Since November 2024, 15 playwrights have been creating new plays as part of Fifth Word Playwrights: a free writing group for the region, led by playwright Zodwa Nyoni. Now the group are ready to share their passion for storytelling, talent with words, and new writing for the stage with you.
Be the first to experience extracts of their brand new plays, developed through workshops, mentorship, and creative exploration as part of Fifth Word Playwrights. Meet the playwrights, share these stories, and immerse yourself in powerful new writing that challenges, entertains, and inspires.
So, if you’re curious about the next wave of East-Midlands storytelling – whether you’re new to theatre, a frequent theatre-goer, or work in the industry – this is a celebration you won’t want to miss.
Come and celebrate the future of theatre – one scene at a time.
Want to stay for the whole evening? Book your tickets for the Panel Discussion and Part One of the sharing below.
Discover the Future of Playwriting – Part One
Produced by Fifth Word in partnership with Derby Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse and In Good Company. Fri 27 Jun
Zodwa Nyoni is a Zimbabwean-born playwright, screenwriter and director.
Her debut play, BOI BOI IS DEAD won the Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme in 2014.
It was also a finalist for the international Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014/15.
Since, her plays have been produced in the UK, France, Germany, USA, Zimbabwe
and South Africa. Her most recent work, THE DARKEST PART OF THE NIGHT (Kiln
Theatre) was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award and George Devine Award
2021. It was ranked as one of the best plays of 2022 by The Independent (UK).
Zodwa’s plays are published by Bloomsbury. She has lectured in poetry and theatre
since 2018. She is currently a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan
University and an associate dramaturg for Tiata Fahodzi and Fifth Word Theatre.
She has written two radio plays, LOVE AGAIN (BBC Radio 3) and A KHOISAN
WOMAN (Drama on 3); and three short films: MAHOGANY (National Trust and 24
Design Ltd) and NOTES ON BEING A LADY (New Creatives / BBC Arts) and the
award winning, THE ANCESTORS (BBC Films and BFI Network).
Zodwa was an international fellow on Oxbelly’s inaugural Episodic Program in
Greece. She is a BAFTA Connect member and was on the BIFA mentoring
programme.
She is currently working on Netflix’s spin-off series, CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE;
under commission at Manchester Royal Exchange, Bristol Old Vic and Kiln Theatre;
and writing an opera for Buxton International Festival.
Gurnesha is a freelance reader, dramaturg and programmer based in Northamptonshire.
She reads for both subsidised and commercial theatre companies and literary agencies. She is currently reading for the Theatre 503 International Playwriting Award and working as a dramaturg with writers commissioned by Soho Theatre and Tara Theatre.
For the past 5 years she has been working in the planning, development and delivery of public programmes across a range of arts and cultural institutions including; the development of new work for stage at the Royal Court Theatre, programming international short for Leeds International Film Festival, and curatorial work for the V&A and Design Museum.
Meet the Playwrights
Hongwei Bao (he/him) is a Nottingham-based queer Chinese writer and academic. His work explores queer desire, Asian identity, diasporic positionality and transcultural intimacy. His creative work has appeared in Carnations, Violets & Lavender, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Covert Literary Magazine, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Medusa’s Kitchen, Messy Misfits Club, Poetry Catalog, Shanghai Literary Review, The Anthropocene, The Hooghly Review, The Other Side of Hope, The Ponder Review, The Rialto, The Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine and Write On. He is the author of the poetry pamphlet Dream of the Orchid Pavilion (Big White Shed, 2024), poetry collection The Passion of the Rabbit God (Valley Press, 2024) and nonfiction book Queering the Asian Diaspora (Sage, 2024). His short story ‘A Postcard to Berlin’ won second place in the Plaza Prize for Microfiction in 2023. He is new to writing for the stage.
Hi – I’m Tracy. Having grown up in Derbyshire I’ve lived in various places including Lancaster, Leicester, London, Moscow and Connecticut before returning to live in Derby with my family some years ago. Following a career in Marketing working for Sears PLC, Hush Puppies, Alton Towers and The Tussauds Group I started writing novels when my first child was born. I self published my first romcom, NO-ONE EVER HAS SEX ON A TUESDAY, in 2013 when it became an No1 Amazon bestseller. I have since had 15 novels published by Penguin Random House, Bookouture and Harper Collins under the name Tracy Bloom. My latest, THE SECRET SANTA PROJECT, in the process of being made into a film by Sea High Productions.
Ash is originally from Worksop but has lived throughout the Midlands. She is a writer and performer with a background in stand up, sketch comedy and short form pieces. Ash also penned the short film ‘Watchers’ a supernatural comedy about grief currently in post-production with Manchester-based company Bloody Bandit Productions. Ash is loving working with all the talented new writers in the group and is working hard to develop her first long form theatre piece!
