A Bit About Me
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada I've been living in the UK since 2001. My first stage play Eyes Catch Fire was produced in 2004 at London's Finborough Theatre and since then my work has been seen on stages in the UK, Canada, the USA, Germany, Turkey and more. Like most writers I do additional work to pay the bills, mainly involving education - you can find out more about that here or scroll down to see my writing and education CV.
Although mainly a playwright I have written screenplays for television and film and I'm currently working on my first novel. I dabble in poetry too and will be posting my work on this site from time to time here.
​
Interested in performing one of my plays? Re-publishing one of my poems? Collaborating on a project? You can get in touch with me right here or via social media.
Stage Plays
Below are a selection of my stage plays. Some have been produced, some haven't. Some have been published, some haven't. Some have been really well reviewed and re-staged and some...well...haven't. But whether the plays were successes or failures, I am of course proud of them all, so here they are.
​
If you want to read full versions of any of the plays or to talk about translations, rights for potential productions, or anything else, just get in touch.
​
For a list of productions, awards and other theatre (and education) work check out my timeline here:
What I Write About
​
A lot of my plays are concerned with the importance of place. Eyes Catch Fire is loosely based around my family's Guyanese heritage, while GBS, 87-99, The Canadian and 21 Things... link to the country of my birth. Bridges and Two Shots From A Pistol were born after a trip to The Balkans in 2004. And so on.
​
I love working with genre. Third Floor and Finders are attempts at stage thrillers, The Canadian is a broad farce, On Holiday and Stand Sentry stabs at absurdism and, along with Fantasy and Weirdo, dark comedy.
​
My writing for young audiences includes The Match, Rose's Clothes, Violet's The Pilot and Daisy Amazed Me.
EYES CATCH FIRE
On the day of her son's baptism, Mary Caldiera receives the one guest she least wants to see. Herself.
​
Eyes Catch Fire fragments time and shifts reality to tell the story of one family's destruction while exposing the larger, political implications of immigration and post-colonial life. The play spans two decades, transporting the audience from the freezing suburbs of Canada to the sweltering wilderness of British Guyana.
​
Winner of Canada's Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition, 2003.
GBS
Rich and Sam meet at the airport. They haven't seen each other in years and the have practically nothing in common. But their father is in a coma and the least they can do is find out why.
​
This two-hander tells the story of two brothers trying to get to the hospital in one piece in a hilarious tale of suburban misadventure.
​
Winner: Patron's Pick Award, Toronto Fringe, 2004.
Runner-up: John Whiting Award UK, 2007.
STAND SENTRY
Two soldiers stand sentry. Surrounded by danger, they must be united.
​
But then there's the question of tea...
​
This short play won first prize in the London Writer's Competition in 2006 and was produced at Toronto's Rhubarb Festival. Later, it was adapted into a film of the same name and was nominated for best screenplay at the Strasbourg Int'l Film Festival, 2009.
BRIDGES
A young man meets an older man in London, England. An older man meets a young man in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Connecting them is a hotel room, a bottle of whiskey and a knife.
​
A short play for two actors.
​
Bridges was a runner-up in the 2005 London Writers Competition and was later translated into Catalan in collaboration with Barcelona's Sala Beckett.
87-99
In the suburbs of Toronto, a monster stalks the streets. When two young friends have the chance to stop him, but don't, their lives are changed forever.
​
Interweaving fiction with the true crimes of Paul Bernardo, one of Canada's most notorious serial rapists and murderers, this full-length play charts life in Toronto between 1987 and 1999.
​
A sprawling account of a city losing its innocence.
FANTASY
Michelle has had a peek at her teenage son's computer. She doesn't like what she sees. But when no one else seems particularly bothered, Michelle takes matters into her own hands.
​
A comedy that asks how we navigate the turbulent seas of parenthood in an age of technology and whether or not a happy family can ever be anything more than mere fantasy.
​
Long-listed for the Bruntwood Prize, 2011.
THIRD FLOOR
When a young woman buys her first flat it seems like all her dreams are coming true. Then she meets him. Overbearing, brash and prone to gaffs, her across-the-hall neighbour is definitely strange - yet strangely attractive.
​
But when an innocent prank goes horribly wrong, the newly formed friendship is pushed to breaking point.
