Ladyfriends

Annie and Christabel are dating. Historians dispute this on the grounds of 'inaccuracies' and 'lack of scholastic rigour' and 'the over-interpretation of the fact that women shared bedrooms'.

Ladyfriends is a high-octane romp through love letters, third dates, and lesbian period dramas - via the (probably) true stories of Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst. Rammed with live music and film, it digs up real-life queer history to ask the age-old question: "are we dating, or are we just really good friends?”

Expect confetti, PowerPoints, and power ballads.

REVIEWS:

“Clodagh Chapman opts to tell a plausible love story through moments of gig theatre, film and PowerPoint presentations (yes, really, and it’s utterly brilliant)” - Liam O’Dell

“A charming, stripped-back, playful metadrama” - North West End

“Queer history brought to life with glitterballs, electric guitar, anachronisms and attitude” - Audience feedback

⭑⭑⭑⭑ North West End

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ MerseyNewsLive

Headfirst Staff Picks [March 2023]


Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and by Manchester Pride’s Superbia Queer Arts Grant.

VENUES INCLUDE:

Shakespeare North Playhouse (2023)
Gloucester Guildhall (2023)
Loco Klub Bristol (2023)
Hope Mill Theatre (2023)
Camden People’s Theatre (2022)

---

TEAM:

Writer & Director
Clodagh Chapman

Producer
Sarah Allen

Dramaturg
mandla

Assistant Dramaturg
Sasha Georgette

Musical Director & Sound Designer
Izzy Odelola

Creative Assistant
Natasha Lunt

Cast
Ellie Mejía
Lucy Mackay

Onstage Camera Operator
Christina Holmbek

Additional Voiceover
James Varney & Christina Holmbek

Production Photographers
Natalie Argent, Emrys Thurgood & Hannah Hulatt


R&D TEAM:R&D Team
Reveal R&D Team

Dramaturg
Emma Rogerson

Electronic Music Specialist
Izzy Odelola

Cast
Kat Johns-Burke
Lucy Mackay

Stage Manager (MCR)
Ella Godbold-Holmes

Camera Operator (LDN)
Hannah Bristow

Embedded Critics
Diana Miranda
Emma Holtom

Production Photographer
Natalie Argent

With thanks to
Libby Williamson
mandla
Yandass Ndlovu

Supporters
Gloucestershire Heritage Hub
Voices Gloucestershire
Hope Mill Theatre
Camden People’s Theatre
London Metropolitan Archives
Goldsmiths Centre for Queer History
Contact Theatre
University of Manchester

 

LOB

Poet and theatre maker Roma Havers attempts to serve a LOB. A poetry bonanza about moving through sporting spaces as a queer body, even if you’ll never reach centre court.

REVIEWS:

“Joyful, communal and tender... and feels unpolished in the best way.” - I Love MCR

“Roma Havers serves volley after volley of wondrous wordsmithery in LOB - a show that pairs meticulous deployment of poetic licence with liberating (& delightfully offbeat) use of movement to winning effect.” - Circles & Stalls

Manchester Wire’s Picks of October 2022

Circles & Stalls Top Nine Picks of 2022

Contact Theatre’s 50 Most Celebrated


Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

VENUES:

Outburst Queer Arts Festival (2022)
Contact Theatre (2022)

---

TEAM:

Writer & Performer
Roma Havers

Producer
Ali Wilson

Co-Directors
Christopher Brown & Clodagh Chapman

Movement Director
Christopher Brown

Dramaturg
Frankie Blaus

Composer
Donna Loman

Access Champion
Ruth O’Sullivan

Supporters
Contact Theatre
HOME Manchester
Outburst Arts
The Proud Trust

First Kiss (With A Girl)

Up until now, the list of people I’ve kissed in the dark has been comprised of two names. Both male. But with the witching season approaching, all that is about to change. A kitschy, low-fi, bubblegum-sweet glance at queer intimacy.

REVIEWS & AWARDS:

Festival attendance supported by a British Council x BFI NETWORK Short Film Travel Grant.

“Startlingly inventive” - Irish Film London

“Every part of Chapman’s directing works in harmony. Too sweet to miss!” - Lesflicks, ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS:

2022 London Short Film Festival
BIFA- & BAFTA-qualifying

2022 Hamburg International Short Film Festival
BIFA- & BAFTA-qualifying

2021 Scottish Queer International Film Festival
BAFTA-qualifying

2021 EFN Film Festival
BIFA-qualifying

2022 Women X Film Festival

2021 Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Festival

2021 Athens Digital Arts Festival

Plus dozens of others worldwide.

