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When We Died (Pleasance) - Ali Wright-118

041318Alexandra&KateDonnachieTYOWLDPubli

Hi! I'm Alexandra 'Alex' Donnachie (she/her) and I'm a South London born and bred 6ft tall, half-Scottish, caffeine & negroni fuelled...

ACTRESS

I've been working professionally as an actor-writer since 2012 and since then, have appeared in numerous stage productions, including Atomic 50 (Blackhorse Workshop), The Arrest of Ai Wei Wei (Hampstead Theatre) and The Good Neighbour (Battersea Arts Centre). I'm currently a Head Puppeteer for Joey and Topthorn in the National Theatre's UK & Ireland Tour of War Horse (yes, that was fun to type!)

In addition to stage work, I played Sylvia Pankhurst in the BAFTA Award winning The Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley (BBC One) and I've appeared in numerous audio dramas for Big Finish and Audible. I play series regular, Jacqueline 'Jackie' Tate in the Dark Shadows audio drama series. I have also written an episode for Series 3 which is due for release later this year.

My writer-performer credits include: 3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle (UK Tour, Edinburgh Fringe 2018); twenty-eight (DEM Productions: Theatre 503) and When We Died (Carbon Theatre: UK & European Tour) which has gone on to be nominated for (and win!) numerous awards since it premiered at the 2020 VAULT Festival.

and... WRITER.

You can find out more about the plays I've written and had produced below and take a look at some of the opinion pieces and blogs I've written for various publications here.

I am currently developing my fourth full-length play, a screen adaptation of my award-winning play, When We Died, and I'm thrilled to be under commission to inkjockey for an upcoming project which - without being super annoying - I don't think I'm allowed to talk about yet but I'm really (really!) excited about it.

Oh! And I also...

...have over a 10 years worth of experience working in schools (primary and secondary) across the UK, often on behalf of theatres and companies including KIT Theatre, The Old Vic and EVERFI as a facilitator and LAMDA tutor. In addition, I lead sessions alongside my own projects, including an ACE funded series of workshops geared towards encouraging professionals to prioritise safeguarding in writing, performing and theatre making. I'm hugely proud to marry my facilitation skills with my experience as a writer and script reader in my role as Script Session Coordinator for the brilliant Masterclass.

If you'd like more information about any of the above, don't hesitate to get in touch!

THE WORK I MAKE, WRITE AND SORT OF PUT TOGETHER

The work I make myself mostly focuses on telling real stories (usually my own, sometimes somebody else’s and more often than not, a mix of everybody’s) in new and exciting forms. Always fun and never without the help and support of my friends and colleagues who specialise in all areas of theatrical magic.

Following a 4-year development process (on and off!) the When We Died team were incredibly lucky to finish our run at the 2020 VAULT Festival right before the country went into its first national lockdown. Thankfully, When We Died (directed by Andy Routledge and produced by Carbon Theatre), received lots of lovely reviews and kind words (see here!) during the run which meant we were in a good place to pick up where we left off once Covid cases began to fall.

‘Donnachie is really terrific… It’s quietly hold-your-breath gripping.’

– Lyn Gardner for Stagedoor. Read the full review here.

Almost a year to the day after we opened at VAULT Festival, the team behind When We Died was awarded a grant from Arts Council England to film the play with Manchester based Eight Engines and to create 4 workshops centred around safeguarding and protecting the wellbeing of creative teams and audiences alike when making trauma-based theatre. The film streamed online throughout August 2021 as part of the EdFringe digital programme.

In 2023, exactly three years to the day since we ended our run at the 2020 VAULT Festival, the When We Died team, complete with some new faces, brushed off the cobwebs and took the play and, in some cases, its accompanying workshops on tour across the UK to venues including The Dukes, Lancaster, London's Jermyn Street Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath. We topped off the tour with a month-long visit to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August of that year. This time, in person.

