We are delighted to introduce our brilliant panel of readers for Fifth Word Playwrights group. The four-strong panel comprises; afshan d’souza-lodhi, Nathan Ellis, Omar Khan and Hannah Stone. All eligible script submissions will go to our reading team before creating a shortlist of up to 24 writers. Each submission will be read by at least two members of the panel. To find out more about our readers check out their bio’s below!
afshan d’souza-lodhi
afshan d’souza-lodhi was born in Dubai and forged in Manchester. She is a writer of scripts and poetry. Her work has been performed and translated into numerous languages across the world. afshan was a LabFellow for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University and took her one-woman show ‘How To Eat Mangoes’ to Washington DC in 2022. She is currently working on developing the show as a feature film with Early Development Funding from BFI.
afshan has been writer-in-residence for Sky Studios, New Writing North, Royal Exchange Theatre, Warner Bros discovery and is this year’s writer-in-residence for Bluebird Pictures. afshan was one of the first to receive The National Theatre’s Peter Shaffer award in 2022.
afshan was selected as a mentee for the BAFTA BFI Flare programme, and has developed a TV series with Sky Studios. She is developing multiple TV projects one of which was recently selected for the Sky Table Reads Programme. A TV pilot she wrote called Chop Chop, based on her stage play with the same name, was selected as part of the second annual #MuslimList, a curated list of the most promising unmade scripts from Muslim writers in Hollywood that reside on The Black List.
As well as her own writing, afshan is keen to develop other younger and emerging artists and sits on the boards of Pie Radio and Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester. She is also the WGGB Regional chair of Manchester and Lancashire.
Nathan Ellis
Nathan Ellis is a British writer. He was a member of the Royal Court Invitation Writers’ Supergroup 2018-19 led by Alice Birch and Ali Mcdowall. He was a member of the Channel 4 Screenwriting Group 2023 and BBC WritersRoom Drama Room 2021-22. In 2020 his play SUPER HIGH RESOLUTION was Shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award. It was performed at the Soho Theatre in 2022 directed by Blanche McIntyre (★★★★★Daily Mail) and in the repertoire at Staatstheater Kassel in 2023 directed by Manon Pfrunder. His play Instructions won a Scotsman Fringe First Award for new-writing in 2024 and will tour internationally in 2025. His play work.txt (a play without actors) opened at the Soho Theatre in 2022 and received ★★★★★ from The Guardian as well as winning awards at the Adelaide Fringe and Dublin Fringe and being invited to the Caravan International Showcase 2022. The show is currently on an international tour (Australia, Germany, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Egypt) and has been translated into six languages. His first play NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU (‘a blazing debut’ The Stage) was invited to Incoming Festival 2019 and in 2023 in Italian at Teatro Belli, Rome. He is the Artistic Director of theatre company SUBJECT OBJECT and is a Creative Associate of the Nottingham Playhouse, where he runs the Nottingham Playhouse Writers’ Group.
Omar Khan
Omar is a director, facilitator and writer based in the Midlands. Collaboration sits at the heart of his process as he works to support artists and regional development, and engage marginalised communities, enabling conversations around topics including: grief, identity, and spirituality.
He was a recipient of RTYDS’s 18 Month Residency, where he was placed at Derby Theatre and directed the regional premiere of ‘Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play’. He is also an alumnus of Birmingham REP’s Foundry scheme & Tamasha’s Directors Programme. He is currently on New Perspectives 24/25 Associate Programme. In 2024 he was long listed for the Sir Peter Hall Award.
Current projects include: A Beginner’s Guide to Widowhood
Hannah Stone
Hannah (she/her) is a director, theatre maker and producer who has been working in the industry for 18 years. She recently co-directed The Trials By Dawn King for Nottingham Playhouse. ★★★★★“An utterly gripping and powerful production” (East Midlands Theatre)
In 2022 she directed the critically acclaimed SHEWOLVES by Sarah Middleton which did a national tour, Edinburgh Fringe and 3 week run at Southwark Playhouse. It was published by Samuel French and the pilot of a TV version reached the top 5% of the BBC Comedy Collective. They are currently developing a new show, Skin and Blister, a thriller about female relationship to risk and what we’ll do for freedom.
“Laughs are plentiful, and the whip-smart direction of Hannah Stone ensures the audience is drawn into their exhilarating miniature quest for climate justice” (Broadway World on SHEWOLVES)
She is Co-Artistic director of Rebel Sparks (Formerly The Gramophones) which they founded in 2011. The Company have created and toured numerous shows, notably Aidy the Awesome which was commissioned by Leicester Curve and supported by Arts Council England.
Hannah directed Pinocchio by Sarah Middleton in 2019, which was transferred to the Mercury Colchester in 2022 and Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Anna Wheatley in 2022 for the Nottingham Playhouse.
Hannah was an Associate Artist at Nottingham Playhouse for 3 years where she read scripts on their behalf, was on the ideas submission panel and was a reader for the Phoebe Francis Brown Award.
About Fifth Word Playwrights
Fifth Word Playwrights is a free playwriting group for people aged 18+ who are living in or with a strong connection to the East Midlands. Fifth Word Playwrights has been created in partnership with Derby Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse, with support from Writing East Midlands and In Good Company.
The project is aimed at people who want to create new stories for the stage. It is for people who are first-time writers or people who are already playwrights but have no more than two plays professionally produced. It is for people who have a passion for storytelling, a talent with words and an interest in writing for the stage.
Fifth Word Playwrights will get:
- 10 free workshops on playwriting, in-person and online, from November 2024 to May 2025, facilitated by playwright Zodwa Nyoni
- Guest sessions, insights and exercises from exciting playwrights, theatre-makers and people working in the Industry
- Their chance to create a brand new play
- To experience an extract of your play performed by professional actors in an East Midlands theatre in Summer 2025
- To connect to an ongoing network of writers in the East Midlands