Close Quarters

Kate Bowen is a Glasgow-based writer and producer working in theatre and television.

Her play Close Quarters premiered at Sheffield Theatres in 2018 in a co-production with Out of Joint (later known as Stockroom). It was named by The Observer as one of their top ten theatre productions of that year. 

She was a 2012 recipient of the annual New Playwrights Award (Playwright's Studio Scotland) and participant in the 2013 Traverse 50 programme at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. She was awarded a place on the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme in 2016, a Starter for Ten residency from the National Theatre of Scotland in 2017 and to be part of the BBC Writersroom Scotland's first Drama Writers Group in 2018.

Her short plays have been performed at The Traverse Theatre (The Prize Fighter, audio play) Glasgow's Play, Pie and a Pint (The Lawyers) and on STV (Super Sunday, a Five Minute Theatre piece for National Theatre of Scotland).

Emily Aboud is a theatre director, a film director and a writer of mixed heritage, born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, based in London. 

She won the Evening Standard Future Theatre Award in 2021. She is an Associate Artist at the Bush Theatre and Artistic Director of Lagahoo Productions. 

She was shortlisted for the JMK Award in 2021. She was also shortlisted for the Genesis Future Directors Award and the Old Vic 12 in 2020.​

Her directing credits include SPLINTERED, (also writer Edinburgh Fringe 2019, Soho Theatre 2022), Pink Lemonade (Bush Theatre 2021, Edinburgh Fringe 2019), The Fairytale Revolution (Theatre503), British Book (Roundhouse 2021), BOGEYMAN (CPT, 2021), Exceptional Promise (Bush Theatre), Salty Irina (Ovalhouse), What We Talk About when We (Don't) Talk about Race (Theatre503), Hopes, Dreams or Goldfish (Bunker Theatre) among others.

She has worked with The Gate Theatre, The Bush Theatre, The Hampstead Theatre and Theatre503. She has worked internationally, directing and assistant directing pieces in Trinidad & Tobago as well as throughout the UK.

A teacher and facilitator, she has led workshops for Talawa, GRAEAE and the Bush Theatre. She has also directed drama school productions at Central School of Speech and Drama, ALRA South and Italia Conti.

She also works as a writer and columnist for the Trinidad Guardian, writing feminist articles under the pseudonym, lagahoo.

She also performs regularly as a drag king, TriniDad & TooGayThough across the UK and Trinidad & Tobago. Performing in The Yard, VFD, The Glory and EartH Hackney as a finalist for the Man Up competition, the largest drag king competition in Europe

Explores challenging topics and themes including war, gender, sexism, death and misogyny, with strong language, sexual references, use of replica firearms, sudden loud noises, and use of blood.