OUR COUNTRY NOW
This production is currently in development.
In Autumn 2026, we plan to produce 4 x 70-minute new plays written by 4 working-class playwrights - Florence Espeut-Nickless, Shahid Iqbal Khan, Kelly Jones and Diana Nneka Atuona - who are based in four different regions around the country (Southwest, Northwest, East and Greater London) working under the umbrella title OUR COUNTRY NOW.
There will be a 2-day R&D with the writers and director Daniel Bailey in February 2025 after which the 4 writers will be fully commissioned.
In Spring/Summer 2027, the plays will rehearse for 3-weeks in each region with a local director, actors and stage manager followed by a 5-week run in London (4 plays running in rep, 2 plays per night) at the Southwark Playhouse Borough and a 3-week regional tour.
4 brand new plays commissioned by Ardent Theatre Company by Florence Espeut-Nickless, Shahid Iqbal Khan, Kelly Jones and Diana Nneka Atuona
MEET THE WRITERS
FLORENCE ESPEUT-NICKLESS
Florence Espeut-Nickless is a writer and actor from Chippenham in Wiltshire. She is Writer in Residence at Bristol Old Vic (FILM 4/Peggy Ramsay Playwrights Awards) and has recently written plays for the National Theatre and Trowbridge Town Hall. She’s under commission to Bristol Old Vic, National Theatre Connections, Restoke, Ardent Theatre, Hightide and Pentabus.
SHAHID IQBAL KHAN
Shahid Iqbal Khan's body of work includes Connections (Tara Theatre) and 10 Nights (Bush Theatre). The Olivier-Award nominated 10 Nights was revived in a new production in 2024. This production will return for a tour in January 2025. He is on the Genesis New Writers programme (Almeida Theatre commission) and is a recipient of the Peter Shaffer commission from the National Theatre (in partnership with Octagon Theatre). He is also on attachment to Paines Plough in 2024 with thanks to the Peggy Ramsay/Film 4 Bursary.
KELLY JONES
I’m a lesbian working-class Playwright from Essex. Winner of the BBC Wales Drama award. Alumni of the Emerging Playwrights at The Bush, Mercury Playwrights, BBC Drama Room and OrangeTree Writers collective. Recent credits: Ghost Stories by Candlelight HighTide/The Globe, Bump at Inventing the Futures Festival HighTide. My Mother’s Funeral: The Show Paines Plough (Scotsman Fringe First for ‘Outstanding New Writing’). My work is always inspired by my experience of poverty, the benefits system and the intersection between my class and queerness.
DIANA NNEKA ATUONA
Diana Nneka Atuona is a Nigerian-British playwright from Peckham. Her first play Liberian Girl won the Alfred Fagon award (2013) and opened at the Royal Court Theatre in 2015 to widespread acclaim. Atuona was also nominated for the Evening Standard Award (Most Promising Playwright) and the Writer's Guild award for Best New Play. Her last play, Trouble in Butetown, won the George Devine award (2020) and premiered at London’s Donmar Warehouse in February 2023. Currently, she is working on projects for TV and film.
FUNDERS
This production has been made possible thanks to:
Arts Council England
Backstage Trust
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Richard and Sabrina O’Brien
The Victoria Wood Foundation
Thank you also to the following for their support:
Ciarán Hinds, David Hare, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Joanna Lumley, Jonathan Pryce, Judi Dench, Martin McDonagh, Philip Davis, Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Tim Roth.
Adam Clifford, Adrian Wright, Alison Ness, Amy Steel, Avis Johns, Beatriz Segura Folch, Ben Fox, Beth Steel, Bethan Tomlinson, Beverley Costa, Breda Burke, Catherine Kanter, Charles Glanville, Charlotte Sands, Claire Lichie, Dan Sellick, David Harris, David Hendon, David Ogden, Deepa Shastri, Eleonora Rossotto, Elizabeth Hill, Emma Chilinski-Reed, Emma Davies, Gary Donaldson, Gem Morgan, Howard Teale, Ioannis Valsamakis, Jacky Hilary, James McCarthy, Jane Cunningham, Jennie Cooke, Jessica Higgs, Juan Carlos Vieira De Gouveia, Karen Moloney, Katie Purslow, Kelly Fagan Robinson, Kirsty Collins, Lesley Paine, Liza Vallance, Louise E Stern, Louise Nicholls, Louise Shum, Maria Sylianou-O'Neill, Mark Hopkinson, Matt Ginsberg, Matthew Davies, Maureen Steel, Michael Matus, Michael Spitzer, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Naomi Alexander, Olivia Darnley, Paul Burgess, Rebecca Hunt, Richard Laxton, Richard Manuell, Rita and Ralph Sands, Robert Gordon Clark, Rowan Wilson, Saleem Fazal, Sean Green, Sheilah Muir, Simon Croft, Simon Jay, Sonia Sudhakar, Stephanie Soh, Suzanne Summers, Tim Sessions, Valerie Edmond.