GIFTED

Once upon a time in a kingdom far away, a baby was born, perfect in every way. She was doted upon by her loving parents, the king and queen, and was showered with gifts by her fairy godmothers, however one gift was quite unwanted. It is said that the 13th fairy gifted the baby with the promise of change, the promise of oncoming darkness, the promise of blood.

Pricked is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, exploring the ‘curses’ of menstruation and dispelling the myths which surround it. Little Red Riding Hood’s got PCOS, Cinderella’s got rags in her knickers and Snow White’s moving in with 7 guys and is on the hunt for a contraceptive.
Every little princess has to grow up, and when the curse takes hold, who’s coming to our rescue?

With a brazen 90’s pop soundtrack and a cast of 4, Pricked is a funny, fresh and feisty new musical which drags the beastly shame of menstruation into glittering beauty and light.

TEAM

Robyn Grant
Writer/Director

Robyn is a writer, director and performer from Leeds. After graduating from East 15 she set up her company Fat Rascal Theatre and has been touring the country with her own work ever since. They recently became associate company to The Birmingham Hippodrome and Southampton MAST. Credits and awards include include: Theatre Weekly’s Best Musical of the Edinburgh Fringe two years running (‘Vulvarine’ 2018, ‘Unfortunate’ 2019), the Otherplace/Balkan Award, The Eddies Award, Stella Wilkie Award (‘Buzz’), VAULT festival’s Festival Spirit Award and Fairy Powered Productions’ Best New Writing Award (‘Tom and Bunny Save the World’), Stiles + Drewe ‘Best New Song’ Finalists 2019 (‘Miracles’ from ‘The Ascension of Mrs Leech’), Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award nominee 2020 (Best Bookwriting).

Eden Tredwell
Composer

Eden Tredwell is a songwriter, composer and writer whose work ranges from Japanese-inspired musicals to edgy alt-pop. She won the 2021 Stiles & Drewe Best New Song Prize for her song ‘Those Stars’ and has had her work featured with BEAM, Adam Lenson, The Other Palace, and more. She has also had commercial releases with Universal, Good Soldier and Loudkult. She is delighted to be worked with Leading Light Collective!

Shakira Newton
Assistant Director

Shakira is an emerging working class, Black and queer actor, writer and director originally from Portsmouth, now based in South London.

After graduating from drama school Summer 2021, Shakira has taken on a number of exciting projects in various aforementioned sectors of the arts industry. This has included Assistant Dramaturg for Leading Light Collective’s Dear Mother Nature and Associate Director for SS DALEY’s London Fashion Week debut show of his Spring/Summer ’22 collection. Shakira founded her theatre company, Piece of Cake Theatre Company (POC) championing global majority artists. POC is currently working with Bush Theatre as lead artists on their Local Partnership scheme; this is the first of many exciting projects the company has in store for this year.

Nikki Davison
Orchestration and Arrangements

Nikki is a songwriter, composer, arranger, orchestrator and music producer. In 2009 she and her husband Joe set up music production studio Auburn Jam Music. They have created albums with West End stars including Kerry Ellis, Alice Fearn, Janie Dee and Nadim Naaman, artists such as Rebecca Levy, Felix Hagan & The Family, Gaeia Sanskrit and Caroline Kay, and musical theatre cast recordings including Rags OLC (Stephen Schwartz & Charles Miller) Queen Of The Mist (Michael John LaChiusa) and The Clockmaker’s Daughter (Webborn & Finn). Composition and songwriting work for TV, Film & Commercials includes Paw Patrol (Nickelodeon), I’m Open To That (Samsung), Brighter Days (performed by Denise Van Outen for BelVita), Hey You What If (CBBC), Delete Delete Delete (BBC Ireland), The Girl Who Built A Rocket (Water Aid), Orca (Katara Film Studios), Bungee (Organised Chaos Films). As a vocalist, Nikki has also toured the UK with rock band Felix Hagan & The Family, supported Frank Turner, Arkells and Everything Everything, and performed at venues including the O2 Arena, Glasgow Hydro, and the Royal Albert Hall.