About

Mary is a Welsh-speaking theatre-maker, educator and researcher from Carmarthenshire, south Wales. She received a first class honours degree in Drama and English Literature at the University of Birmingham, and then a distinction on the MA Text and Performance course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and Birkbeck College. During this time she honed her skills in playwriting, movement, directing and dramaturgy.

A highlight of her educational years was during the summer of 2017, when she was offered a literary internship at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, USA. She worked as part of a team offering dramaturgical support across the four annual conferences: National Puppetry Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Playwrights Conference, and the Cabaret and Performance Conference. She specifically worked on a new musical in development (iLLA! by Ronvé O'Daniel, Jevares C. Myrick, and J Kyle Manzay) and a new play (Assisted Living by Michael Tucker) where she attended rehearsals and was responsible for tracking and editing script revisions.

Following the completion of her Master's studies, Mary was offered a PhD scholarship with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. Mary's PhD investigated the intentions behind creating new work at The Other Place (TOP), the studio theatre at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her research was supervised by Professor Abigail Rokison-Woodall and Erica Whyman, former Deputy Artistic Director of the RSC. This experience provided her with unique access to new work development in the RSC's 'engine room', where she observed rehearsals and R&D projects and was able to learn from a range of different practitioners.

Alongside her PhD, Mary began working as a freelance dramaturg at the RADA Festival, working with professional actors on new writing projects, and also developing Welsh language plays with Carmarthenshire Theatres, Theatr Cymru, and Blackwood Miners' Institute. While Mary enjoys collaborating with writers, she is passionate about working with actors and being in the rehearsal room and so she is increasingly interested in directing plays herself. Mary has recently worked as an assistant director at Theatr Clwyd on their 2024 production of Constellations and its Welsh-language production, Cytserau, directed by Daniel Lloyd. Mary enjoys working bilingually and presenting new plays in Welsh and in English.

Mary is enthusiastic about developing new ideas – whether that's working on an original piece of writing or looking at a classic play from a new perspective. She describes herself as curious, compassionate, and sensitive, and always places the needs of the project first before her own opinions and ideas. Mary is eager to build on her directing and dramaturgy skills and is always happy to connect with new artists – please drop her a message if anything above chimes with your own ideas or projects.