The Idea Development Bursary offered artists identifying with specific characteristics that have been under-represented in our work, the opportunity to develop an idea for a new play or theatre production with the support of the company. The scheme helped the company to connect with different individuals, to provide opportunities for artists who were new to the company, and to better represent Wales’s diverse communities in our work.

Background is neon purple and light blue. Six equally sized squares with a headshot in each one and a name underneath. First image is of a young female with ‘Mared Jarman’ under. Second image is a black woman with ‘Bev Lennon’ under. Third image is of a young man with ‘Ifan Pleming’ under. Fourth image is of a young woman with ‘Emma Daman Thomas’ underneath. Fifth image is of a person wearing glasses with ‘Kallum Weyman’ under. Sixth image is of a woman with ‘Sara Louise Wheeler’ under.

Mared Jarman

As part of this bursary, Mared worked on a tragicomedy about the relationship between two best friends trying to discover and understand their identity as young disabled people in a world that idolizes and prioritizes the mainstream.

Mared Jarman is an actor and writer from Cardiff. She recently graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with an MA in acting. She received a scholarship and support from the Prince of Wales TrustMared is a founder member of UCAN Productions, an arts company that has won several awards for their theatre work with children and young people with vision impairment. At ten years old, Mared was given a diagnosis of the condition Stargadt’s. As an artist and writer, she strives to ‘normalise’ disability within our society and to provide a platform for those lost voices that deserve to be heard.

Her work for theatre includes: Double Vision (Gagglebabble in partnership with Wales Millennium Centre for the Festival of Voice 2018); Theatr Unnos (Neontopia and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru for the National Eisteddfod of Wales 2018); Bachu (Melangell DolmaTheatr Genedlaethol Cymru and Theatr Clwyd, in partnership with the National Eisteddfod of Wales and the Wales Millennium Centre). Recently she appeared in a short film, Cardiff, I Love You with the BBC and Ffilm Cymru Wales, and starred in Yr Amgueddfa, a series by Fflur Dafydd and BOOM Cymru, for S4C.

Bev Lennon

As part of this bursary, Bev worked on a play about an interracial couple and their soul-searching regarding relationships, race and identity.

Bev Lennon was brought up in London as part of a Caribbean family. She spent some time as a comedy performer, and in 1987 she moved to Barry where she learnt to speak Welsh. She was a Welsh learner on Catchphrase (BBC Radio Wales) before having her own show, Bev (BBC Radio Cymru). She became a Welsh teacher and Equalities Officer in 1997. Her written work includes a television comedy sketch for The Real McCoy (BBC), and a poem ‘The Consultation’ in the book Allan o’r Golwg (Disability Arts Cymru).

She was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 2019. In 2020, she benefitted from Literature Wales’s Support Fund to help her to continue writing her book. She hopes to develop her work as a scriptwriter.

Ifan Pleming

As part of this bursary, Ifan developed a piece looking at disability in a light-hearted and satirical manner reflecting the way in which he, as a disabled person, looks at the stereotyping occurring in our society in relation to disabilities.

Having been educated at Ysgol Pentreuchaf, Ysgol Glan y Môr, Pwllheli, and Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, Ifan moved to Cardiff in 2005 to study Welsh and Law, before graduating with an MA in Creative Writing. For many years he was a member of the Aberhafren team on Talwrn y Beirdd. He has been successful in local eisteddfodau and at the Urdd National Eisteddfod, including winning the Jennie Eirian Award, and won the Crown at the Inter-Collegiate Eisteddfod. He is currently living back in Llithfaen, the village in which he was born, and working as a translator for the Welsh Government.

Emma Daman Thomas

As part of this bursary, Emma developed a new piece of work for performance connecting music, language and diasporic experience.

Emma Daman Thomas is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer based in Radnorshire. She’s a founding member of collaborative band Islet, where she sings and plays various instruments and whose third album Eyelet came out in 2020 on Fire Records. Previous theatre work includes as an actor musician in NTW’Candylion (2015) and Be Aware Productions Enough Is Enough (2016); and research for NTW’s Sisters (2017), which explored the identities and experiences of South Asian women in India and Wales. Other projects include an experimental music composition supported by Tŷ Cerdd and music for visual artist Freya Dooley’s Jerwood Arts exhibition.

Emma also creates artwork for music and her visual practice runs alongside and into her music, sound and performance work. She is learning Welsh, and receiving harp lessons.

Kallum Weyman

As part of this bursary, Kallum worked on a nightmarish, existential, post-apocalyptic play.

Kallum Weyman is a non-binary, autistic playwright and director. They are currently studying at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David for a Masters through the medium of Welsh in directing for theatre. Kallum wrote their recent play Train Track Issues over the past year as part of The Other Room’s Emerging Writers Scheme.

As Welsh is Kallum’s second language, they are looking forward to improving their writing skills in Welsh. They enjoy working in all creative media and seek to write completely different pieces for every project in which they are involved.

Dr Sara Louise Wheeler

As part of this bursary, Sara developed a Bildungsroman opera called ‘Y Dywysoges Arian’ (The Silver Princess) about a character named Glesni, who is learning to live in her skin as it transforms, as everything changes, and as she falls between two worlds: the hearing world and the Deaf world.

Dr Sara Louise Wheeler has Waardenburg Syndrome Type 1, a rare genetic condition which affects her physical appearance and her hearing. Sara is currently exploring her embodied experiences and the associated social, political and medical implications, using a variety of scholarly and creative mediums, including poetry, belles lettres and artwork. Her research includes studying cynghanedd and sign language poetry – both of which feature in ‘Y Dywysoges Arian’.

In 2020, Sara established Gwasg y Gororau and published her first volume of poetry Rwdlan a Bwhwman, which is now available to download for free from the Gwasg y Gororau website.

Idea Development Bursary