Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke

RECENT PLAYS & PRODUCTIONS

• BARDO – A short film directed by Abid Khan and produced by EyeFive Films. Inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, BARDO explores dream states and the confrontation of guilt and blame.  Screened at the Portobello Film Festival, September 2014 and selected for screening at the Cannes Short Film Corner, May 2015.
• Shrapnel –  A reflection on the impacts of war –  historically, currently, physically and psychologically. Set against the backdrop of political race riots, it examines notions of ‘Broken Britain ’, through the exploration of race, displacement, guilt and redemption.
• Rehearsed reading – 9th May 2012, HighTide Festival Symposium, Suffolk.
• Lo – a contemporary stage adaptation of Nabakov’s novel, Lolita. Exploring the notion of pederasty, this adaption features Lo, a pre-teen boy, who succumbs to the desires of an older man.
• Her – A teenage girl bleeds on the grave of an unknown woman every night. Who is the stranger who confronts her darkest thoughts?
• Fallen – a collection of surreal short stories about mental illness and maternal bonds. Stories include ‘Fallen’ – a disturbing tale about a young man who believes he is the Archangel St. Michael; ‘Cloud’ – a nightmare about violence and suicide, set in an alternate reality; ‘Mercy’s Corner’ – a man tries to cure his Father of alcoholism by pretending to be his dead mother; ‘Child 13’ – when a woman’s desire to bear children becomes psychotic, she stoops to depraved actions to impregnate herself.
• ‘Ave It –  ‘Beat’ monologue  produced as part of the Coming Up Later festival, Old Vic Tunnels, July 2010. A young reveller relies on the beat of the music to keep his heart pumping.
• Millionaire  a musical commissioned and produced by Mayhem Theatre Arts, Hertford Theatre, April 2011. Yorkshire factory worker Stella wins the lottery and is whisked off to London to star in a reality TV show. But is her new life really any better?
• Nappies & Nazis – monolgue, performed at the Feast of Nympha festival, Blacks, Soho, August 2011. An unconventional prostitute shares her paraphilic tales.
• Merry F*cking Chrsitmas radio monologue, CCC and St.Albans Radio. A middle-aged woman shares her life, living with a retired porn star.
• Fag – monologue performance, Loughborough. Who said smoking was bad for you?
• Gracing Scorpios (Film) –  A journalist investigates a fatal arson attack on a nightclub. Sometimes you just have to make the news…

 

PUBLICATIONS

• Crystal Voices – anthology of poetry and prose celebrating ten years of Crystal Clear Creators, featuring Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke’s prose, ‘The Paget Arms’, June 2015
• Hearing Voices 4 – anthology of poetry and prose, featuring Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke’s prose, ‘Beat’
• Hearing Voices 3 – anthology of poetry and prose, co-edited by Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke, Alex Plasatis and Jonathan Taylor. Published by Crystal Clear Creators, May 2011
• Speaking Words: Writing for Reading Aloud – anthology of poetry and prose, featuring Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke’s poem, ‘The Paget Arms’

DIRECTION

• Recent credits for Rare Productions include: Grease (May 2014), Les Miserables (November 2013),  Footloose (April 2013 ), Annie (Nov 2012),  Oliver ( April 2012);  Camp Rock ( Nov 2011); and for Mayhem Theatre Arts,  Millionaire (Asst. Director, Hertford Theatre, April 2011)

ACTING

• Theatre credits include: UK premiere of Richard Foreman’s play Pearls for Pigs,  Moliere’s The Hypochondirac, Willy Russell’s Our Day Out, Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker (St. Robert Martin Theatre, Loughborough); Timberlake Wetenbaker’s Our Country’s Good,  Cuba (St.Albans), Peter Pan, Toad (Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth); The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice (Rickmansworth); The Factory Children (Queen Elizabeth Hall)

AWARDS

• Hearing Voices 3 – (anthology of poetry and prose, co-edited by Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke, Alex Plasatis and Jonathan Taylor) Listed seventh in the ‘Top Twenty U.K. Small Press Magazines of the Year 2011’ by Purple Patch Publishing.
• Soliloquized Crystal Clear Creators competition, 2005 – 1st prize for Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke’s piece, ‘Merry Fucking Christmas’

 

EDITING & JUDGING

REVIEWS

DMU Creative Writing Performance
March 2nd 2011

Pieces performed:
Poem: Ctrl, Alt, Delete
Prose: excerpt from my debut novel, Mercy’s Corner
Monologue: Nappies & Nazis

“It was like the best bits from the first hour of Fight Club in monologue form.” – Daley James Francis
Read the review

LINKS

• Rare Productions Ltd – UK’s largest youth musical theatre company
• Mayhem Theatre Arts –  Performing arts centre, producers of Millionaire
• Emma Blackman Photography – images of Millionaire, Hertford Theatre 22nd/23rd April 2011
• Scott Philipson Photography –  a talented actor/model portfolio photographer, responsible for the black & white vampire images on this website
• Crystal Clear Creators –  not-for-profit arts organisation devoted to developing, producing, publishing and promoting new writing