Ellie Keel (born 13 November 1991) is a British writer, theatre producer, and the founder and director of the Women's Prize for Playwriting .
Keel studied modern languages (German and Italian) at Brasenose College at Oxford University, graduating with First Class Honours in 2014. [1] After graduating, she worked for the Cameron Mackintosh Foundation and the Oxford Playhouse as the university drama officer, overseeing all student theatre productions at Oxford University.
In 2016, Keel co-founded (with Lucy Maycock, Ria Parry and John Hoggarth) Alchymy Festival at The North Wall, Oxford to support and showcase the work of early-career theatre-makers. In 2018, the Oxford Culture Review stated ‘There are so many good things to say about the Alchymy Festival that it’s hard to know where to begin.’ [2]
In 2019, Keel founder her production company, Ellie Keel Productions (EKP), to create ‘fearlessly imaginative, endlessly exciting’ new work across the UK and internationally. EKP’s productions include:
In 2024 Keel won the Producer of the Year in The Stage Awards, becoming the youngest ever to win in this category. [3]
In 2019, Keel co-founded the Women's Prize for Playwriting with Paines Plough to champion female and non-binary playwrights in the UK and Ireland. The prize launched later the same year. The prize launched later the same year. Past winners have included Amy Trigg (2020) and Sarah Grochala (2023).
In 2024, Keel was nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre for her work on The Swell by Isley Lynn, which was shortlisted for the prize in 2020 and ran at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2023.
In April 2020, Keel’s first novel The Four was published by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins. On publication, the novel became an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Keel’s second novel will be published by HQ in 2026.
Theresa Rebeck is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award. In 2012, she received the Athena Film Festival Award for Excellence as a Playwright and Author of Films, Books, and Television. She is a 2009 recipient of the Alex Awards. Her works have influenced American playwrights by bringing a feminist edge in her old works.
Kay Adshead is a poet, playwright, theatremaker, actress and producer.
Adjoa Aiboom Helen Andoh HonFRSL is a British actress. On stage, she has played lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. On television, she appeared in two series of Doctor Who as Francine Jones, 90 episodes of the BBC's long-running medical drama Casualty, and BBC's EastEnders. Andoh made her Hollywood debut in autumn 2009, starring as Nelson Mandela's Chief of Staff Brenda Mazibuko alongside Morgan Freeman as Mandela in Clint Eastwood's drama film Invictus. Since 2020, she portrays Lady Danbury in the Netflix Regency romance series Bridgerton. In July 2022, Andoh became an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974, currently led by Artistic Directors Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner.
Alexis Zegerman is a British actress and writer.
Amy McAllister is an Irish actress, most notable for her role as Mary in the BBC drama Call the Midwife. She appeared in Breeders alongside Martin Freeman for Sky One and in A Discovery of Witches which also stars Matthew Goode and Alex Kingston. Other credits include the BAFTA winning BBC/Merman comedy-drama There She Goes with Jessica Hynes and David Tennant, Victorian detective drama Miss Scarlet and the Duke for UKTV and PBS, Witless for BBC Three and the Stephen Frears film Philomena, which stars Steve Coogan and Judi Dench.
Adam George Brace was a British playwright and director. Brace was the resident associate dramaturg of Soho Theatre in London.
Alan Harris is a Welsh playwright and television writer.
Supporting Wall was an award-winning London-based theatre and general arts production, promotion and management company, founded in 2008 by producers Ben Monks and Will Young and operated for nine years until 2017. The company's own productions primarily focused on new writing and contemporary theatre, while management and publicity work has included projects across theatre, comedy, film, festivals, live music and dance - including work at the BFI Southbank, Royal National Theatre and many others. During most of this time, Ben Monks and Will Young were also based at the Actors Centre as creative producers for the Tristan Bates Theatre. In November 2023 Will Young was appointed executive director of London's Royal Court Theatre.
Zinnie Harris FRSE is a British playwright, screenwriter and director currently living in Edinburgh. She has been commissioned and produced by the Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her plays have been translated and performed in many countries across Europe and the globe.
Tom Harvey MBE is a BAFTA winning creative entrepreneur and writer.
Paul Miller was the artistic director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London from 2014 to 2022, succeeding the theatre's founder, Sam Walters.
Jon Bausor is an international stage and costume designer for Theatre, Dance and Opera. Based in London, he is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and designed the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Liveartshow is a company that makes theatre with music and was established by director Martin Constantine, writer Alan Harris and composer Harry Blake. The company works with a wide range of artists from different disciplines.
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is a British competition for playwriting, the largest of its kind in Europe—in 2019 it received 2561 entries. Since its inception in 2005, more than 15,000 scripts have been entered, £304,000 has been awarded to 34 prize-winning writers, and 24 winning productions have been staged in 38 UK-wide venues. In 2015 the prize celebrated its 10th anniversary and is now recognised as a launch-pad for some of the country's most respected and produced playwrights. The Prize is awarded to scripts that are original and unperformed. The award is a joint venture between the property company Bruntwood and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester the Prize is an opportunity for writers of any background and experience to enter unperformed plays to be judged by a panel of industry experts for a chance to win part of a prize fund totalling £40,000.
Sarah Grochala is a British playwright. Her plays have been performed at the Finborough Theatre, Theatre503, Hampstead Theatre, Arcola Theatre and Soho Theatre in London. Her plays have been produced internationally by the Griffin Theatre, Sydney, Tiyatro Yan Etki Istanbul, Turkey and on the Toronto Fringe Toronto Fringe Festival, Canada. Her book on playwriting, The Contemporary Political Play, was published in 2017.
Aleshea Harris is an American playwright, spoken word artist, author, educator, actor, performer, and screenwriter. Her play Is God Is won the American Playwriting Foundation's Relentless Award in 2016. In 2023, her play On Sugarland was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is an Olivier-winning British playwright and screenwriter.
Islander is a musical conceived by Amy Draper with music and lyrics by Finn Anderson and a book by Stewart Melton. It follows the story of a young girl called Eilidh, who is the last child on a remote and increasingly depopulated Scottish island called Kinnan. It includes elements of Scottish folklore and has no band, instead using live looping technology to create music and sound cues. The musical features only two performers, who each play multiple roles.
The Women's Prize for Playwriting is an award for female and non-binary writers from the UK and Ireland that was launched in 2019-2020.