The Shadow Road Writers’ Retreat: Now a Monthly Event!

We had a full house for our very first Shadow Road Writers’ Retreat on May 31st - and what a day it was! As you can see in the photo collage above, the studio was buzzing with creativity - from quiet writing sprints and character-building exercises, to an Inspiration Walk through the beautiful, sunlit churchyard, and some really wonderful shared work and reactions at the end of the day.

Everyone who attended brought something unique to the table, and it was a great joy to spend the day writing, reflecting, and connecting with fellow storytellers. It was, in fact, such a success that we are delighted to announce that the Retreat will now become a regular event, running on the last Saturday of each month (with the exception of July, when it will be on the final Sunday of the month instead), other than August and December! 🥳

There are only 5 places available for each Retreat, and with several participants already planning to return on different dates, you may wish to book soon - tickets for each Retreat until the end of 2025 are now available on our TicketSource page here: 

www.ticketsource.co.uk/shadowroad

Whether you're working on a novel, a play, a podcast script, children's book, or screenplay - or even if you're just craving some space to reconnect with your creativity - we'd love you to join us! 📚🎭🎬 

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!✨ 

UNBROKEN 2017 - the festival is back!

As you may remember, UNBROKEN made its debut as a 'mini-festival' produced by Shadow Road at Theatre503 on World Mental Health Day 2016.  Following an extremely successful and at times deeply moving day, we are delighted that the festival will return to 503 this year from Saturday 28th  until Tuesday 31st October.

As well as the art exhibitions, live music, new writing, original choreography and panel discussions that were such a hit last year, the 2017 programme will feature some practical workshops, a literary event, a staged reading of a powerful play about adolescent mental health, short film screenings and a free event open to all.  We will also be running a small but perfectly formed bookshop throughout the festival!

More information will be available on the new UNBROKEN website soon.  Do get in touch if you're interested in getting involved - we'd love to hear from you!


UNBROKEN - A Mental Health Awareness Festival from Shadow Road on Vimeo.

Introducing UNBROKEN...



AN INVITATION FOR SUBMISSIONS TO A NEW MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MINI-FESTIVAL IN AUTUMN 2016

Have you written a short play or a standalone scene – or created a piece of spoken word, music, movement or dance – dealing with mental illness, its effects and consequences, or the realities and myths surrounding the subject? Would you like to? Or would you like to direct one?

As part of my tiny theatre company's longstanding commitment to the issue of mental health we will be staging UNBROKEN, a mini-festival on that very subject, in London this October and we would like to invite anyone interested in getting involved – either as a writer, director, choreographer or composer – to get in touch.

UNBROKEN will showcase a number of new short plays and performance pieces, all dealing with the issue of mental health from different angles. It will also include at least one or more panel discussions.

As mentioned above, we are open to both short plays and scenes/extracts from a larger work that are able to stand alone in performance, as well as pieces of music, movement, spoken word or dance. Each of the chosen pieces will deal with some aspect of the issue, but the precise approach taken or subject explored will be up to its creator – for example, living with someone suffering from mental health problems can, in some ways, be just as difficult or alienating as suffering from the condition yourself.

UNBROKEN is an entirely voluntary event which will be staged in connection with one of the UK’s main mental health charities. This mini-festival will be the first of its kind for Shadow Road. Given our enduring concern with the issue of mental health, however – particularly when examined in relation to the military, as was the case with our original full-length play, Dreams From The Pit – we do hope that it may prove to be the first of many.

If you are interested in getting involved with UNBROKEN, there is plenty more information available – including submissions details and dates etc – here on our website: www.shadowroad.com/page6.htm

Please have a read and then drop us a line at shadowroadproductions@gmx.com.

We look forward to hearing from you! :-)