Francesca is a writer and actor from Nottingham. After training as an actor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she was selected as the Citizens Theatre Graduate Actor of 2022.
She finished writing her first play ‘that face should form another,’ alongside her participation in the Royal Court Writers Group. It was recently nominated for the David MacLennan Award, the BOLD Playwriting Award and is currently being developed with support from Nottingham Playhouse.
Francesca is also the co-producer of I’ll Scratch Yours, an event showcasing new writing and performance in Glasgow. @illscratchyours_
Jacob Kay is a neurodiverse writer & actor from the East Midlands. His first full-length play ‘Glass’ was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2019, longlisted for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 37 Plays project in 2023 and underwent an R&D process in 2024 with support from Arts Council England, Derby Theatre and the Lincoln Arts Centre. His work has been performed at multiple venues, including the Barons Court Theatre, the Lincoln Arts Centre and The Space, London. Jacob has also worked with venues and companies such as Nottingham Playhouse (Playwright’s Playground Programme, 2021), Squint Theatre (Squint Playwriting Award Shortlist, 2023) and In Good Company (Take Off Shortlist, 2020). Recently, Jacob was a part of Pentabus Theatre’s National Young Writers Group. Also, his dark comedy short film ‘Smile, Smile, Smile!’ will be screening at film festivals next year.
Sarah ‘Rain’ Kolawole is a playwright, spoken word artist, published poet and facilitator from Nottingham.
She is currently a Graeae Beyond Artist associated with Derby Theatre and a Rebel Sparks Associate Artist. She has previously been an associate artist at New Perspectives, Nottingham Playhouse, a Vital Sparks, Spark Arts Artist and Soho theatre writer’s lab alumni.
Sarah has recently been awarded Arts Council funding for the development of her sensory children’s piece ‘AYO’. AYO is also supported by Derby Theatre, The LEVEL Centre, Graeae Theatre, Spark Arts for Children, Rebel Sparks and Leeds Playhouse.
Sarah was commissioned by Derby Theatre to co-write the book adaptation of Alex Wheatle’s ‘Home Girl’.
Sarah has also been published in the ‘Hear Me now Monologues Vol 2’, and ‘Ten Poems about Black History’ in 2022, and then more recently, ‘Seeds of Resistance’ in 2024.
Sarah founded the ‘Rootz’ theatre group for Care experienced young people at Nottingham Playhouse and continues to facilitate poetry and creative writing workshops.
Rehannah is a former BBC producer who now works with children excluded from mainstream education. Empowering marginalised children and young adults is the driving force behind much of Rehannah’s writing.
In 2020, she published her debut fantasy children’s novel, Mia and the Curse of Camelot, which was inspired by her love of ancient history and folk horror. She also writes and narrates audio stories on her podcast, Magical Storybook: English Nanny Bedtime Stories, which now has a global audience of over five million children.
Rehannah is also a published poet and member of the GOBS Collective of spoken word artists. She is now writing her first long-form theatre play and is thrilled to be working with Fifth Word Theatre.
Octavia is a performance artist from Leicester, with a First Class Drama Degree from De Montfort University. She is an Associate Lead Practitioner at Curve Theatre, and a Freelance Practitioner at Nottingham Playhouse, working with a range of young, community and professional companies. She has notably performed a leading role in ‘Queer Upstairs’ at The Royal Court Theatre & starred in Travis Alabanza’s short film ‘Burgerz and Chips.’ Subsequently, she wrote for a collection of 5 stories curated by Alabanza, titled ‘When all is said’ and performed to audiences one-to-one over the phone. Octavia’s story takes place across a university campus and drama school audition, which become breeding grounds for anti-trans hostility. Later, for Pride 2024, she wrote and recorded a story for children, as part of the ‘Ladybird Stories for Pride’ audiobook. Her story, ‘How to tell Baba?’ is a heartwarming sapphic story, surrounding a tortilla loving, mixed-race Spanish-Ugandan family.
A Dublin native living in Derby since 2016, Aisling is an accomplished playwright for radio. Aisling’s stories chiefly explore mental health, women’s health and experiences, and Irish culture. The radio/podcast drama Left Behind won Best Drama gold the 2015 PPI Irish national radio awards, and a Best Drama Special bronze trophy at New York Festivals’ International Radio Program Awards 2017.
Alongside her creative writing, Aisling researches and writes on the subjects of fashion, pop culture, costume and television, with work published by Irish Independent, Belfast Telegraph, Harper’s Bazaar and The Atlantic. A co-authored chapter, ‘Hashtags & Handles – RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Global Evergreen Audience’ will be published in the forthcoming book Drag on Screen, by K. Fairclough, H. Andrews & D. Cookney (eds.) London: Routledge, 2024.
