Pontyclun writer Martha Reed has been selected as the first writer on Welsh National Theatre and Bad Wolf’s new Stage & Screen Writers’ Scheme.
Through the scheme, she will develop an original play for Welsh National Theatre while also developing the television adaptation with Cardiff-based production company Bad Wolf.
The scheme is open to Welsh and Wales-based early to mid-career writers. Bad Wolf’s productions include Industry, The Other Bennet Sister and His Dark Materials.
Martha’s new work will be set in contemporary Wales and explore “the pressing issues of our times”. She will receive support from both organisations as she develops it for stage and screen.
Her television credits include BBC One’s Beyond Paradise and the BBC Two Wales short film Bubble United. This year she was selected for the Royal Court Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting Group, and her play Genesis was nominated for the George Devine Award during her time as a writer-in-residence at Theatre503.
Martha Reed said: “I’m so excited to work with Welsh National Theatre and Bad Wolf on this incredible opportunity. It feels amazing to be working with two Welsh companies whose work has inspired me so much as a writer. This is a really innovative scheme, and I’m thrilled to have been selected.”
Martha, whose family are from the Rhondda and Cynon Valleys, said: “I think people have a perception of Wales that’s shaped by its history, and as a woman who grew up around the South Wales Valleys, it’s really important to me that the stories we tell reflect the humour, heart and tenacity of everyday life in these communities now.”
She named Kayleigh Llewellyn’s BBC series In My Skin and Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott among her influences.
Tim Price, Literary Manager at Welsh National Theatre, said: “Martha is the type of bold, ambitious writer this scheme was created to support. She has a distinctive voice, a real understanding of contemporary Wales and an instinct for creating big, compelling stories with characters and communities at their heart.”
Jane Tranter, CEO of Bad Wolf, said: “Martha is exactly the kind of talented new Welsh writer we want to champion and ensure there are strong creative opportunities available for her in Wales.”
