Tour the Writer
Tour the Writer is a multi-year writer development programme, established by Paines Plough in partnership with leading theatres across the country.
This project exists to create a local, regional and national network of writers and storytellers, whilst offering ongoing support, development and mentoring from Paines Plough and our partner venues.
Our partner venues are:
- Theatre Royal Plymouth
- Landmark Theatres: Peterborough and Barnstaple
- Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
- Mercury Theatre, Colchester
- Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
- Bradford Producing Hub & Bradford 2025, Bradford
The project kicked off in 2023 with Open Writer’s Labs at each venue, giving budding writers the opportunity to meet the team, connect with each other, and begin their development journey. This was followed by one-to-one meetings between venues and writers (called ‘Talk to Us’), and two online masterclasses on ‘Structure’ and ‘Demystifying the Industry’, with panellists Katie Posner, Gillian Greer, Nathan Queeley-Dennis, Chloë Moss, Aisha Zia, Mike Bartlett and Charlie Josephine.
Year Two
2024 marked Year 2 of the project, taking 72 mentored writers to continue their journey and to develop their ideas with our partner organisations and dramaturgs.
Bradford:
Daniel Bernard, Carolyn Eden, Claire Eden, Amber Hafren, Michael James, Nick Maynard, Marina Poppa, John Quinn, Richard D Rhodes, Jan Ruppe-Rahman, Tahir Shah, Laura Strickland, Marie Williamson.
Colchester (Mercury Playwrights in association with Tour the Writer):
Emma Bernard, Sue Bevan, Tassa Deparis, Daniel Hallisey, Giannini Hemmings, Eleanor Hyde, Ed Ismail, Fiona Padfield, Ben SantaMaria, Benjamin Wilkinson.
Coventry (Belgrade Theatre):
Sara Amanda, Linzi Doyle, Matthew Gabrielli, Sam Holley-Horseman, Paul Tafaro, Alisha Kadir, Ryan Leder, Katy Lynam, Roe McDonnell.
Cumbria (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick):
Sophia Atcha, Nina Berry, Beth Broomby, Lekhani Chirwa, Eireann Devlin, Daneka Etchells, Karen Featherstone, Grace Kirby, Eve Pereira, Rachel Price, Hannah Roze-Lewis, Sally Ann Staunton, Hannah Stratton.
Landmark Theatres – North Devon & Peterborough:
Michele Borsten, Charlie Essayan, Lore Green, Lori Hilson, Kayleigh Mai Hinsley, Carron Holmes, Nayomie James, Selina Keedwell, Louise Lecky-Thompson, Susan Luciani, Jessy Roberts, Nathan Rodney-Jones, Lucy Roslyn, Anne Rouse, Ysella Sims, Emily Swettenham, Sam Turton.
Plymouth (Theatre Royal Plymouth):
Hattie Collins, Jon Nash, Roni Neale, Rosie Race, Fynn Roberts, Jane Spurr.
The Tour the Writer Year 2 mentored writers activity is generously supported by the Noel Coward Foundation.
