Tower Theatre Company : An IQ Test for my Birthday

An IQ Test for my Birthday

by Melanie Bell

Directed by Ragan Keefer

Tuesday 12 - Saturday 16 December, 2023

At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

Part of Writers' Room : Home - four short plays on the theme of 'Home', the others being Homemakers by Janet South, Difficult to Describe, Understand or Measure by Sibila Diaz-Plaja and When You Go to Ireland by Kate Roche.

Photography by Jason Harris

Cast List

Callie : Helen Wieland
Edward : Fred McMahon
Becky : Eloise McCreedy
Sandra : Lucy Moss

Production Team

Director : Ragan Keefer
Assistant Director : Isobel Quiroz

For Writers' Room : Home

Artistic Team Lead : Landé Belo
Producer : Nichola Vasey
Set Design : Angelika Michitsch
Costume Design : Lucy Moss & Rachel Bothamley
Lighting Design : Robin Snowdon
Sound Design : Colin Guthrie

Stage Manager : Jacqui Dickson
ASMs : Lorelle Hirth, Olga Walkowska
Lighting Operator : Laurence Tuerk or Robin Snowdon
Sound Operator : Peta Barker
Set Design Assistant : Millie Weston
Set Construction and Get-In : Max Batty, Keith Syrett, Gary O’Keefe, Olga Walkowska, Stephanie Grundy, Seun Debiyi, Alex Burton, Izzy Cooper, Valentina Payne, Isabelle Leong

Helen Wieland first entered the am dram scene while in sixth form through the Sutton Amateur Dramatics Company (or, amusingly, the SAD Company for short). With them, she played Daphne in Present Laughter and the title role in The Ashgirl. This encouraged her to get involved in student theatre societies at the University of Edinburgh, where she studied psychology. At Uni she acted in various short productions (one coincidently directed by another Tower member!) and also got involved in directing. Helen's directing credits include Hangmen and also a Spanish play, ¡Hay motin, compañeras! She is now excited to be playing her first role at the Tower after moving back to London. Helen hopes to get to know more people through the theatre and get involved in more Tower projects in 2024!

Fred McMahon is a London born actor and writer based in Islington. This is his first show with the Tower Theatre, after joining earlier this year. He's a part of the Park Theatre Company and studied English and Drama at the University of Birmingham.

This is Eloise McCreedy’s second show with the Tower Theatre. Eloise moved to London last year after growing up in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and has performed at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne Recital Centre. Her credits in London include: Patricia Milligan in London Wall (Tower Theatre), Actor in New Writers Programme (KDC Theatre) and Trudi in Apologia (Putney Theatre Company).

Lucy Moss is a playwright, director and actor. She was most recently seen in Play and before that The Boy who Fell into a Book, Nine Night and Mules, all at the Tower Theatre. Online, she played Mother in Vitual Tower's award-winning zoom play adaptation of Metamorphosis, and she created the audio-drama Five Women with Angharad Ormond and Colin Guthrie. She co-wrote The Canterbury Tales adaptation and has appeared in a variety of other shows, including two different productions of The Seagull in 2018, where she played Irina each time. When not on stage, she assists with costume and make-up.

Writer’s Room is Ragan Keefer‘s (Rae) fourth show with the Tower. Ragan stage managed Spring Forward earlier this year, and then stage managed The Little Prince. She joined as Assistant Director for Richard III. Past directing credits include Echoes, On The Exhale, Lost Connections, VIRGIN-IA and, most recently, Heroin Is NOT The New Chic. Just recently Ragan has completed her MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of East London and is so grateful to have found the Tower since moving to London from the US.

This is Melanie Bell's second Writers' Room showcase. Her comedy about an IQ test takes a completely different direction from last year's dark feminist response to The Pictures of Dora Gray! As different as they are, both pieces were inspired by her interest in the gaps between extremes of ability and external expectations. Melanie is the author of three books - Chasing Harmony, Dream Signs and The Modern Enneagram. A Canadian writer living in Brighton, she feels lucky to be part of the Tower Theatre community.

	Helen Wieland first entered the am dram scene while in sixth form through the Sutton Amateur Dramatics Company (or, amusingly, the SAD Company for short). With them, she played Daphne in Present Laughter and the title role in The Ashgirl. This encouraged her to get involved in student theatre societies at the University of Edinburgh, where she studied psychology. At Uni she acted in various short productions (one coincidently directed by another Tower member!) and also got involved in directing. Helen's directing credits include Hangmen and also a Spanish play, ¡Hay motin, compañeras! She is now excited to be playing her first role at the Tower after moving back to London. Helen hopes to get to know more people through the theatre and get involved in more Tower projects in 2024!			Fred McMahon is a London born actor and writer based in Islington. This is his first show with the Tower Theatre, after joining earlier this year. He's a part of the Park Theatre Company and studied English and Drama at the University of Birmingham.
	This is Eloise McCreedy’s second show with the Tower Theatre. Eloise moved to London last year after growing up in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and has performed at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne Recital Centre. Her credits in London include: Patricia Milligan in London Wall (Tower Theatre), Actor in New Writers Programme (KDC Theatre) and Trudi in Apologia (Putney Theatre Company).			Lucy Moss is a playwright, director and actor. She was most recently seen in Play and before that The Boy who Fell into a Book, Nine Night and Mules, all at the Tower Theatre. Online, she played Mother in Vitual Tower's award-winning zoom play adaptation of Metamorphosis, and she created the audio-drama Five Women with Angharad Ormond and Colin Guthrie. She co-wrote The Canterbury Tales adaptation and has appeared in a variety of other shows, including two different productions of The Seagull in 2018, where she played Irina each time. When not on stage, she assists with costume and make-up.
	Writer’s Room is Ragan Keefer‘s (Rae) fourth show with the Tower. Ragan stage managed Spring Forward earlier this year, and then stage managed The Little Prince. She joined as Assistant Director for Richard III. Past directing credits include Echoes, On The Exhale, Lost Connections, VIRGIN-IA and, most recently, Heroin Is NOT The New Chic. Just recently Ragan has completed her MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of East London and is so grateful to have found the Tower since moving to London from the US.			This is Melanie Bell's second Writers' Room showcase. Her comedy about an IQ test takes a completely different direction from last year's dark feminist response to The Pictures of Dora Gray! As different as they are, both pieces were inspired by her interest in the gaps between extremes of ability and external expectations. Melanie is the author of three books - Chasing Harmony, Dream Signs and The Modern Enneagram. A Canadian writer living in Brighton, she feels lucky to be part of the Tower Theatre community.

		An IQ Test for my Birthday by Melanie Bell Directed by Ragan Keefer
		Tuesday 12 - Saturday 16 December, 2023 At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington