Writers' Room Showcase
		Sunday 19 April, 2026 At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

The Tower's Writers' Room is a group of members who meet each month to create new scripts, generally on a theme set by the groups's co-ordinator, Janet South. Marking the end of the 2025/2026 sessions, each writer chose their favorourite piece from those written during the year, and these were performed as a rehearsed reading by a group of Tower actors.

Part 1 Leaky Teapot by Kate Roche Friends meet for a picnic in a local park Family Meal by Cassie Wilson It’s 2015 and time for a traditional Sunday lunch Primal Scream by Janet South Once a year, two friends meet on an isolated rocky outcrop December by Ian Hoare Christmas with Mary and Thomas Hot Stuff by Lisa Hevey Sarah supervises breakfast at their London house share Royal Flush by Richard Beswick A private room in an exclusive hospital Cyanide Radio by Oscar Gill Midnight in a low-budget radio station The Exhibitionists by Caroline Halcrow Two friends visit a gallery

Part 2 The Help is Coming by Isabel Quiroz The remains of a house destroyed after an earthquake Gone Phishin’ by Lizzy Nazer A kitchen, some time in the future Back to Basics by Julia Collier In the future, analogue and digital worlds are in conflict Meat and Potatoes by Clarisa Carvalho Climate change has disrupted food production Hungry, Love? by Jonathan Reed A hospital bed, a sandwich Fragment: Histories by Lucy Moss Women have been affected by changes in beauty standards

The Cast Rachel Bothamley Matt Tylianakis Sue Brodie Vyvian Shaw Joe Lewis Helen McGill Martin South Kate Pemberton Cordelia Hennessy

Production Team Producer : Janet South Directors : Janet South, Rosie Barwick, Ian Hoare, Martin South Stage Manager : Matthew Ibbotson

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Photography by Laurence Tuerk

The Writers
 

Kate Roche didn’t know how to write a play when she joined the Tower’s Writers’ Room in 2022. Thanks to the group she has seen her work on stage, come second in the Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize, and participated in the London Library Emerging Writers Programme. Joining the Writers’ Room has been truly life-changing.		Cassie Wilson is currently developing the stage play Carry on Changing, a comedy satire musical exploring intergenerational and social change. She has also written and performed in the immersive theatre production Lessons UN Learned with the collective theatre company Trunks and Trinkets. Alongside this, she writes and performs spoken word poetry. Her work explores identity, perception, and social change, often through an intergenerational lens.
Janet South has been writing short plays for a few years and enjoys exploring dark humour and awkward social interactions.		Ian Hoare joined the Tower in 2002 and has since been involved in more than forty productions. In most of these shows, he has been a cast member, but he has also directed several plays and in the past few years, encouraged by his participation in the Tower Writers’ Room, he has provided a number of scripts and contributed to adaptations.
Lisa Hevey joined the Tower Writers’ Room in 2024 and she has thoroughly enjoyed learning how to write plays over the past two years. Lisa’s work usually involves dark humour and, if you’re lucky, a puppet or two. Her first short play Lorelei was performed in 2025 and is one of Lisa’s proudest achievements to date.		Richard Beswick has worked as an editor for many years and is now enjoying the cha lenge of trying to create his own material.
Oscar Gill has been writing plays on and off since he was in school. With several scratch night script-in-hand performances and a poorly reviewed Edinburgh Fringe show amongst his chief accolades, his work attempts to explore the ideas of everyday stupidity, misunderstanding, and self-deprecation - obviously and very originally through the lens of dark humour.		Caroline Halcrow started writing songs but can now turn her hand to dramatic monologues and dialogues. After a year of practicing with the Tower Writers’ Room, she has completed her first screenplay The Blue Jay - a love letter to Stoke Newington.
Isabel Quiroz is an award-winning Mexican playwright with an MA in Theatre Directing. She writes, directs, and produces for Teatro Glam&Ro l, the theatre company she founded. Her plays are always inspired by real life stories. Her influences are crime novels, the noir genre, elements of Mexican folklore and the 70s glam aesthetic. Her training in acting with masks is evident in her shows.		Elizabeth Nazer has done bits of writing over the years, but always lacked discipline. Being in the Writers’ Room for the last two years and having homework, as wel as being surrounded by very accomplished writers, has been effective in making sure she actually f nishes something. Elizabeth likes writing about how wonderful trees are, and how annoying children can be.
Julia Collier wrote her first play when she was 16 and years elapsed before she wrote her next play, subsequently performed at the Landor Theatre. Involvement in comedy sketch writing and performing and contributing to the 10 Minutes a Month Writing Collective over a number of years led to joining the Tower Writers’ Room. This group has offered numerous opportunities to develop and hone her skills. Psychological horror and comedy are her favourite genres.		Clarisa Carvalho has just completed her first year with the Writers’ Room. Additional to attempts at short stories, previous writings include a 15 minute monologue about a Brazilian woman who became paraplegic after being shot at the back by her husband and her struggle to bring him to justice, her case contributing to the Domestic Violence Law in Brazil; and a 10 minute comedy dialogue, both staged by her at the Arcola Theatre. Meat and Potatoes is about a family’s survival strategies in a dystopian future society.
Jonathan Reed is an improviser, writer and director. He performed improv across London for over 10 years and was on the writing team for the sketch show Vice Captains (Edinburgh Fringe, 2018) and for a follow up podcast (Vice Captains: How to Life Life, 2021). Jon has been part of the Writers’ Room for two years and is currently directing Jerusalem at the Tower Theatre.		Lucy Moss has been writing plays since being put in charge of the Cousins’ Nativity at family Christmases, aged 6. Writers’ Room has helped her improve significantly since then and her favourite genre is spooky. She also loves an Oxford comma and swearing.