I am delighted to be working with Matthew Houlihan again – this time directing. He has demonstrated his immense range of talent on different projects we have done together over the years.

You can listen to an extract of Martin Keady’s audio drama – MY FATHER (or THE WORLD’S WORST CASE OF CATHOLIC GUILT) – that stars Matthew Houlihan here:

Pre-Covid, at London’s Theatre 503, The British Interplanetary Society and The Cockpit Theatre, Matthew starred in some of my most abstract plays. He has played the deep Universe and the egocentric Saturn, a frustrated artist reconnecting with his elusive inner muse and a tolerant spouse, to a perfectionist partner, in three of my own stage plays.

You can presently listen to his calming voice in my short story The Princess & the Sleep Fairy and his talent for revealing the sweetest sensitivity, in The Leopard Slug, as audios on this website – scroll down the menu.

Matthew is now starring in Martin Keady’s insightful powerful audio monologue. You can join us at the Zoom premiere in a few weeks by registering for a ticket here:

Do look at the details of this event as it is not just about performance and we are nearly sold out…

Last Spring, when we went into our first lockdown, we started rehearsing my audio story via WhatsApp. Almost a year later we are still working this way. This time I’m working on Martin Keady’s powerful short script that will take you away from the challenges of Covid-19 for a while. I heard Martin’s full length play about Shakespeare, set (in part) during the plague, on Zoom last Summer. It was outstanding. Learn more about Martin Keady’s work here: Martin Keady – The Shakespeare Plays

A positive from the pandemic could be that new writing theatres use more local outdoor spaces as temporary performing sites until the government feels Covid-19 is no longer a priority. New shorter plays, with smaller audiences in outdoor spaces, might be something we can do from the Spring due to the changeable British weather and aerosol transmission time of the virus. This is not just about being safe, it is also about people feeling safe. It would also be a great way to make new writing from new writers mainstream again – like outdoor Shakespeare is common in the Summer.

This is a useful app for now: COVID-19 Indoor Safety Guideline (indoor-covid-safety.herokuapp.com)

We are still recording That Mad Little Planet Called Earth over Zoom across two continents. Our ensemble has been able to continue to work together, although we are geographically apart. This new platform, as a theatre-making space, is a positive from 2020 – as long as you are willing to work imaginatively around it’s limitations. An audio version of this stage-play is quite different to the original script. We’ve got shorter scenes, sound effects and a faster pace to substitute for the visual expressions. You can listen to a taster scene below.

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