Neil Grutchfield
Dramaturg

In July I joined Esther Baker’s Synergy Theatre Project as its New Writing Manager. Synergy work with prisoners, ex-offenders and people at risk of offending. The company was founded in the belief that theatre can be transformative, aiding rehabilitation, challenging perceptions and placing wider issues around criminal justice in the public arena. I was inspired to join the company after seeing a play that I found life changing – it’s called The Long Road by Shelagh Stephenson and it is concerned with the complexity, toughness and truth of restorative justice and it was written and performed with honesty and humanity. The New Writing programme at Synergy mixes commissions from experienced playwrights with playwriting courses in prison or for ex-offenders and my ambition is to facilitate opportunities for writers emerging from the programme to gain skills and experience from theatre professionals so that they can develop their own creative voices.