the audiences in Northern Ireland as much more engaged than in Dublin. From the outside it looks like a buzzing scene.
How do we keep the figure up at it's current level? Hanna suggested that it was the bigger funded companies responsibility to do so and set the standard for others to follow.
In conclusion:
Hanna says -stop being polite- do not censor yourself. Claire Duffy (A160) says- just be prepared to be slapped down in the process, but get up & keep going!
To which Hanna added- target the right company when sending your work! Andrea noted the importance of 'allies' in the theatre world- in Northern Ireland, the theatre network is very strong- so use it. Suzanne, agreed, adding that once you do have allies in the theatre industry they are very loyal, and tend to stay that way. 

So proud of our actors and directors, and thrilled with the response we had to the pieces: there's a 4 star review here:
We are also very grateful to have had support from The Belfast Festival at Queens, The Black Box, Belfast Film Festival, The British Council, and Belfast City Council and from the many people who contributed through Fundit as well as everyone who came down to the shows-  Thank You!

Agent 160 in Belfast: Rehearsal Photos

Only 8 days until we go up in Belfast,  so we thought we'd give you a little sneak peek at rehearsals. 

October 23rd & 24th, Black Box, Belfast, 8pm, £8 

Tickets are available here.

Aislinn Clarke, (Directing Red Shoes By Sarah Grochala,  Nancy by Lisa Parry & Pantomime Horse by Ioanna Anderson)  chats to Alana Henderson during a Rehearsal for Red Shoes.

 Charmaine McBride during a rehearsal for How Do You Sleep At Night?' By Clare Duffy

 In rehearsal for Red Shoes

 Amanda Doherty & Charmaine Mc Bride rehearsing ' How Do You Sleep At Night?'

Monnine Dargan (Director of  The Last Word by Vittoria Cafolla, Skin by Morna Pearson & How Do You Sleep At Night? by Clare Duffy)  chats to Geoff Hatt  during a rehearsal of Skin.

  Amanda Doherty & Charmaine Mc Bride rehearsing ' How Do You Sleep At Night?

Geoff Hatt & Charmaine McBride rehearsing Morna Pearson's Skin

Agent 160 in Belfast: The Plays

Belfast Agent, Vittoria Cafolla, writes: 

It's starting to get hectic! 

As well as chatting and planning with Lisa, Dan and Louise in England,  I've been spending a lot of time this week with Sarah & Pete from the Black Box, working on, amongst other things:  tech plans, prop lists, publicity, and confirming the rest of our panel.  There has been a lot of interest from the theatrical community here on what Agent 160 do, and are planning to do, and it does seem that people are excited about seeing the shows, attending our panel and the writing workshop with Ioanna & Clare. (Which is nearly full, by the way- sign up here, if you want to attend!)

The directors are also hard at work,  and actors are to-ing and fro-ing between them. (We have 6 actors for 10 roles) It's quite exciting to hear what Moninne & Aislinn are planning, and I can't wait to sit in on a couple of rehearsals.  I think the plays will have a very different feel from the productions that we saw in London, Cardiff & Glasgow- both because we are using Northern Irish actors and -obviously- as no two theatre directors are going to have the same take or reading of a play. On a personal note,  this will be the first time I've had a play directed by two different directors, with different actors-I can't wait to find out what it will be like!

Having seen some of the plays staged while I was in London, and experienced how the audience reacted to each, I am also really looking forward to seeing Northern Irish audiences will react to the great pieces that we are doing. 

I just wish we could have done all the shows from the launch. 

So without further ago, here's our selection of Agent160 Presents plays for the Belfast Festival at Queen's....

 

Ioanna Anderson – How To Be A Pantomine Horse

In an air accident, the normal rules of human behaviour are suspended; people behave in unexpected and sometimes unpredictable ways. In this darkly funny, surreal and moving two-hander, an air crash throws two women into an impromptu but vital partnership.

Vittoria Cafolla – The Last Word

Paedar and Phoebe are in Pompeii, but are the city's ruins the only ones they're exploring? And just how important is it to have the final say in an argument? All is not as it seems when both compete to have the last word.

Clare Duffy – How Do You Sleep At Night?

For three years, Abi has been protesting outside the home of a retired chief executive of a zombie bank. But today, at 4am, the executive’s insomniac wife comes to make Abi an offer.

