My First Writing Retreat for Shadow Road!

 

Are you a writer in need of some time to focus on that script, novel, or idea that’s been nudging at you? Have you always wanted to write, but never quite known where to start - or had the time to do it? If so, why not join me for a gently structured, welcoming Writers’ Retreat Day, hosted at Shadow Road's cosy rehearsal studio in Barnes, South West London! 

A traditionally published children's author and theatre professional, with over 15 years of experience writing and directing performances across the UK, I have written numerous plays and adaptations for Shadow Road, as well as short film scripts, fundraising events, and works commissioned by other organisations such as the Barnes Literary Society, the London Wetland Centre, and the National Trust's Morden Hall Park and Ham House. I have also run writing workshops in both Richmond and Surrey, and provided dramaturgical help to playwrights and authors submitting work to the mixed arts mental health awareness festival, UNBROKEN.

Now I am delighted to open up the Shadow Road Studio to writers of all kinds - playwrights, novelists, children's fiction authors, screenwriters, and more 📚🎬🎭 - for a whole day, offering space to develop your project, get words on the page, gain fresh perspective, and connect with fellow writers. The day-long retreat will include:

• Quiet, focused time to work on your own writing project
• Optional creative exercises, including character work (my specialty!), writing prompts, and 
• A short Inspiration Walk in the local churchyard
• Optional sharing of work with the group and gentle feedback
• Free tea, coffee, and biscuits! 

There are only 6 tickets (£55 each) available for this retreat, so if you'd like one of them, do please book HERE as soon as possible! I'm excited to meet you and help you get that project off the ground!✨ 

Secret Storytellers - The First Broadcast

 

Secret Storytellers: The First Broadcast is now complete, and available to watch online! 🥳

Following a call out for actors in the Shadow Road email newsletter last month, twelve fabulous actors came along on the 18th and 19th March to film with us. It was such fun making this short with them - and lovely to welcome a few new members to the Shadow Road family, along with some old friends and familiar faces! Even more of a delight to then host a screening of the film at the Shadow Road Studio on the 8th April, so that we could raise a glass to all their hard work and enjoy the results together! 🍾🎬👏

This short film was created as part of the Musicbed Challenge 2025 and is part of the larger, cross-platform Secret Storytellers project - the next part of which is a planned test version of a live immersive event, where audience members will have the opportunity to join the resistance for themselves and to make choices and decisions that will not only influence their own personal experiences, but may also even change the outcome of the show itself! 

More news coming soon... 😍

A Wonderful Winter Tour!

A look behind the scenes of our recent Arts Council funded tour of
London hospitals, cancer centres and care homes with my adaptation of A Christmas Carol!
Featuring Victoria Adler, Amy Floyd, Emma King-Farlow, Belle Quinlan, Sarah Robinson & Alice Hope Wilson. 

This Christmas, our theatre company embarked on a heartwarming tour of London hospitals, cancer centres, and care homes with our production of A Christmas Carol (which I first adapted back in 2019,a few months before the pandemic), thanks to the generous support of a grant from Arts Council England. 

Over the festive season, we brought live theatre, music, and storytelling to those who needed a little extra cheer, visiting places like Charing Cross Hospital (elderly care, neuro-rehab, stroke, and other wards), The Mulberry Centre, Maggie's Cancer Support Centre, the Teenage Cancer Trust, Viera Gray House, Lynde House, the Royal Variety Charity’s Brinsworth House, and local charities such as FiSH and Age UK in Barnes. 

Our tour didn’t stop at Christmas - after a hectic run of eight shows in six days leading up to the holiday, we then returned for more performances after Christmas, starting again on December 27th, and wrapping up at Maggie's on January 6th, Epiphany.

It has always been important to Shadow Road to bring theatre to those who might not otherwise have the chance to experience it - and never has that been more important than at Christmas, a time when it’s especially easy to feel left out or forgotten if you’re ill, living alone, or in hospital. Live theatre has a unique ability to create moments of connection and joy - and we were privileged to share that magic with so many incredible people this winter.

One particularly touching moment happened at Charing Cross Hospital, where we met Peter, a dementia patient who had spent six months in hospital, rarely engaging in activities (according to the staff who looked after him), and often appearing quite withdrawn.

Yet as soon as the show began, Peter lit up! He sang along with the carols, immersed himself in the story (even providing a bit of running commentary, to everyone’s delight! 😂😍), and couldn’t stop smiling. His transformation was so remarkable that numerous staff members gathered in the corridor outside to watch him watching us and marvel!

At the end of the performance, Peter posed for photos on our set, wearing one of our top hats - and when we returned to the hospital the following week, the staff brought him up to the 8th floor just so that he could watch the show again. 

There were numerous other moments like these throughout the tour - each of which reminded us why we do what we do, and underlined just how powerful the Arts can be in bringing people together and lifting spirits. 🎭

With the tour itself over and all our own match funding now raised, there is only a feedback session with the cast, and a lengthy report for the Arts Council, left to go! 

We cannot thank the Arts Council, all our wonderful supporters, and our fabulous cast enough for making this whole tour possible. THIS is why we do what we do. It was very hard work, but couldn't have been more worth it. An utter joy and a privilege. 

Here's to doing it all again for Christmas 2025...

Something Wicked(ly Good) This Way Comes!

 

On April 23rd, Shakespeare's 460th birthday, I am delighted to share Shadow Road's new trailer for our much-loved production of Macbeth: Sleep No More!

Adapted from the Bard's original by yours truly, this four-woman production (along with both a three-woman version, and a 19-person one!) has been performed at venues ranging from the Turbine Theatre, Southside House in Wimbledon, The Coach & Horses, St Mary's Barnes, and theSpace at Niddry Street in Edinburgh!

As you may be aware, from earlier Shadow Road newsletters or social media, Macbeth: Sleep No More will return to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer (this time at theSpace on the Mile, at 10.35am from the 2nd-10th August) - but, before then, we first have the honour of opening the Mayfield Festival of Music & the Arts in East Sussex, this coming Friday 26th April at 7.30pm!

We'd love you to take the advice kindly given by The Wee Review to Edinburgh theatregoers last year, when speaking of our production of Macbeth - “Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once!”, whether in Mayfield or in Edinburgh - but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new trailer!