Katie Elin Salt
Katie is a writer, actor and creative arts therapist originally from Bridgend, South Wales and now living in Cardiff.
She trained in acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and has worked for many years since as an actor on stage and screen (credits include National Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, Paines Plough, Theatr Clwyd, Stella, Coronation Street). Katie discovered a love of writing later in life, whilst working as an actor in the Paines Plough roundabout season (2017-2018). From there, she wrote her first play Splinter, which won her a place in both the Royal Court Introduction to Playwriting programme and Soho Theatre's Writer's lab. She then went on to write Sprinkles, which has since been produced by both Dirty Protest and The Other Room, Cardiff. Her next play Celebrated Virgins premiered in Theatr Clwyd in 2022, and went on to be named as on of the Top 10 plays of the Year by the Telegraph. Recently, Katie has enjoyed writing two festive commissions for Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (Hansel and Gretel, 2023; Little Red Riding Hood, 2024). Katie has been a member of the Channel 4 Screenwriting Programme and the BBC Voices cohort and is currently busy working on her first screenplay. Katie is also founder and artistic director of Oshi's World - Wales' first company to make bespoke theatre for those with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), and is a qualified Music Therapist.
Katie is very passionate about inspiring the next generation of writers - and has been privileged facilitate several groups for young writers. Firstly the Sherman Theatre's Introduction to Playwriting group and secondly Pentabus’ own young writers' group.
Sophie Ellerby
Alumni Pentabus Writer In Residence, Sophie Ellerby writes for stage and screen. Her career began as an actor at fifteen, starring in This is England (Shane Meadows). Her debut play ‘LIT’, co-produced in 2019 by HighTide and Nottingham Playhouse, had a sell out run and rave reviews. The Guardian cited her as one of the 2023 stage sensations to look out for. Lit is currently being developed for television with Griffin Pictures and the BFI.
Other theatre work includes: Three (Arcola Theatre), Function (Criterion Theatre), to whom it may concern, (Cardboard Citizens tour), Lysistrata (Lyric Hammersmith), and painkiller (Theatre Royal Stratford East).
She has a number of projects in development, including play commissions with Fifth Word Theatre and Runaway Productions, a political musical with ‘Standing At the Sky’s Edge’ producers, Various Productions, an original TV series co-written with Pete Jackson (Somewhere Boy), and a co-commission with the Kiln theatre and Sky. Her debut short ‘The Walk’, starring Adeel Akhtar, played in Competition for Best Short at the BFI London Film Festival. Her second short, ‘CARE’, funded by The Uncertain Kingdom, is currently in post production. Sophie’s writing centres bold, beautifully flawed characters and aims to tackle provocative societal questions in an entertaining and human way.
Naeem Hayat
Naeem trained at RADA. Theatre as an actor includes The Girl On The Train (UK Tour); Nora : A Dolls House ( Royal Exchange Theatre); The Village (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Sonnet Walks: Shakespeare Within The Abbey, The Captive Queen, Globe 2 Globe world tour of Hamlet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Faster-Higher-Stronger-Straighter (Dominion Studio).
Film includes Duperie, Undercliffe.
Naeem was Resident Associate Director for Shakespeare’s Globe 2023. As Co-Director – The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe); as Director - SEEN (Pentabus) and Burnt at the Stake (Shakespeare’s Globe). As Globe Associate Director- King Lear (directed by Helena Kaut Howson); The Tempest (co-directed by Sean Holmes and Diane Page); Henry V (directed by Holly Race Roughan); The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing (directed by Sean Holmes).
Tom Powell
Tom is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has won the Papatango Prize, Off West End Award, Broadstairs International Film Festival Best Film, Harry Porter Prize, and OTR National Radio Drama Prize. He was Clive and Slyvia Richards Foundation Writer-in-Residence at Pentabus 2020/21, selected for the BBC Studios Writers Academy in 2019/20, has been a BBC/Arts Council England New Creative, and has written broadcast episodes of EastEnders and Holby City. Tom has been selected for writers’ groups at the Royal Court, Southwark Playhouse, Criterion Theatre, Soho Theatre, was a member of the Soho Writers Alumni Group for 5 years, and has co-led Pentabus Local Young Writers, Young Company, and National Young Writers Programme. He is a patron of Southwark Playhouse Young Company and an Associate Artist at Pentabus.
His first play, I Dare You, toured the UK and was shortlisted for the Soho Young Writers Award. His second play, Little Echoes, was Off-West End Award nominated. His third play, The Silence and the Noise won the Papatango Prize, toured the UK in audio form in a co-production with ETT and Papatango, and was called a ‘modest masterpiece’ by the Stage in its 5* review. A digital production, co-produced by Pentabus and Rural Media, won Best Film and Best Actor at the BFFI, and an Off West End Award for Best Online Production. His fourth play, Surfacing, had a sold-out preview run at VAULT festival in 2023 and toured nationally in 2024. His original audio drama, Love Beyond the Zoo, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4Xtra and is available here (from 16’37).
His work has been translated into Polish and Korean. He is published by Methuen/Bloomsbury.
Anoushka Warden
Anoushka studied BA Theatre Studies at Kingston University and undertook a Masters in Acting for Screen at Central School of Speech and Drama. Following her studies, Anoushka acted on stage and screen and wrote and acted with a comedy sketch group. Alongside this, she worked in PR at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and then Head of Press at the Royal Court Theatre – where she also produced The Playwright’s Podcast with Simon Stephens.
Her first play, My Mum’s A Tw*t, was staged at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre in January 2018 with Patsy Ferran performing the one-women show.
She was picked as one of 12 writers for the 2018 Channel 4 Screenwriting course and wrote her first half-hour television script, Devongirl. Anoushka performed in a new version of My Mum’s A Tw*t at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe throughout August 2019. In 2020, it was then released as an Audible play with Susan Wokoma performing.
Anoushka won the Platform Presents Playwright’s Prize for her second play, My Dad’s a Cu*t in 2020. Her third play Toed, performed by Liv Hill, was released digitally with Pentabus Theatre Company in 2022.
Anoushka’s first novel I’m F*cking Amazing was picked up in a pre-empt by Trapeze UK and in the US by Double Day and published in March 2024.
She is currently developing Jessica Hepburn’s two books, The Pursuit of Motherhood and 21 Miles, into a feature film with Erebus Pictures/BFI and is working with Fifth Season on writing the Television series of I’m F*cking Amazing. Her first short film Gobble is out this year.
Anoushka has held artistic roles at The Bunker Theatre as Associate Artist and is currently an Associate at Pentabus Theatre.