EXCITING NEW WRITING IN AID OF CHARITY

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Welcome to The Three Spirits. A pub in an unnamed town in England. You all know the one... the floors are a bit creaky and the wood is dark. There's a roaring fireplace somewhere and the barman well... he's been there for forever...

Pither Prods, in association with Chloe Cattin, is proud to present ‘The Three Spirits’ a Christmas show of exciting new writing in aid of raising funds for ‘Acting For Others’. 

Three characters reflect on their own relationship with the festive season. Come on a journey of heartbreak, new love, family woes and ancient cats…!

It’s been an incredibly difficult year for theatre. With funding cuts, the cost of living crisis and record numbers leaving the industry, it felt more urgent than ever to support the wonderful theatre community. All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards ‘Acting for Others’ which has a network of 14 charities that provide financial and emotional support to all theatre workers in times of need. 

Lydia Brickland (She/Her) is a writer, performer and all round bad bitch from Gateshead. Her work examines big, complex issues in a fun, lively and accessible way. 

Lydia’s writing is always filled with humour, playfulness and she centers a radical kindness in her practice. Outside of writing she has taken up running and will tell you she’s running the London Marathon at every opportunity she gets (smug bitch). 

Writing Credits include: Tangerines (Alphabetti Theatre, 2023), Deck The Stalls (Wandsworth Fringe Festival 2023) and Dear Sophie Ellis Bextor (Camden Peoples Theatre, 2022). Short Plays: HEN HEN HEN (53 Two, Mancester, 2023), Taking Stock (The Lowry, Manchester, 2022), Frubes, Creme Eggs, and Massive Slags (Live Theatre, Newcastle, 2022), Ice Cream Van Fucker (The Old Courts, Wigan, 2022) How to Get Rid of Your Gag Reflex (Lion and Unicorn, London, 2021). 

"Lydia Brickland’s pure comedy script, which cleverly balances office shenanigans & touching holiday feels" - Fringe Biscuit 

She writes and performs with the all female and non-binary comedy collective Your Aunt Fanny. Taking shows to; Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Soho Theatre, The Tron Glasgow, Live Theatre Newcastle and many many more.  

She’s written and performed on their numerous productions and tours including; Minge Unhinged (2019 – 2020), Bonnie and Fanny’s Christmas Spectacular (2019 & 2021), The Cumback (2021), Muff Said (2022 - 2023) and The Nar-Tivity (2023). 

"Don your rose-tinted glasses and escape to the pink party for an hour of sheer brilliance." - Broadway World 

Jonny (he/him) graduated from the MA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in 2021.

His writing credits include: That’s Ace (Vault Festival & King’s Head Theatre, 2023), PlantGays [co-written] (Tour - London, Devon & Exeter, 2023), My Beautiful Distraction (Barons Court Theatre, 2022), 7 Minutes in Heaven (Web-Series, Lost Tapir Productions, 2021) and ‘What You Do With It’ a Talking Heads Monologue (Online, Up ‘Ere Productions, 2020). 

That’s Ace received 4 award nominations including a London Pub Theatre Standing Ovation Award nomination and an OffFest nomination. He recently completed an R&D of his next show ‘Shaky Breaky Heart’ which will hopefully be seen in 2024.

He is also an actor and is currently touring the country in a Pantomime tour of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ as Jacques the Jester.

 Hannah Kennedy (they/them) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter with an MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Their play, Godmodders & Metagamers, was selected for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 37 Plays Project. 

Their works have been performed at The White Bear Theatre, The Showroom, Barons Court Theatre and the Guildford Fringe. This year, their commitment to telling queer stories was recognised with their play, When We Die (What Will Become of Us?), winning the prestigious Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award.  

Chloe is a Director, Theatre Maker and facilitator from Zimbabwe and was selected to take part in Katie Mitchell’s directing intensive at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Chloe has a BA (Hons) Degree in Theatre and Performance (Theatre Making) from the University of Cape Town where she was a member of the Golden Key Society and was on the Deans' List. Chloe was the youngest member invited to join the Lincoln Centre Theatre Directors Lab in New York and she is an alumnus of the Directors Lab Mediterranean in Barcelona.  She has worked with the Young Vic on numerous projects, Work Light Productions, Mark Rubinstein Limited as well as directed work at the Drayton Arms Theatre and Hope Theatre.

