Hi & welcome. I’m an Arts Council England supported theatre writer~director & NCTJ trained journalist. I write across forms & lead on comms for purpose-driven organisations. My body of work can be found below & at StreamLyric. Get in touch.
BIOG
Originally from rural Rutland/Leicestershire, I currently live in a flat near the river in Twickenham, where I write across theatre, journalism and poetry and manage PR for a Social Impact organisation.
At 11, I received a local government grant to attend Stamford School and at 12 relocated to Bahrain UAE for my Dad’s first teaching job. A dedicated ballet dancer, I attended Central School of Ballet’s Pre-Senior School with a scholarship from Leicestershire County Council. However, I turned to acting on developing Adolescent Scoliosis of the Spine.
My MAs are in Acting (Mountview) and Creative Writing, Scriptwriting (UEA), with thanks to these trusts. While living in Norwich and Peterborough, I made and toured three multimedia plays supported by ACE East. I am currently working on a new play for a platform in London in June 24.’ For more info’ on shows, residencies and awards, please see my Writing/Directing CV.
During the pandemic years, I built-up my PR career and retrained on the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism. Consequently, I have freelanced for The Stage, The Byline Times, Good Morning Britain and have experience at The Economist. I am a London theatre/dance reviewer for The British Theatre Guide. All my work is permeated by an interest in synthesis of the arts and social affairs.
A high functioning Dyspraxic, I’m happy to share experiences and support with other neurodiverse artists and young people.
Lives of F
Lives of F (#LivesofF) is a series of narrative poetry-films made with found-footage and describing the life-cycle of a Millennial: Baby ‘F’. Sometimes F is a girl/woman – ‘Effy’, sometimes a boy/man – ‘Fred.’ But always they are consummate performers living out significant moments through performance metaphors. No. 1 ‘Birth’ draws on Synchronised Swimming, No. 2 ‘Infancy’ is full of Circus…etc.
Birth – Synchronised Swimming
Infancy – Circus
Effy’s Adolescence – Trampolining
Fred’s Adolescence – Singing
Young Adulthood – Acting
Adulthood – Film
Lives of F is my first pure literature project supported by Arts Council England and punctuates a shift towards exploring the scope of digital literature. A blog on the project & some thoughts on the relevance of UK arts funding can be found via the National Centre for Writing podcast.
A Week in Eden – A radio-play about Bahrain, ex-pats, first love & human rights.
See perusal script below
MENTAL Play
David swings on a pendulum of party highs and existential lows. Emma’s social anxiety is peaking as she rarely leaves her Mum with dementia. Petr is a Slovak whose move to the UK sends him into a mire of workplace frustration and depression. Told through fast-paced drama, poetry and film, MENTAL Play presents an unlikely peer group at a tender stage of life.
MENTAL Play is a dark comedy about three twenty-somethings in a pilot mental health support group. Three twenty-somethings; one mental journey. Inspired by the socio-political move towards ‘parity of esteem’, MENTAL Play uses sensory stimuli to present private worlds and wicked social commentary.
The show was originally developed in partnership with OMNIA House, Mind*, Writers Centre Norwich and Norwich Arts Centre. In 2015, MENTAL Play toured to – Camden People’s Theatre, Brighton Emporium, Peterborough Key Black-Box and The Abbey Centre, Westminster, where simultaneous giggles were heard from both young and senior audience alike. As a company, we were happy to welcome markedly diverse audiences of theatre goers, public service workers, mental health patients and many who identified as disabled or marginalised. Particularly heartening were the ‘thank yous’ offered to members of the tech’ and creative team following shows and Q&As, no more so than at The Abbey Centre. Some quotes from MENTAL feedback post-cards and industry representatives:
Mark Richards (Producer – METAL) –
‘A multi-sensory exploration of the challenges of maintaining a positive mental attitude whilst undertaking group therapy! Sensitive but with a critical and sometimes comic eye, the show explores our desire to create a ‘care-full’ community in the 21stcentury, and the various mechanisms employed by individuals to support their personal healing ‘journey.’
‘Excellent and thought-provoking! Really enjoyed!’ – audience member
Niamh De Valera (AD, Blue Elephant Theatre) –
‘A thoughtful look at the complexities of mental health issues and treatment’.
‘An important show about an important subject…thank you!’ – audience member
CAST
2015
David Dominic Lindsay
Emma Sophie Ormond
Petr Cal Jones
Marion Alison Mead
2014
David Simon J. White
Emma Rebecca Finch
Petr Cal Jones
Marion Bev’ Bishop
‘Tamsin Flower’s play is deftly directed and utterly convincing, with strong performances by the cast. The text explores the difficult issues around mental health without flinching. The characters conflicting needs are brought vividly to life and uncomfortable truths explored. A challenging and original piece of theatre.’