---

TEAM:

Writer & Director
Clodagh Chapman

Cast
Wyn Turner

Thanks to
Clare Packham
Aniqah Rawat
Ru Wormington

butterfly

A new play about remembering (and forgetting) the everyday LGBTQ+ changemakers - told through music, monologue, dance, drag and spoken word.

REVIEWS:

“A brilliant show full of heart – it’s history that is far from dull and has been smacked through a queer kaleidoscope of charm, dark humour and vibrancy” - The Guardian

“A queer anthology which sizzles with an electric energy” - VAULT Emerging Critics

“As hilarious as it is heart-warming” - DIVA Magazine

⭑⭑⭑⭑ The Crumb

⭑⭑⭑⭑ VAULT Emerging Critics

DIVA Magazine’s Top Eight VAULT Festival Shows [2020]

Thespie’s VAULT Festival Picks [2020]

VENUES:

VAULT Festival (2020)
Loco Klub Bristol (2019)

---

TEAM:

Writers
Clodagh Chapman & Sam Arbor

Director
Sam Arbor

Producer
Ben Orr

Associate Director & Dramaturg
Clodagh Chapman

Musical Director
James Christensen

Drag Choreographer
Ruth Wormington

Production Manager
Grace Hart

Producing Assistant
Gabi Spiro

Lighting Designer
Ben Orr

Set Designer
Polly Wain

Costume Designer
Beck Throup

Additional Material
Anna Fenton-Garvey & Anusha Abbas

Script Development
Billie Collins

Research Assistance
Norena Shopland

Production Photographer
Harry Plowden

Odds & Ends

This is a bit of a general list of other little projects I’ve worked on, stuff in development, new work that I’ve put on ice for a bit, etc.

Drop It! [the lowry]

A love song to teenage pop rock and all of the adolescent hobbies you’ve long since dropped. Featuring drum kits, connection and a little bit of chaos.

R&Ded The Lowry as part of Rewrites Festival 2022. Shortlisted for the LET Award 2023.

Writer & Performer
Jodie Irvine

R&D Cast
Jack Hart
Radhika Aggarwal
Toby De Salis

Dramaturg
Clodagh Chapman

Supporters
The Lowry
ReCreate Agency
Outside Voice Productions

The Ghost Swap [the lowry & hÅb]

A bric-a-brac stall with a difference: ghosts. We’ve gathered a small collection of interesting objects - all of which are definitely, actually, haunted. Think: ex’s jumpers, snail shells, favourite mugs circa 1992.

  

Co-Lead Artists
Clodagh Chapman & James Varney

Supporters
The Lowry
Contact Theatre
hÅb / Word of Warning

Supported by The Lowry’s Artist Development Programme.

Sink [box of tricks]

Alva is a seventeen-year-old ball of adolescent angst who thinks she can control the weather, and stays up until 1am  each night to listen to the shipping forecast.

A play about superstitions, responsibilities, and what happens when we hold onto them so tightly it hurts.

(And the weather, obv.)

Writer
Clodagh Chapman

Supporters
Box of Tricks Theatre Company

Developed on Box of Trick’s Pen Pals and BoxFresh schemes, the latter supported by Rope Ladder Fiction.

GIRLS' CLUB! [barrel organ]

We’re going to stay up all night and talk about BOYS and RAGE and DIGITISATION OF YOUTH SUBJECTIVITIES. (This was a weird live video interactive Twine thing.)

REVIEWS:

“Ingenious and entertaining” - Audience feedback

“Nothing like anything I'd seen before” - Audience feedback

Writer & Director
Clodagh Chapman

LIVE Producer
Gabi Spiro

Mentors
Louise Mothersole (Sh!t Theatre)
Rosie Gray (Barrel Organ)

Commissioned by Barrel Organ for LIVE HOLBECK.

Stealing The Future [young vic]

New play about the climate crisis, hope & lost futures.

Received one day of R&D time via the Young Vic Director’s Programme.

TEAM:

Writer & Director
Clodagh Chapman

Young Vic R&D Cast
Ned Costello
Joshua Griffin
Leah Vanmali