Sarah Grochala - Red Shoes

And it don’t matter that I ain’t had no tummy tuck caesarean, no postnatal Pilates. Cos I’m thinking it don’t matter what you got, you got it, when you got shoes like that.

Kaz has found the answer to all her problems, a pair of shoes, a pair of red Christian Louboutin shoes. If she has those shoes, she knows she can win her ex, Darren, back. All she needs now is the money to buy them or the guts to steal them.

One night in London when everything goes crazy, she finally gets her chance.

Lisa Parry - Nancy

Nancy lives in Sussex – the rural bit, not Brighton – and is in financial straits. But it’s not just the bank she needs to keep from her door; it’s the rabbits and moles too. But what has this to do with the audience? And why is she on the Agent 160 tour?

Morna Pearson – Skin; or How To Disappear

Robert hasn't left his house since Helen Daniels from Neighbours died. Having pulled out every hair on his body, he has started peeling off all of his skin. His day is interrupted by a visit from an incapacity benefit assessor. Somebody's life is about to change.

If you are going to be in and around Belfast on the 23rd & 24th October, you can buy tickets here. 

Agent 160 in Belfast: Casting

Amanda Doherty

Amanda recently graduated with a BA (Hons) Acting - Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
A young actress who has already worked with some of Northern Ireland's best known companies: as Elsie in Collecting Cultures for Kabosh), Pat in Operation Blitzed for Big Telly, Martius in Titus Andronicus for Inside of Out, Emer in Cromwell’s Tour of Ireland for the London Irish Theatre. Market Seller in Romeo & Juliet for the Stuttgart Ballet and as Annie Wobbler for the Derry playhouse. She has also had roles in The Fall for BBC TV, Tire Na Mac Tire for RTE/TG4 and as Agnes in Agnes (UTV with Ambient Light Productions) 

 Susan Davey 

Susan Davey trained in ballet before undertaking training at the Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin. She was also a member of the Lyric Theatre’s Drama Studio Company where she played in A Vampire Story.
Most recently, Susan performed in Playboy of the Western World (Lyric Theatre Belfast). Other theatre credits include: Marianne Dreams and Babble (Replay Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol (Wireless Mystery Theatre), Operation Blitzed (Big Telly), Of Fallen Sock and Fear (Accidental Theatre) and TIE work for Tinderbox Theatre Company. She performed in the Black Box’s Lunchtime Theatre earlier in the year.
Film and TV credits include a lead role in Fr. Brendan Smyth: Betrayal Of Trust (BBC), A Belfast Story (JoltMe – independent American feature), Mime and Lighthouse Keepers (NI Screen / Stirling Productions).
This year, Susan has recorded ‘Eveline’ for a walking tour of James Joyce’s Dubliners (Wonderland Theatre Company) for Dublin’s One City One Book festival.

Alana Henderson

In the summer of 2007 Alana took on her first major acting role as ‘Caroline’ in the ground-breaking & IFTA Nominated Irish-language drama-series ‘Seacht’ commissioned by TG4 and ILBF, which ran into its fourth series. In 2010 Alana was cast in the Irish-language radio plays series 'Nora', written by Gearoid MacUnfraidh and directed by Brian O'Tiomain, in which she played the part of Jackie, a young Mother left distraught by her partner's decision to go on hunger-strike.

She is also an accomplished classical cellist and played first desk cello with The Ulster Youth Orchestra. She is passionate about traditional singing and have an extensive repertoire of songs in English, Irish and Scots’ Gaelic. A traditional-singer, she has performed at festivals in Ireland, England and Scotland. She also writes and performs her own contemporary material and most recently performed on BBC ALBA’s ‘Horo Gheallaidh’ Series which was recorded at Celtic Connection festival, Glasgow in January 2012.

Geoff Hatt

(Since marriage in 2010. Previously Geoff Gatt)

Since graduating with a BA in English and Drama joint honours degree from Queens University, Geoff Hatt has fast become a familiar face on the Belfast musical and acting circuits.

