“I really want to create work here and meet other creatives based here to collaborate with. I know that there’s a wealth of artists living here, it’s a really inspiring place to live and make work.”

The first step was signing up for the Hastings Fringe, where she will be sharing a work-in-progress of her new solo show, a dark comedy called The Real Deal. The plot follows Anna, who works for Kapow Kids Parties and Events. She spends her days pandering to parents and fantasising about how violently her housemates might die. Anna is not living her best life. Until she meets Justine. Justine is the real deal. It’s hard to woo the woman of your dreams whilst impersonating a goblin. But, stuck in a world of make believe, Anna discovers that she needs something real. Written and performed by Katie Bonna, directed by Gemma Arrowsmith (writer on Newsjack and Tracey Ullman’s Show) and playing on 7th August, 8.30pm, The Stables Theatre.

At the beginning of 2017, Katie was the only living female playwright who had work on in London’s West End. She wrote a blogpost about why that was very far from being an admirable claim to fame and the problems facing female playwrights in general. You can find the post on katiebonna.org