Writers Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley have launched Burn Bright, a new not-for-profit organisation aimed at increasing opportunities for women in the creative industry.
Beginning with two projects designed to connect and empower women writers, Time Bank and Better in Person, Burn Bright hopes to offer women the chance to connect with industry professionals and opportunity to make their voices heard.
Announcing their company, Allen-Martin and Henley said: “It’s taken us a while to recover, galvanise and gather our strength to launch Burn Bright – we wanted to honour our supporters properly and launch with the right team and a vision for the future.
“Writers who identify as women are still woefully underrepresented on the big stages and we fear that the current climate of ‘safe bets’ and ‘big names’ with ‘tested material’ will only serve to increase the gender gap, not to mention a lack of diverse representation in stories, and eradicating working class and benefit class talents.
“We want to be the change we want to see, there’s still a long way to go and a lot of trial and error to be had, but we’re really excited to have started this journey, and would like once again to thank all of our supporters for their generosity and patience.”
Commenting on the timing of their announcement, Allen-Martin and Henley added: “It feels like a weird time to launch – with theatres unsure of when they’ll open – but the way we see it, people will always need art, so we will do what we can to make sure women are represented in what’s produced.”
Inspired by the current world of online conversations, Burn Bright’s Better in Person, a commissioned series of short plays by women created specifically to be shared digitally via Zoom will debut on 25 May at 8pm.
Featuring a joint piece by Allen-Martin and Henley, the first live-streamed episode of Better in Person will feature contributions from Natasha Brown (I Am [Not] Kanye West, The Bunker), Sharmila Chauhan (The Husbands, Soho Theatre), award-winning Charlotte Jones (Humble Boy, National Theatre, Gielgud Theatre, The Woman in White, West End/Broadway) and Krystina Nellis (Glitch, VAULT Festival). Burn Bright plans to invite script submissions for future Better in Person events.
The second initiative from the new company, Time Bank offers women a networking hub for industry-led mentorships. Allowing one-to-one links with a range of arts’ professionals confirmed advisors include: producer Tara Finney (The Greatest Play…, Trafalgar Studios), writer and actor Oliver Lansley (Flack, UKTV), writer Morgan Lloyd Malcom (Emilia, Globe Theatre and Vaudeville Theatre), acclaimed director Eleanor Rhode (Boudica, Globe Theatre) and screenwriter Kirstie Swain (Pure, Channel 4). New advisors and additional sessions will be added regularly.
Angela Thomas
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