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'The ''S'' Is Silent', a production by University of Essex BA Drama and Literature 2022 graduate, Marina Cusi Sanchez, premiered to raving reviews at the Off-West-End this April 2023. Marina tells us more about debut London experience with her fledgling theatre company and original play.

Alison Parkes is an Essex-based playwright whose work includes the play Tigris, shortlisted for the inaugural Mercury Theatre Playwriting Competition, and the musical Saving Face. She is a graduate of the MA Scriptwriting (Theatre and Digital Media) course in the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex. Alison originally wrote Hold High the Lamp as a television series. It’s a period drama telling the story of Dublin-born May Abraham, who became the first-ever woman HM Inspector of Factories in the late 19th century. Alison later adapted this teleplay into a five-part audio series, and this is a recording of episode five.

Theatre can show us how our most intimate and seemingly private experiences have a connection outwards into the wider world; any event, any action or conversation, no matter how small, takes place in a particular time and place; it is connected to society, politics, history and the wider world. Professor Liz Kuti discusses how theatre relentlessly makes the connection between the private and the public.

Theatre and drama can be entertainment, but they can also unstick difficult social problems by promoting empathy, encouraging us to see life from different perspectives and nurturing links between people. The latest Louder Than Words looks at how theatre can bring insights, bring people together and unlocks issues. Theatre writers and creators Professor Liz Kuti and Annecy Lax, from the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre talk to Professor Jules Pretty.