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Running throughout January 2026, Write Club is The Hope Theatre’s premier festival of new writing, dedicated to showcasing bold stories and expansive ideas. Designed to breathe life into the London fringe during the winter months, the festival provides a vital platform for up to thirty selected shows to make their debut. Under the curation of Joint Artistic Directors Laurel Marks and Toby Hampton, Write Club fosters a collaborative community by offering playwrights and theatre-makers multi-night runs, professional venue support, and dedicated networking opportunities.
To celebrate and support this wonderful festival, we’re publishing a number of interviews with the creatives taking part this year. You can find all of the interviews already published here, and we’ll be adding more as the month goes on.
Next to step into the spotlight are Fat Cow Theatre‘s Evie Chandler (Writer) and Elliot Aitken (Director), whose show Jennie & the Cockroach will be gracing the stage at The Hope Theatre on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 January. You can find out more about this show and what else is playing at the festival here.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Evie: Jennie is a story about a trans girl’s struggles with love and grief at the end of the world. She’s stuck alone in her messy room after arranging a close friend’s funeral; her Mum won’t return her calls, and there are 49 minutes left on the countdown – and to top it all off, a cockroach runs out from under a pile of rubbish. It’s a tender, slightly absurd reflection on loving others and grieving them while trying to love oneself and grieve the life she could have led. It reaches audiences trans and cis alike without oversimplifying trans lives.
Is Write Club going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere? Elliot: We had several outings in 2025, including a work-in-progress showing at the Etcetera Theatre in July and a first draft being shared at Long Nights Productions ‘Play On’ scratch night.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
Evie: The original idea came from learning about “pre-apocalypse” media – stories set before the apocalypse where characters know what’s coming. I became invested in different reactions, whether it was hedonism, collapsing under pressure, or trying to find hope. I couldn’t help but think how for many trans people, transition itself feels like a kind of time-bomb, and how it would feel to be cut off right as you were starting to feel confident within yourself.
How long have you been working on the play?
Elliot: We’ve been working on this since last year. It’s been interesting conveying ‘how it feels to be trans at the end of the world’ while it feels like we’ve been accelerating on that path in real time.
If your show had a soundtrack, what songs would definitely be on it, and why?
Evie: ‘Perverts’ by Ethel Cain – the way Cain captures foreboding and dread is musically unique. ‘When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die’ by Moby – there’s a weightless, forlorn acceptance of death that I wanted to channel. ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Kate Bush – you’ll see why in the show!
What’s the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show, and how did it come to be part of the production?
Elliot: A plastic cockroach – it’s a titular role! We had an audience member suggest using a real one at a scratch night, but we didn’t fancy protests from PETA.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
Evie: To be less afraid of saying what I mean. It’s easy to avoid nasty corners of human emotion like envy and disgust, but those are ripest for exploration. It’s helped Jennie feel like a more authentic, real character and brought a lot more heart to the show.
Thanks to Evie and Elliot for their time. You will be able to watch Jennie & the Cockroach when it plays at The Hope Theatre on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 January.
