Belly Scratch

Belly Scratch is Underbelly Boulevard Soho’s first ever theatre scratch night!

Discover exciting and bold new pieces in their early stages, from both new and established theatre-makers! We’re providing a regular safe space for theatre-makers to test out never-performed extracts of their work and receive feedback from a receptive audience. Belly Scratch nights will feature 4 artists each performing or reading up to 20 minutes of a new piece of work, and audience members will have access to a feedback form after watching, providing an opportunity to offer new ideas and thoughts on the work and influence its future direction.

Excerpts of the following shows will be performed at this month’s Belly Scratch:

BETTY:
Betty is a play about revenge, redemption, and what is right. It is inspired by the stories of Black Widows, women who kill their husbands, and the recent case in Australia where a woman poisoned her family with mushrooms. This monologue explores the voice of the widow, Betty. Later in the play, we hear from her jealous neighbour and the husband’s mistress and learn how their stories intertwine. The play unfolds through a series of monologues, building towards the final act, when Lola, the mistress, comes to visit Betty in prison. 

Bios:
Tiggy Bayley is a talented scriptwriter, director and performer. She is a beloved presence on TikTok (11k+) for her self-written monologues and her short film, ‘Tildypops’, has been shown at festivals all over the world. She was shortlisted for Film London’s Lodestars 2023 and selected for BAFTA Connect.

Follow:
Tiktok @tiggybayley
Insta @tiguilasunrise

Marlie is a director and dramaturg who specialises in creating theatre that integrates multiple forms of storytelling to expose the anatomy of our emotional lives. She founded the production company Double Telling, with the aim of finding, developing, and staging ambitious new plays and revivals, with a particular focus on work that centres the female experience.

Marlie is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

FLOOD:
A comedy about Noah. God. And impending oblivion.

FLOOD started as a way to avoid thinking about my birthday. The plan was to go away with four actors, workshop an idea, and see what happened. The idea being if, 5,000 years ago, Noah gets told by God about the whole ‘Ark’ malarkey, at some point he’d have to go home and tell his family. So what was that Family Meeting like?

Bios:
FLOOD is written by me, Rohan Candappa, and workshopped with Jan Goodman, Kat Kleve, Michael Eaves and Joey Hickman – awesome actors who can turn two-dimensional words into three-dimensional characters. 

Jan Goodman was a voiceover artist on a commercial I’d written when I worked in ad-land. She was brilliant. And funny. So I proposed. It would have been silly not to. 

Kat Kleve is scarily talented. She co-wrote a one-woman show called ‘Tink’ that went to the Fringe, got rave reviews, sold-out, and transferred to The Other Palace. And she’s just launched The Theatre Cabaret in Bristol showcasing new musical theatre songs and re-imagined classics.

I saw Michael Eaves act in a play over 20 years ago. He made me laugh. He still does. Joey stepped in, at short notice, to a reading of a play I’d written called ‘7 Years 7 Messages’ – a love story told in answer machine messages. He smashed it.

HER AND THE VOICE IN HER HEAD:
Her and The Voice in Her Head play follows the journey of a woman in her mid 20s called ‘Her’ who has just ended a situationship and how she deals with this, we see her do this with shitty raps, spoken word & little bit of singing.

Bio:
Lorraine Adeyefa is an actor/creative who is based in Essex. She is obsessed with all things film, cinematography and theatre. Lorraine has a passion for creating stories that embody truth in her work and allowing the joy of those who are marginalised in society to be seen and show that they’re enough 

Follow: @lorraineadeyefa_

YOURS FAITHFULLY, NED LUDD
In 1815 rural England, four small-town mill workers meet in secret to discuss how to prevent the introduction of new technology from destroying their livelihoods. Collective action and grass-roots protest squares up to the looming industrial revolution, continental war, inflating costs, and declining living and working conditions. Any similarities with contemporary society are purely coincidental. 

Bio:
Louise Nicholls is an actor and writer based in South London. She trained in acting at the Oxford School of Drama and has recently discovered the joys and frustrations of playwriting. Excerpts of her work have been performed at the Lion & Unicorn and Golden Goose theatres. Louise is currently working on turning Yours Faithfully, Ned Ludd into her first full-length play. 

Follow:
@lueois 
@jessica.whiley 
@angharad.phillips15
@marthabone