‘I’m From Lincolnshire, But I Pretend I’m Not’ by James McDermott

Writer performer James McDermott is from Lincolnshire but pretends he isn’t. Why? Is it because of the traumatic time he had growing up gay there? Because he doesn’t think he’d ‘make it’ in the arts if he came out as Boston born and bred? Because he wants to distance himself from the public image of his birthplace? Why isn’t he proud to be a ‘yeller belly’? ‘I’m From Lincolnshire But I Pretend I’m Not’ is a new coming of age comedy drama exploring performance, storytelling, queerness, shame, the state of the arts and the state of the nation through one person’s reckoning with where they’ve come from.

‘Queen Bayard’ by Jamie Walsh

A work-in-progress that blends theatre, cabaret, gig and stand-up, following the absurd adventures of Queen Bayard as she tumbles through pop culture moments, political news stories and run-ins with familiar faces. It’s chaotic, surreal and playful – designed to blur boundaries and invite audiences into a wild, satirical ride.

‘Arctic Monkeys Show’ by Scum Collective 

We intend to create a new piece of touring theatre based on British rock band Arctic Monkeys, and their lead singer, Alex Turner. The play would be a satire/dark comedy about the desire for fame in the modern world and would focus on a killer being haunted by his victim, the aforementioned singer.

‘HUNGER’ by Fury Theatre

HUNGER is a visceral, one-woman monologue that collides past and present. The piece inhabits the mind of a suffragette imprisoned for protest, starving herself on hunger strike as her only weapon. But the prison walls fracture and time slips: one moment she is in Holloway in 1912, the next she is on today’s streets, confronting police body-cams, hashtags, and digital “feeds” that choke as much as broth forced through a tube. The character is both historical and contemporary – a woman whose body becomes the site of resistance, collapsing the distance between suffrage struggles and the unfinished battles for bodily autonomy, justice, and safety today. Her journey arcs from fiery defiance, through physical collapse and intimate confession, to a raw, cracked resurgence of rage.