Martin Figura (Spoken Word Artist)
Writing Testimonials
‘An original and sophisticated piece of new writing by an author uniquely placed to tell this story (…) real class and depth.’ – Producer/Afonica on AWIE
‘ …adept at creating rich worlds and engaging characters and addressing interesting topics in a striking and unusual way. Clearly a skilled writer.’ – Agent, Casarotto Ramsay Associates
‘Tamsin is an artist and writer with great integrity and vision’ – Director, Colchester Arts Centre
The Book project
During 2020’s 1st lockdown, I unearthed a story that had been gestating since childhood, and with it – a host of family scrapbooks dating back to the mid-1800s. These scrapbooks, charting the accolades of the men in my mother’s family, were kept by the women.
As a piece of auto-fiction about the women in my mother’s family, it uproots the landscape of Northern Ireland via the POV of the gentry and skips in time between experiences of: displacement, poverty/wealth, learning difficulties and self-determination. It’s working title is ‘Treasure Reclaimed’ and it’s a thing close to my heart, which I am working on with a mentor.
The Verbatim GREEN_SPACE Play Project
‘The Verbatim Green_Space Play Project’ encompassed the making of an outdoor verbatim play from a highly diverse collection of audio-interviews with volunteer gardeners of The Environment City.
Based at three of Peterborough’s burgeoning community gardens, this Creative People & Places Commission saw audiences witness their own words performed within a fictitious framework in the green spaces themselves.
Running at 40 mins, GREEN_SPACE is a family show of light and dark shades, boasting moments such as a woman giving birth to a melon, a water-pistol offensive and choreographed interludes of live pop-flute. It also touches on prevalent themes of the interviews, such as: mental wellbeing, reclamation of identity, belonging and envisioning the future of these spaces.
Audience Quotes:
‘This was the best story that I’ve ever heard’ (Emma, young audience member)
‘Enjoyable, well acted, good music – good mix of fun & serious.’
‘We loved it…Lets see more! Thank you all.’
‘Very enjoyable. Made me laugh but was serious @ bits. Was great. Didn’t know what to expect.’
‘Bravo! Enjoyable, informative, fun.’ – Mark Richards, Producer, METAL Culture.
GREEN_SPACE was devised with Actor/Musician, Sufia Manya and actor, Roger Wentworth; and was edited from the words of volunteers at Westraven Big Local, The Olive Branch Community Garden and The Green Backyard. It was supported by the PCC Leadership Fund. This project would not have been possible without the kindness and advocacy of the late Wull Robertson. Interviews can be heard here: Soundcloud & on the Stream-Lyric Newsflow
TRANSFORMER
TRANSFORMER (working title) is a mid-scale show for two actresses and two male dancers about female transformation in western film. It explores the narratives around womanhood through the prism of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Norma is trapped in a journey down memory-lane, from the smoke of pre-censorship gambling dens to the hope of a 1940’s pleasure cruise. But Eddie is ambivalent about her mother’s antiquated standards and must find a way of doing career/love/life in twentieth century ways. Finally, motherhood brings Eddie and the audience into the present day and a transformation neither she nor her mother ever expected.
In Spring 2016 Stream-Lyric undertook four weeks of intensive show development as the first resident company at The Key Theatre and also as part of my Time & Space residency at Metal Culture. The research and development version of the show was consequently platformed at Cambridge Junction’s Hotbed Festival in the Main Space. As a result, Cambridge TV also broadcast the R&D version of the ‘play with dance’ and an accompanying interview.
‘I’m really impressed, the dance and drama worked really well together.’ – Sheena Carman, Arts Programme Manager, Vivacity.
‘I really enjoyed the Mother-Daughter relationship and the way it went into shadow in the 1940s.’ – Audience member.
TRANSFORMER’s writing/research process included screenings of the stimuli films in partnership with FRAME Film Club based at Metal. These were widely attended by very diverse audiences whose contributions to the two-way Q&As unveiled a wealth of cultural expectations and individual responses to genre and the roles of women within/without the frame. The show’s dramaturgy and script was further developed in 2017 in partnership with the University of Kent’s Network of Research: Movies, Magazines and Audiences (NoRMMA) and the Melodrama Research Group. An audio recording of responses to the first discussion workshop can be found on Sound Cloud – TRANS Kent.
A link to The Melodrama Research Group’s Blog on the session: UniKentBlog
TRANSFORMER was developed with performances from TrashDollys Dance Theatre and actors, Rosanna Miles and Katie Withers with the support of Arts Council England and Vivacity Arts.
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