Recently he has been working with Wireless Mystery Theatre both on 'Litarary Lunchimes' at The Ulster Hall and War of the Worlds for the Young at Art Childrens festival 2012. He also worked with YAA in their Performances In Schools programme with the play, The Butterfly and Caterpillar . 'Down in the Garden' written & Devised by Geoff & Catherine Hatt for Sticky Fingers Children's Theatre Company was a educational show for young children, which toured North and Southern Ireland twice in 2010. He starred as Ernest Hemingway (and other characters) in 'The Men of The HOUR' from Jan 2009 -Jan2011, a show that played to packed house in Belfast and had 2 successful runs in the Edinburgh Fringe festival 2009, 2010 & also in Belfast's 2011 Out To Lunch festival. Geoff played a human Ukulele playing flea in 'The Flea Pit ' for Cahoots NI 2007 as part of Belfast Festival and worked again with Cahoots Ni in 'The Bumble Bee Orchestra'. 'Hippos in the shower' was a self penned, original musical, first staged June 2005 OMAC Belfast, (and which went on to sell out performances in Empire Music Hall 2005, Cathedral Quarter Festival 2006 and Successful run in Edinburgh Fringe 2008) Geoff is also a talented musician, having released his first album, 'Ten Year Road' in 2009 to critical acclaim from magazines such as Hotpress and is currently completing his 2nd album with support from the Arts Council of Nothern Ireland.

Charmaine Mc Bride

Most Recently: Kath in ‘Present Haunts’ Directed by Bill Taylor as part of the Lunchbox Theatre in the Black Box Belfast, Battle of the Books’ as part of Literary Belfast for Belfast City Council , Lucy in ‘The Ex-Files’ Directed by Mary Lindsay for Skewiff Theatre Company as part of the Pick n Mix festival at the MAC Belfast, 'Sitting up for Michael’ Directed by Helen Donnelly as part of Accidental Theatres Biscuit Tin Readings ‘Who is it that can tell me who I am?’ Written and directed by herself, for Culture Night Belfast. Also: Alice in ‘The Water Clock’ Directed by Jack Geary and Danielle Barios. QFT, Jill Hewitt in ‘No Hope Hear’ Directed by Kevin Murray: Feile an phobail, Miss Know in ‘Mastermind’ Directed by Richard Lavery for: Accidental Theatre. V-DAY campaign, ‘Memory, Monologue, a Rant or a Prayer’ at the Black Box, Belfast, ‘Inner Space’ - (devised movement piece) Directed by David Calvert: KIC theatre company , Susan in ‘Five Minutes Of Silence’ Directed by Rachel Donnelly, Patricia in ‘Sharla Evans’ – a reimagining of the play ‘Rum & Vodka' by Conor Macpherson directed by Patrick Hughes: She starred as Super Numery in West End production of ‘EVITA’ in the Opera House Belfast. She has also acted in several local short films.

Rachael McCabe

Recent acting Experience: Performance Poet, Bronte Homeland, European Heritage Open Day, Margaret/Friar “Much Ado About Nothing”, Ruff Theatre Co., Crescent Arts Theatre, “The Golden Point and Beyond” by Peter Morgan-Barnes, Ballymoney Borough Council, Actor/writer, “Whatever Happened to Those Who Can’t?” TWC, Belfast, “The Wireless Room”, Wireless Mystery Theatre, Writer/ Actor, “A Beginner’s Guide To David Lynch”, TWC, QFT, “Alf Elf”, Hansel and Gretel Tour, c21 Theatre Company, Writer/ Actor “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”, Those Who Can’t, Belfast, Deviser/Actor on“They Do It With Beards”, Those Who Can’t, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Actor/Deviser “Leave It Out!”, Replay Productions, Belfast, Head Chaperone, “Eight”, Casterton School, Cumbria, England, YMT:UK, “Banzai Chess” Devisor/Performer, Young At Art Festival, Writer/ Actor “They Do It With Beards”, Those Who Can’t, Belfast, and as Facilitator/ Composer, for “Theatre In The Dark”, Big Telly Theatre Co., Portstewart.

Rachael also often works as a devisor & performer for the Beat Carnival, Belfast, as a Tutor, for Bruiser Theatre Company Summer Schools, Belfast and UU Coleraine, St Genevieve’s High School, as well as running Cross Community workshop days, with The Riverside theatre, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Glencairn and Frank Gillen centre youth groups, New Belfast Community Arts Initiative. Rachael hass also been working as an Arts facilitator since 2006, for (amongst others :Galaxy Drama Clubs, Shankill Nursery Project, New Belfast Community Arts Initiative and Young At Art, Grand Opera House Youth group and Opera Theatre Company.

She also holds a BA in English Language and Literature, from Oxford and a MA in English Literature, from The University of Sussex at Brighton.