Aisling jumped at the opportunity to receive support and mentorship from Fifth Word Playwrights to develop her creative skills and experience to write compelling stories for stage.
Zainab is a Midlands-based writer and facilitator with an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham. Her work focuses on a broad range of topics from platforming marginalised voices to blending myths into contemporary settings. Currently, Zainab is working on a commissioned play, as well as a novel that infuses her South Asian heritage with the Greek tragedy Medea.
Zainab has been a Trustee at Curve Theatre since 2023, where she chairs Curve’s Youth Panel. She was also part of China Plate Theatre’s The Optimists Producer Programme in 2024.
She’s excited to be a part of Fifth Word’s latest cohort and hopes to complete her play ‘Strands’ a comedy set on a waxing bed, which explores important topics like intersectional womanhood, envy of Cara Delevigne’s eyebrows and the delicate relationship between a client and their wax therapist.
Sophie is an award-winning writer and comedian. Her debut play, “Second Temple” won the Harry Porter Prize for Comedy and premiered at the Corpus Playroom before transferring to Riverside Studios. As a comedian, she has performed across the UK and USA, at venues including The Comedy Store, London, and Second City, Chicago. Sophie is also a screenwriter and was awarded a place on the BFI Creative Development Scheme 2023. She has recently developed her pilot on the WFTV Kay Mellow Screenwriters Lab 2024.
Sophie’s work melds dark comedy with difficult characters, tackling political themes through a lens of domesticity and warmth to re-centre the people in the midst of social commentaries. She is especially interested in place-based narratives, and how the different spaces we inhabit shape who we are as individuals and communities.
Finley-Rose is a creative practitioner based in Leicester. After studying Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, Fin embarked on a career in theatre, working as a facilitator and director at the Birmingham REP and Birmingham Hippodrome. In 2017, Fin was selected as one of the REP’s directors in training for their prestigious Foundry programme. Over the years, Fin has contributed to a variety of productions across the Midlands, taking on assistant director roles for both small- and large-scale projects.
While producing for BEFESTIVAL, Fin discovered a passion for European theatre praxis, a key influence on her writing style. Today, she co-runs Literati Arts, a Leicester-based poetry organisation, where she curates live poetry events and community projects. Fin’s short story, Constellations of Early Motherhood, will be featured in Things Left Unsaid, an anthology by Motherhood Uncensored, set for release this year.
Whether it’s playwriting, directing, or producing, community is the central theme in all of Fin’s work.
Emily is a Nottinghamshire native currently residing in London and has been a writer and journalist for almost seven years. She started her career as a local news reporter writing about the issues impacting underrepresented communities in Lincolnshire and now currently works as a news and investigations reporter for MoneySavingExpert.com; having won several awards, including Headline Money’s Rising Star of the Year, for her investigative work.
Despite always having a deep love for theatre and creative writing, Emily only turned her hand to playwriting last year and is thrilled to be part of this year’s Fifth Word cohort alongside some incredibly talented East Midlands writers. She hopes to finish her first play ‘What If…’, a comedy-drama about a young woman who uses maladaptive daydreaming as a way to cope with her OCD, with the guidance of the Fifth Word group this year.
Josie White is a Writer, Actor and Producer from Nottingham. As a writer, Josie is interested in exploring the socio-economic issues that are poignant to the lives of young people, through themes such as: Class, mental health, capitalism, morality, social media and pop culture, using these themes to create exciting and female led satirical theatre, targeted at young people. Josie believes tackling hard subjects with humour is generally how people cope with harsh realities and it is a tool she uses throughout her work to get audiences comfortable talking about the uncomfortable.
Josie’s debut play ROTTEN, directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair debuted at Leicester CURVE Theatre in Spring ’24 and toured around the UK. The play is currently embarking on a second UK tour, which includes dates at the prestigious Omnibus Theatre.
Jo Woolaston is a writer from Leicestershire. Since graduating with an MA in TV Scriptwriting from De Montfort University, Jo has published her first novel ‘Pink Ice Creams’ a contemporary tale of loss and self-discovery and has most recently been enjoying writing ‘Kitchen Sink’ style songs for her all-female punk band MissKicks (part of the Leicester Unglamorous music project.) Jo prefers to write about the small things – ordinary people finding themselves in extraordinary situations, and loves to create characters that weave their own (sometimes surprising, often dark) narrative.
Jo has always been a keen participant in theatre, both on and off stage, so to be writing her first full-length stage play with Fifth Word is a very exciting and welcome opportunity!