Other Credits Include: Deck the Stalls a one woman anti panto written by Lydia Brickland and performed by Laura Rea at the Hope Theatre, Drayton Arms and Wandsworth Arts Festival (Director), Twigs by Hannah Kennedy, commissioned by the University of Chichester (Director), The Drought (Associate Director), Fire (Playreading), The Prophet of Monto (Playreading), Nest (Writer and Director), Oedipus Electronica and Medea Electronica (Assistant Director) and The New Voices Festival (Curator and Producer). 

 Christmas always reminds me of my mum. It was her time of year not only because she loved feeding people and had a wonderful sense of fun and tradition but because she was so generous. Dickens speaks of ‘the true spirit of Christmas’ and for me, my mum always encapsulated that. We didn’t have a lot growing up, but our house was always open and there was always enough food to feed a small army. 

We grew up in Zimbabwe where a lot of the songs and movies about Christmas didn’t quite make sense with sweltering 30 Degree heat, but there was always such a strong sense of tradition and family and togetherness. I will always remember our annual Christmas Champagne Croquet Challenge which was a post lunch highlight. It was actually a kiddies croquet set and the champagne was definitely some sparkling wine but we loved the alliteration! After lunch, we’d recharge our glasses and pile outside for a game of croquet. It always got a bit out of hand and a little bit competitive but it was fabulous. And home. 

Nina runs Pither Productions and is a writer, performer and producer living and working in London. 

Nina studied Film & Media Studies at Brighton University and has various performing credits including ‘Candy’ in Whistle Down the Wind (Winter Gardens, Margate), ‘Celia’ in As You Like It (People’s Company/Globe Theatre) and various comedy roles in dark horror/comedy ‘Him Indoors’ (The Pleasance, Blue Elephant Theatre, Sweet Venues). She trained at Identity School of Acting, and penned her first play ‘The Drought’ in 2021, which went on to win London Horror Festival’s Playwright competition and an Offie Short Run award. It debuted at the Kings Head Theatre in 2022 and ran for a further four nights at the Old Red Lion Theatre as part of their first GrimFest season. Nina joined forces with Productions Medium Rare in 2023 to produce the second GrimFest season, a celebration of dark, twisted theatre in Islington. 

Nina is passionate about working with new writing on the fringe scene, and is a keen advocate of female/female identifying writers in the horror genre. She wrote and produced ‘Tales From the Hellfire Club’ an anthology of short horror stories which performed as part of GrimFest ‘23 and her next play ‘Horne’s Descent’ will debut for ten nights at the Old Red Lion theatre in Feb/March 2024. 

Life for me as a child was split between living in England and living in Cyprus. The funny thing about Cypriots is that despite half of it being a muslim country, there's a very strong sense of English community there, and so its traditions and culture spreads into theirs. Mum's a Canadian, and the Anglican church was a big part of her childhood, so Christmas was always a big deal for us. No matter where we were, it was always celebrated with joy and vigour. My dad, a Cypriot Turk, was more English than some Englishmen I knew growing up, so he would always join in and enjoy the festivities; one of the things that always used to make me laugh was how he used to call Santa "Christmas Father".  

Below is a letter I found that I wrote to "Christmas Father" when I was around 11 or 12. The references to Moulin Rouge date it nicely(!) Asking for tickets to England reminded me that this was an odd Christmas mum and I spent in Canada, away from Baba, and I remember being very homesick for England at the time, and desperate to be back in the company of my dad.  

'Dear Santa Claus, 

This is Christina. Remember me? This year I want two tickets to go to England. That would be the best Christmas present. If not, I would like some PJs, The Moulin Rouge video, the Moulin Rouge CD, a beanie baby and some clothes. Harry Potter clothes if u want. I love Harry Potter. Do u know Harry Potter? He's this wizard and he has glasses with a scar on his head. yeah well he's cool. Well that's all for this year. MERRY CHRISTMAS. Love Christina. 

P.S 

Could you please give me a watch as well? and oh yeah, don't forget the chocolate coins."