Hampstead Theatre has today announced the nine playwrights who will join its acclaimed INSPIRE programme for 2025/6 now led by Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens.
The selected writers are: Liz Daramola, Noga Flaishon, Lianne Harvey, Simon Jaggers, Simon Marshall, Roni Neale, Alex Rugman, Clancy Ryan and Isabella Waldron.
Each playwright will develop a new play with dramaturgical support from the Hampstead Theatre team. The writers will also benefit from masterclasses with leading playwrights, a series of workshops and a sharing of their play at Hampstead Theatre.
Simon Stephens has taken over as Programme Director from Roy Williams, who co-founded INSPIRE in 2017 and who led the initiative since its launch. Talking about the year ahead Simon Stephens said:
“The group of writers we have assembled is charged by their brilliant individuality. All nine writers write with confidence and energy. One of the joys of my working life has been to find identities for groups of striking writers. I can’t wait to start that work with Inspire.”
Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE was established to provide mentorship and development opportunities to first-time and emerging playwrights of all ages and backgrounds.
Greg Ripley-Duggan, Producer and Chief Executive at Hampstead Theatre said:
“We are thrilled to welcome this new group of playwrights to Hampstead Theatre and to the INSPIRE programme. New writing is at the heart of what we do and we are especially excited to see Simon Stephens bring his experience and passion to the programme. We can’t wait to see where their ideas and talent will take them.”
Since 2017 INSPIRE has supported 49 new writers, several of whom have gone on to receive full productions, commissions and industry recognition. Recent alumni include Nancy Farino, whose debut play Fatherland will premiere at Hampstead Theatre in November.
Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE programme is generously supported by Zmira & Rodney Hornstein, The Klein Family Foundation, Anatol Orient and Jon & NoraLee Sedmak.
INSPIRE 2025 WRITERS’ BIOS
Liz Daramola
Liz Daramola is a writer and producer from East London. Her debut play Bonhomié, developed on Soho Theatre’s Writers’ Lab, was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award 2020 and longlisted for the Mustapha Matura Award 2021. Screen credits include two episodes of PJ Masks for Netflix, an adaptation of Skate Cat Kate for Emanata Studios, and a short film for The Big House. A graduate of the Royal Court Writers’ Group, Oxford Playhouse Playmakers, BBC London Voices and NFTS/Left Bank/Sony’s Diverse Writers’ Programme. Previously, Young Producer at Almeida Theatre, Assistant Producer at the Young Vic and Barbican and Literary Associate at Lyric Hammersmith. After completing a BBC Studios Talent Works writers’ residency at Baby Cow Productions in 2023, she moved in-house as a Development Producer.
Noga Flaishon
Noga Flaishon is a London-based immigrant writer and producer with an MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media and too many characters still in the drawer. Their writing blends sci-fi, horror, and magical realism to explore contemporary issues and dynamics. Noga’s plays have been recognised by the Papatango Award, the Verity Bargate Award, the International Jewish Play Contest, and the Royal Court, with work staged in the UK and abroad. In audio, she is a regular contributor at Big Finish Productions, creating stories in the Doctor Who universe, as well as writing for immersive media such as Six to Start’s Zombies, Run!
Lianne Harvey
Lianne Harvey is a writer and actor from the Fens. She trained as an actor at RADA and has toured internationally, working on stage and screen. Her debut play Dad’s The Word is set to be staged at the Park Theatre and Royal & Derngate in summer 2026, with Roxana Silbert directing.
Simon Jaggers
Simon Jaggers is a London playwright, dramaturg and theatre-maker crafting bold, distinctive work with a DIY soul. His play Gun To Your Head sold out at VAULT Festival, toured East Anglia with HighTide, and is published by Playdead Press. An alumnus of the London Library Emerging Writers Programme, he has been shortlisted for the Edinburgh Untapped Award, Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, and Charlie Hartill Award, as well as longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. He co-founded the Dakota Collective, a theatre crew developing original work in non-traditional spaces. His new play, all vibes-based sad youtube play, premieres with the Rose Youth Theatre this December.
Simon Marshall
Simon Marshall is an award-winning playwright, poet and writing facilitator from Derbyshire, living in Sheffield. His writing explores sense of place and belonging.
His play In Defence of Adventurous Mothers won the inaugural VCA Playwriting Award, debuting at The Glitch in Summer 2025, and published with Methuen Drama / Bloomsbury. His audio-play kilburn (not london) has been heard worldwide, and his play Bonfire toured regionally in winter 2023 and was described ‘honest, brave and sharply funny’ by critic Lyn Gardner. Other credits include: VR Odyssey with Plus One (Stage Award winner 2023), The Fossil Kids (Sheffield Theatres) and Below Decadence (Camden People’s Theatre).
Roni Neale
Roni is a writer from Dorset living in London. In addition to writing, they have been professionally stage managing since 2017. They are a co-writer of the Rose Kingston’s 2025 production of Cinderella. Their work in 2025 includes a rehearsed reading for Camden People’s Theatre Every Body Festival, supported by Paines Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth. They received an Arts Council England DYCP grant to develop sustainable writing practice with an energy-limiting health condition. Roni lives with their partner & two cats, and enjoys niche museums. They are represented by Maddie O’Dwyer at Berlin Associates.
Alex Rugman
Alex is a writer and theatre maker based in London. His debut play How To Save A Rock, co-written with Conky Kampfner and developed with Pigfoot Theatre, won the Samuel French New Play Award and Sunday Times Playwriting Award at NSDF. He is the co-artistic director of Freight Theatre, with whom he created Move Fast and Break Things, which was shortlisted for the Untapped Award. It premiered at Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 to acclaim. His solo show An Investigation debuted at Peckham Fringe in 2022 and his debut play The Urmetazoan was long listed for the Bruntwood Prize in 2025.
Clancy Ryan
Clancy is a British-Australian actor and writer, raised in Singapore. In 2023, she wrote her first full-length play, Drew Gets a Ticket, which explores grief, female rage, and mother-daughter relationships. The play has since received a series of development readings. This summer, she directed the world premiere of Kay Adshead’s Scenes for 15 Actors in a Time of War at Alexandra Palace Theatre. Acting credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre), The Boy in the Dress (RSC), Cabaret (Lido2Paris), and South Pacific (Chichester Festival Theatre). She trained at ArtsEd.
Isabella Waldron
Isabella Waldron is an Oregon-born, London-based writer. Her play Chatter was shortlisted for the 2024 George Devine award. Other plays have featured with Here Arts Center (NYC), Nottingham Playhouse, Southwark Playhouse, Camden People’s Theatre, Bomb Factory Theatre, Portland Actors’ Conservatory, 24 Hour Plays (NYC), The WorkShop Theatre (NYC), Omnibus Theatre, The Egg Theatre, Orleans Gallery, Golden Goose Theatre & more. Plays Jawbone, Things I Never Told The Stars and Chatter were selected as semi-finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights’ Foundation. Her debut play how to build a wax figure was published by Methuen and premiered with Assembly at Edinburgh Fringe where it was shortlisted for the BBC/Popcorn award. She is also a proud volunteer with Scene and Heard.
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