Worthing playwright fulfills ambition of six plays in a year

“The Highway Rogues will be my sixth play, and my first show was August 21 last year. So that is six plays in a year. That was always my target. It had to be an even number. Odd numbers a bit weird! I'm one of those people who always has to have the volume on an even number!

“When I first started last August I still had a full time job but in October I got made redundant from my job. But talking with my partner Jason we decided that I would spend a year seeing if I could make this playwriting thing work and see if I could produce my own shows. He has supported me massively and has allowed me that time and space to create.”

And the plays just keep on coming: “I've always had a lot of voices in my head! Once they start talking to me they just don't stop and I just go with them and see what happens.”

The play have all tended so far to be quite different: “But I suppose I'm still practising and evolving. Two of the plays are suspense plays and there a couple of comedies, and Safe is really completely different to the other ones. Safe is like a thriller. It's literally two people in a room and I just wanted to keep it very simple and let the dialogue flow.”

Very usefully, this summer Rebecca had the experience of being in one of her own plays in the Worthing Theatre Trail when an actor dropped out with just 24 hours’ notice. Rebecca was determined that she wasn't going to lose the opportunity and so she had no choice but to slip into the play herself: “I put my acting shoes on for the first time. I'd never ever acted before and it was good. But I was totally terrified. I just had to blank out the audience that was there and I used the props so that I could secretly have the script there for the bits that I kept tripping up over. But it definitely gives you a different understanding of what a play is. I'm not a director. I just say ‘Here is the script’ and we work on it together but I understand now how important blocking is and where you are standing and how you can use props to help the flow. It was a massively useful experience.”

Not that she is getting any more confident with the writing though, she laughs: “I always have massive self-doubt. I always think that everything I write is rubbish and have a lot of talks with the actors and just to see how it works. It's very much a collaboration and making sure that it all comes together and getting people’s feedback so that it all comes across properly.”

Barmaids is the first play this September. Mia offers Bianca a job in her pub as she is intrigued by her chaotic nature. But as the two get to know each other, a dangerous game begins. It will be performed on Wednesday and Thursday, September 4 and 5, 7.30pm at The Charles Dickens Pub, Worthing.

The Highway Rogues is next up. When Eliza, the lady of the house, loses everything, her servant Molly comes up with an idea to get them some money. But becoming highway women is not as easy as they thought. It will be performed on Thursday, September 26 at The Brewhouse and Kitchen, Worthing.