THIRD FLOOR has been produced at London's Trafalgar Studios, Off-broadway in New York, at Toronto's Summerworks Festival and elsewhere in the UK and Canada, as well as in Germany, Switzerland and Turkey.
THE MATCH
Two Mums clash when one of their children is the only student in class not invited to a party.
​
Game on.
​
This short play for young audiences was written as part of The Commissioners project for Company of Angels (now Unbound Theatre). It premiered at Highgate School, London, before transferring to Latitude Festival, 2012.
WEIRDO
Most people are stupid. But if you listen to Weirdo, you might just understand why he has to do what he's about to do. With the gun.
​
This dark and twisted monologue follows a day in the life of a strange young man and the increasingly disastrous - and dangerous - choices he makes.
​
Shortlisted for The Courtyard Award, 2015.
21 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TORONTO'S CRACK-SMOKING MAYOR
2013. New Year's Eve. An Edinburgh Hotel. Here, a Canadian ex-pat is launching a spirited defence of the world's most scandalous politician, Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto.
​
But when things start to go wrong, will she remember what arguments she's supposed to be making?
​
A monologue about the rise of a controversial Canadian legend.
ROSE'S CLOTHES
Rose is a young girl having a bad day. Everybody wants her to take more responsibility but she just wishes somebody would do everything for her. Then she discovers the secret locked in her Grandmother's trunk: magical clothes. At first it seems like all her problems are solved but quickly things spiral out of control.
​
The first in the 'Bouquet of Plays' trilogy for younger audiences, this is a story about messing up, dressing up and growing up.
A FIRST CLASS DEATH
1854: London's cemeteries are full. The London Necropolis Railway is built in Waterloo station to transport the dead outside of the city.
​
2015: London's cemeteries are filling. And a group of young entrepreneurs are re-opening the line...
​
This site-specific, immersive piece was committed by Baseless Fabric for Vault Festival, 2015.
VIOLET'S THE PILOT
Today is Violet's big day. In front of a crowd of reporters, she's about to become the world's youngest pilot. But just when she's ready to make history, disaster strikes in the form of Bud, the world's youngest environmental activist.
​
Violet versus Bud. Who will win? Only the pack of reporters - our audience - can decide what tomorrow's headline will say.
​
The second in the 'Bouquet of Plays' trilogy for younger audiences.
FINDERS
Joan and Zeb are trying to be good people: they don't eat meat, they don't fly, they refuse to work for big corporate chains. But when Joan discovered millions of pounds in a long-forgotten bank account, the couple's world is turned upside down.
As things get dangerous, it becomes clear someone is exploiting the situation. But who?
​
This full-length play was shortlisted for the Terrance Rattigan Society Award, 2015.
DAISY AMAZED ME
Daisy is a wallflower, happily growing up in the shadow of her bold, outgoing Mom. But one day mom starts loser her colour and with each passing moment she gets more and more drab. Confronted with the possibility that they might be separated, Daisy embarks on a quest to halt her Mom's decline.
​
Written in verse (to be set to music or beats) this is a wild tale of technological adventure, colourful characters...and mental health.
​
The third in the 'Bouquet of Plays' trilogy for younger audiences.
THE CANADIAN
A small-town waterfront resort is threated by overdue bank loans and a condo developer looking to build on the site. Just then, an eccentric Hollywood writer storms into town with a list of demands and the cash that might just save the day.
​
With slamming doors, mistaken identities and dropped trousers, this is classic farce set in contemporary Canada.
​
Written especially for the region in which it's set, this comedy premiered in summer 2018 in - where else? - Canada.
TWO SHOTS FROM A PISTOL
On a sunny day in 1914 a teenage nobody from the middle of nowhere pulled twice on a pistol's trigger and blew the entire world apart.
His name was Gavro Princip. Now, he's going to tell us why he did what he did.
​
This full-length play was shortlisted for the Writers Guild of Great Britain's Playwrights' Progress Award, 2014.
ON HOLIDAY
Clive and Jo are on holiday. Sure, their children are still annoying and there's no escape from the other tourists but with so much sun, sand and sea they're determined to have a great time.
​
Until they find a severed human foot.
​
A black comedy in two acts, this play asks just how far we're willing to go to get away from it all.