Jessica Swale

Jessica Swale is an Olivier Award winning playwright, theatre director and screenwriter. Her first play, Blue Stockings, premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013. It is widely performed by UK amateur companies and is also studied on the Drama GCSE syllabus. In 2016 her play Nell Gwynn won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, after it transferred from the Globe to the West End, starring Gemma Arterton as the eponymous heroine.

Born in Reading, Berkshire, Swale completed her secondary education at Kendrick School, Reading, before studying Drama at the University of Exeter. She completed her training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA Advanced Theatre Practice), where she trained as a director.

After drama school, Jessica worked as Max Stafford-Clark's Associate Director at Out of Joint, on productions including The Overwhelming at the National Theatre and Andersen's English at Hampstead. In 2006 she set up Red Handed Theatre Company with Katie Bonna, in order to platform new works and revive lost classics. She was nominated for an Evening Standard Award (Best Director) for her production of The Belle's Stratagem and received the Peter Brook Empty Space Award for Best Ensemble for Red Handed in 2012.

Jessica is also an Associate Artist with NGO Youth Bridge Global, who use theatre as a development tool in war torn countries.

She is author of a best-selling series of drama games books, published by Nick Hern.

Jessica lives in South London with her partner, photographer Michael Wharley.

For Red Handed :The Busy Body, The Rivals, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Southwark Playhouse); The School for Scandal (Park Theatre) and Palace of the End (Arcola). Other credits include Fallen Angels (Salisbury Playhouse), Bedlam (Shakespeare's Globe), Winter (Theatre Newfoundland, Canada) and Sleuth, Sense and Sensibility and Far from the Madding Crowd (Watermill Theatre).

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