National Theatre Connections 2019

About the Author

Rob Drummond is a writer, performer and director from Glasgow. His theatre credits include Sixteen, Bullet Catch, Hunter, Post Show, Allotment, Mr Write, Rob Drummond: Wrestling and Top Table. In 2011 Rob wrote, performed and directed his critically acclaimed show Rob Drummond: Wrestling for which he trained as a professional wrestler. His dark comedy Top Table appeared at Oran Mor in 2011 and his modern retelling of the Passion premiered in George Square in 2015. His play Don't. Make. Tea. premiered at the Traverse Theatre in autumn 2022 to critical acclaim, before it toured the UK in spring 2024. Nell Leyshon is a novelist and playwright, born in Glastonbury and now based in Dorset. She has written a number of plays for BBC Radios 3 and 4. Her stage plays include Comfort Me with Apples, which won the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright award in 2005 and an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's short story Don't Look Now. In 2010, she became the first female playwright to be commissioned to write for Shakespeare's Globe since 1599. Katie Hims is a writer for stage, screen and radio. This year her stage work includes Variations for the National Theatre's NT Connections, Three Minutes After Midnight for The Globe Theatre’s Dark Night anthology series, and The Stranger On the Bridge which toured The Tobacco Factory and Salisbury Playhouse. Katie's previous stage work includes Billy the Girl for Clean Break at Soho Theatre and she has spent time on attachment to the National Theatre Studio. Since 2014 Katie has written for the radio series Home Front, including five seasons as lead writer. Other radio work includes Black Eyed Girls (winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Original Drama), Lost Property (winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Original Drama), The Gunshot Wedding (winner of The Writer’s Guild Best Original Radio Drama) and The Earthquake Girl (winner of the Richard Imison Award). Radio Adaptations include The Martin Beck Killings by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. She has also written for the long running television series Casualty. Tom Wells is a playwright whose work includes Broken Biscuits (Live Theatre/Paines Plough UK tour, 2016); Folk (Birmingham Rep & tour, 2016); Jumpers for Goalposts (Watford Palace Theatre, 2013); The Kitchen Sink (Bush Theatre, 2011) and Me, As A Penguin(Arcola Theatre, 2010). Ben Bailey Smith started his career as a UK-based rapper known as Doc Brown before diversifying and moving into mainstream TV and film acting, stand up comedy, screen writing and children's books. He has a host of notable television performances under his belt including roles in Law & Order and Miranda as well as the British children's show 4 O'Clock Club. Lajaune Lincoln is a London based screenwriter. Current screenplays include the high concept neo-noir ‘Real Eyes’; industry satire ‘The One That Got Away’ featured in both Screen International and The Hollywood Reporter; sci-fi ‘Mesmetopia’; eighties’ thrillers ‘Dirty District’ and ‘Double Diamonds’; and the psychological thriller ‘Spacek’. Dawn King is an award-winning writer who works in theatre, radio, TV, VR and film. Laura Lomas is a playwright whose plays include Bird (Root Theatre and Echo); Blister (Paines Pough/Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama); Open Heart Surgery (Theatre Uncut); Come to Where I’m From (Paines Plough); Some Machine (Paines Plough/Rose Bruford); The Island (Nottingham Playhouse/Det Norske Oslo); Us Like Gods (Hampstead, Heat and Light); Gypsy Girl (Paines Plough Later at Soho) and Wasteland (New Perspectives/Derby Theatre; shortlisted for the Brian Way Award). Radio plays include My Boy (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play; Bronze SONY Award for best radio drama) and Lucy Island (BBC Radio 3). Her screen work includes Rough Skin (Touchpaper/Channel 4; shortlisted for Best British Short at British Independent Film Awards and Raindance Film Festival). She has also written two episodes of Glue (E4/Eleven Films), and has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4, Manchester Royal Exchange, and jointly by Clean Break and Birmingham Rep. She was a MacDowell Colony Fellow 2013, and a Yaddo Fellow 2014. Katherine Soper is a playwright. Her first play, WISH LIST, won the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, The Stage Debut Award for Best New Play, and caused Katherine to be nominated as Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards. Benjamin Kuffuor graduated from the National Film and Television School in 2011, and his first project following graduation was developed by Big Talk Productions for E4. Prior to his time at the NFTS, Benjamin’s first short play was produced at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2007, and he participated in the Young Writers’ Programme at the Royal Court Theatre in 2008. Benjamin is currently developing projects for Television, Theatre and Film. Luke Barnes is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and theatre-maker using live performance and film to tell stories and make a good night out that’s also useful as humans and as a community. Highlights include: Freedom Project (Leeds Playhouse), The Jumper Factory (Young Vic), The Sad Club (National Theatre), No One Will Tell Me How To Start A Revolution (Hampstead Theatre), All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Bush Theatre, Paines Plough Roundabout with Middle Child), Bottleneck (Soho Theatre with HighTide), Chapel Street (Bush Theatre), Weekend Rockstars and Ten Storey Love Song (Hull Truck with Middle Child), and The Saints (Nuffield Theatre). He is an avid Liverpool fan and average (to poor) musician.