Eight writers land places on mentorship scheme

Eight new comedy writers have landed a place on a six-month paid training programme to develop a new piece of work, with the aid of some well-established mentors.

The names of the up-and-comers chosen to take part in this year’s Sky Comedy Rep – a new partnership between Sky Studios and Birmingham Rep theatre – have today been announced.

They were chosen from more than 400 entrants and will now receive guidance from a team that comprises Sanjeev Bhaskar, Liam Williams, Morwenna Banks, Laurence Rickard, Nathan Foads, Danielle Ward, Daniel Lawrence Taylor and Paul Doolan.

 The scheme was established by The Rep's artistic director, Sean Foley and Sky Studios creative director of comedy, Anil Gupta

Gupta said of the scheme: ‘We have forged a pipeline which is already channelling excellent comedy talent into this industry. Our new crop of writers hail from all over the UK and have already demonstrated exceptional creative, comedic talent.

‘Sky Studios is proud to work with them as they start out on their careers, and we look forward to a future of discovering and unlocking still more talent for everyone to appreciate and enjoy - live and on TV.’

Foley added: ‘I am incredibly excited to help these eight brilliant comedy writers take their first steps in this amazing industry.  Developing and nurturing new talent is central to what we do at The Rep. I can't wait to see where this year's writers will take us and themselves.'

The writers' programme culminates in a live staging with Sky Comedy Rep presents Parklife: A Festival of New Comedy Writing in May. 

This year's writers are:

Tom Critch
Tom describes himself as a cack-handed Salfordian scribe with ideas way above his station, and wholly unreliable ankles. He is winner of the David Nobbs Memorial Trust competition and winner of Best Comedy at the Portobello Film Festival. Comedy has always been in his blood, which shows you how lackadaisical the NHS can be sometimes. 

Doug Crossley
Doug is a writer and performer, originally from Stoke on Trent. Past recognition includes being a finalist for the Mercury Weinberger playwriting prize, and winning a place on the Bafta  Rocliffe Forum List for his original sitcom, Fairies. He can often be found performing improv comedy on a house team at The Free Association in London.

Alice Etches
Alice Etches is a writer, actor and comedy performer. She has written for several series across TV and Radio, and was a finalist in the David Nobbs Competition 2018, Funny Women writing awards 2019,and BCG’s Yellow Door competition 2020. 

Alice is currently working on a number of short films, and sitcom scripts. Her character skits and sketches can be found on Instagram @aliceetches 

 Aoife Kennan
Aoife is an actor and writer. She grew up in Durham, but identifies as Irish and has the passport to prove it. She was recently on the Royal Court Writers Programme and has developed work through Masterclass Script Sessions. Her new play, SCRATCHES (a funny show about self-harm) was showcased at new writing nights at the Jermyn Street Theatre and will show at VAULT Festival in 2023.

Mahad Ali 
Mahad was part of BBC Studios Writers Academy 2021, where he worked on continuing drama series Eastenders, Holby City and Casualty. Also a part of the inaugural Tamasha Theatre Playwriting group, Mahad performed at Stratford Theatre Royal Stratford East, Rich Mix, Park and Soho Theatre’s with Tamasha and Paines Plough. Currently Mahad’s is passionate about developing TV comedy/drama ideas which share the fun, joy and pain of the Black British African experience.     

Georgie Morrell
Georgie Morrell is a comedian, writer, voiceover artist and award-nominated actress, who has  performed at various fringe festivals across the country including Great Yorkshire, Guildford and Leicester, along with three solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Georgie has written for the Metro and The Huffington Post. She has also featured in Time Out magazine and is an ambassador for the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC).

Hattie Soykan
Hattie Soykan is a queer comedy writer who grew up with four cats, two rabbits, and a whole lot of existential dread in a tight-knit Muslim community in Manchester. She began her career at BuzzFeed where she wrote funny articles about pop culture and social commentary and has dabbled in writing sketch comedy at Soho Theatre. These days Hattie lives in London, with just one cat and a healthy sprinkle of leftover existential dread, where she writes stories centred around culture, sexuality, and identity.

 Asia Wray
Asia is a writer and poet hailing from Birmingham. Her work has featured on billboard campaigns for Spk About It (I Want to Run at Night) and Open Media (International Women’s Day). Her career ambition is to ‘tell powerful stories that is reflective of the world around her’. She describes this experience as a ‘full circle moment’, having left the city ten years ago.

Published: 28 Nov 2022