The Other Neville
Debut play
In 2025, I toured my debut one-woman play, The Other Neville, inspired by the career and journey of England Netball legend Tracey Neville.
At its heart, The Other Neville is a netball play - celebrating the journey England Netball has been on and paying homage to a sport that has often been overlooked and a sport I grew up playing. But beneath the game, the piece explores the world of elite sport, identity, northern roots, and the complicated relationship women have with their bodies.
As a small creative team, I worked alongside director Ellie Rose and Stage Manager/Technician Jess Dalloway, with sound design by Hannah Bracegirdle. We rehearsed for two weeks before opening at Rossendale's Horse + Bamboo Theatre, followed by a short regional tour including The Met in Bury, Oldham Coliseum, a sold-out studio performance at Theatre by the Lake as part of CumbriaFest, Darwen Library Theatre and New Adelphi, alongside performances through Live & Local's rural touring network.
Life Imitating Art
Then, in winter 2025, in a frankly ridiculous case of life imitating art, I ruptured my ACL during a netball match - a subject that also features in the play. Undoubtedly manifestation gone wrong.
Following conversations with director Ellie Rose, instead of ignoring this change in circumstance we decided to see it as an opportunity to bring forward the next stage in the show's development: scaling the piece up from a one-woman show into an ensemble production (this was always the plan eventually).
My injury became an unexpected catalyst for a much bigger creative evolution. The play underwent substantial rewrites, expanding into a seven-person cast who could share the physical demands of the piece while opening up new possibilities for the storytelling, characters and world of The Other Neville.
The reworked production premiered at Manchester's 53Two in June 2026 - marking the start of the next chapter in the show's journey.
