Our Past Productions
A moment to highlight our previous projects and accomplishments with Daylight Robbery Writers' Company.
8x8x8 Playwriting Festival
September 2025
Paulette Holmes' tense drama, Over the Edge, that premiered at 2024's Daylight Robbery Showcase , was selected for the 8x8x8 Drama Festival at the Ilkley Playhouse in Bradford.
Things We Didn't Know
September 2025
Time to explore crucial topics like family secrets, the sperm capacity of a turtle, AI, assisted suicide, death (and its aftermath) and when it’s too late for an 80's girl band to get back on the road. The number of Things We Didn’t Know is mind-blowing, as is this programme of new writing by the Daylight Robbery Writers Company. A second chance to see a programme of five short plays at Folkestone Live 2025, which premiered at The Arden Theatre in Faversham.
Things We Didn't Know
May 2025
Our third annual showcase was held on 31 May at The Arden Theatre, Faversham. Each of our writers took their own original take on the theme of "Things We Didn't Know". And it turns out, there are all sorts of things we didn't know! Moving, provocative, hilarious and disturbing - the plays run the gamut of human experience.
Rehearsal photos by Paulette Holmes
The Fourth Witch of Faversham
September 2025
After a sell-out performance at the Faversham Fringe in 2024, The Fourth Witch of Faversham makes a welcome return at Folkestone Live 2025. In 1645 four women were convicted of witchcraft in Faversham. While three of them were hanged, but there is no record of the fate of the fourth, Elizabeth Harris. This play, based on true events, suggests what might have happened to her.
Writers' Room Festival
July 2025
Two of our members, Paul McNally and Mary Onions, have been working with the Marlowe Theatre's Writers' Room to develop brand-new full-length plays. They premiered as staged readings with professional directors and actors at the Marlowe Theatre in July 2025.
My Generation, directed by Dawn Walton OBE, and written by Paul McNally, is a funny and nostalgic exploration of 1960s hippies struggling to come to terms with the past and make sense of the present.
Finding Turner, directed by Tom Hughes and written by Mary Onions, is a lively and refreshing new comedy about a lad from Margate, who comes to understand that true art doesn’t have to come with a price tag.
Released on Licence
April 2025
Two women, just released from prison, meet on a train. At first they seem worlds apart, but they have more in common than they realise.
Paul McNally's comedy had a four-day run at the Union Theatre in April 2025, as a part of Union Shorts, and was also performed at the Barons Court Theatre in May 2025.
A Flying Start
April 2025
Mary Onions' short play, celebrating Ipswich Town's promotion to the premier league, was performed at Inkfest in Haylesworth, Suffolk. Just in time for the team to be demoted again!
New Beginnings
December 2024
In December, three of our members' plays were chosen to be presented at a scratch night at the Garlinge Theatre, Canterbury.
In 49 Saplings by Pippa Gladhill, Mel is struggling with the irritations of daily life, but news that 49 saplings taken from the Sycamore Gap are starting to flourish cheers her up.
In Mary Onions' play It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Maria's plans to spend Christmas alone are turned upside down by an unexpected visitor.
We're looking forward to further collaboration with the Garlinge Theatre, an exciting new venue for us.
Bet Like a Man
October 2024
Paul McNally's play Bet LIke a Man was selected for the Reboot Festival and performed at Baron's Court, London.
Swale Tales
May 2024
Swale Tales was our second showcase, featuring 8 short plays with a connection to the Swale area, performed at the Arden Theatre, Faversham. From the Faversham Magna Carta, to some strange goings-on by the Oare marshes, to a seventeenth-century witchcraft trial, to a tragedy unfolding on the roof of a dingy office building near the Western Link, all human life can be seen in this tiny corner of Kent.
The Maurice Patterson One-Act Play Festival
February, 2024
Several of our plays were chosen once again for the Maurice Patterson One Act Festival and were performed at the Arden Theatre as part of the Faversham Literary Festival. The Seven Deadly Sins - gluttony, wrath, pride, envy, greed, sloth and lust were given the Daylight Robbery treatment to much applause.
Page to Stage
January 2025
Pippa Gladhill's play Ends and Means delighted audiences at the London Page to Stage Scratch Night at the Water Rats PH Theatre, London.
The Fourth Witch of Faversham
October 2024
The Fourth Witch of Faversham by Mary Onions played to sold out audiences at the Faversham Fringe.
In 1645 four women were convicted of witchcraft in Faversham. While three of them were hanged, but there is no record of the fate of the fourth, Elizabeth Harris. This play, based on true events, suggests what might have happened to her.
Assemble with Care
July 2024
The Abbey Theatre in St. Albans produced Mary Onions' Assemble with Care as part of their new writing festival.
Many years ago, the Warder family was torn apart by a tragic event. Now that her mother is dying, Josephine is hoping for a family reunion before it is too late. Her older brother, Sam has come home from the States, to help.
With her mother due to arrive home from hospital at any moment, Josephine is attempting to put together a table that will go over her mother’s bed, and is trying to persuade Sam to write to their younger brother, who appears to have gone ‘off grid’.
As Josephine and Sam proceed with their various tasks, the ramifications of the terrible event that destroyed the family so long ago become apparent. Their conversation veers from acrimony to laughter, recrimination to reminiscence, as old memories flare up and long held secrets are revealed. Eventually Josephine’s seething sense of injustice overflows and she destroys the table she has been assembling.
Should they just hide the broken table away? After all, they are well practised in concealing the wreckage of their lives. Or do they have the chance to rebuild?
First Writes
April 2023
Our first showcase at the Arden Theatre, Faversham, featuring plays from all of our writers.