To take WHEN WE DIED to the Fringe was always a goal but we weren't confident it would ever be possible, let alone that, if we did get there, we'd be programmed at Summerhall. This was a big, brilliant thing for me both professionally and personally; aside from always believing When We Died would sit well in the Summerhall programme as a piece of new writing, I also knew it would be perfect from an aesthetic one point of view! And it was. We were in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre! Furthermore, I'm half-Scottish so Edinburgh (and its surrounding areas) is very special to me, and a bit of a second home so I was so proud to be go back with this play and its excellent team.

If you are a venue or organisation and you'd like to talk about Carbon bringing the show or its accompanying workshops to your space or event, you can contact me through the Contact page of this website or get in touch directly with Courtenay of Carbon Theatre. Otherwise, check back soon to find out what else we're up to!

Fringe Review Must See Award (A New Award for Prague Fringe 2024) WINNER

International Fringe Encore Series, Soho Theatre, Off Broadway, New York Prague Fringe 2024/25 Nominee.

Prague Fringe 2024 Performance Award (Individual Artist who has excelled in their performance at the festival) Shortlist

The Stagey Place Best Script Award WINNER 2023

The Stagey Place Best Performance Award Shortlist 2023

The Stagey Place Best Play Award Shortlist 2023

Filipa Bragança Award Shortlist 2023

“A genuinely original premise in a stunning […] script”

- The Scotsman

“Thoroughly absorbing […] strong, gut-punching narrative” - The Stage

THE HELLENIC GAMES

Over the last few months, I've been working with my friends and co-creators Michael Armstrong and Daniel Millar - in addition to an incredible team of theatre makers and performers and some of the best access consultants who are working in theatre today - to develop a large-scale immersive family theatre show with integrated accessibility. We're aiming for the production, which explores the Olympic and Paralympic values, to open in Summer 2024 alongside the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In November 2022, thanks to a grant from Arts Council England and endless support from Battersea Arts Centre and Wimbledon Library, we ran a 2-week R&D which culminated in a sharing to a group of 30 young people from a local primary school and their teachers. We also invited along a number of our friends, colleagues and mentors who specialise in making and supporting immersive and family theatre. We received incredible feedback across the board, as well as really useful tips on how we can make what we've made even better moving forward.

With that in mind, we're now looking to run a 2nd R&D later this year before we enter rehearsals in 2024. If you're a producer or programmer brave enough to let us take over your venue with a couple of hapless athletes, a handful of olives and a whole pandora's box full of family theatre magic, please do get in touch. We have plenty of documentation to share with you, including the link to a short film which gives a glimpse into what we were able to achieve in just 2 weeks!

You can contact us via my website or email the team at admadatheatre@gmail.com

Photo credit: Alex Hedley

Photo credit: Kate Donnachie (Company Member)

twenty-eight

twenty-eight (directed by Jessica Lazar, produced by D.E.M. Productions - and written by me), is a play about motherhood, creativity and theatrical form, opened at the brilliant Theatre 503 in February 2022 - having originally been set to storm stages in 2020 - to lovely audiences and even lovelier feedback. I'm super proud of this play for very many reasons, not least because it was my first commission.

Photo credit: Darren Bell

OffFest Nomination 2023

Arts Council England grants 2021 & 2022

Bruntwood Award for Playwriting Longlist 2017

Film credit: Emily Lunnon

DARK SHADOWS

I've been a part of the Dark Shadows (Big Finish Productions) universe for a few years now having played series regular Jacqueline 'Jackie' Tate in the audio drama series since 2014. Jackie means the world to me and voicing her is one of the best jobs I've ever had. So, imagine how chuffed I was when I was asked to write a Jackie-heavy episode for the upcoming series. It will still be a while before the series is available to listen to, but keep your eyes - and ears - open!

Photo credit: The Other Richard

3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle

3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle is an autobiographical play which I created and perform with my younger sister, Kate. The play is about how our close sibling relationship was affected by an eating disorder when we were teenagers.