A B O U T
Distracted Rat is a new writing company working at the intersection of radio, film and theatre with a focus on collaborative process to cultivate rich, human stories. We prize sustainability and accessibility as core tenets of our practice.
NEW
WRITING
FESTIVALS
DIGITAL RAT
THE OTHER DAY
(coming soon)
Distracted Rat New Writing Festivals bring artists together to develop their work for production in front of a responsive audience. We encourage writers to work alongside producers, directors and actors, present and heard throughout the process. We privilege collaboration, understanding the importance of creating a space for different crafts to meet and mesh, for the best possible expression of text and artistic voice.
Digital Rat is an ongoing digital festival of content. We created Digital Rat to make a super accessible opportunity: everyone who signs up takes part and you'll work and meet new practitioners form around the world. All communications are online and you’re encouraged to use what you have to hand (not buying anything new). We are all about sustainability, and it's close cousin thriftiness.
Next round in Spring 2021.
A branching archive of anecdotes passed between strangers. Each participant shares a 3 minute story, which in turn generates another story, and then another, until we've got a whole organism of associated anecdotes.
A project in response to that feeling - the one where you hear a story that lingers with you for days afterwards, reflecting your own L I F E and broader understanding.
W H O W E A R E
TILNEY BRUNE
CREATIVE PRODUCER - SHE/HER
Is an American theatre maker currently working toward her MFA in Writing at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (RCSSD). She has worked previously in casting and production for film and theatre In Virginia, New York, and Chicago. A graduate of L’école Jacques Lecoq, she specializes in physical theatre and devised work.
ARIELLA ORMAI COMO
CREATIVE PRODUCER - SHE/THEY
Is a playwright, dramaturg and director. Ariella's developed theatre and worked at new writing organisations across Australia and now in the UK. In London, her work has been performed at Camden People's Theatre, the Blue Elephant Theatre, OSO Arts Centre and she's written for a number of unusual venues as a resident with site-specific company ŠITE. Since 2019 she's been Lab Assistant for the Soho Theatre Young Company and has recently finished her MFA in Writing at RCSSD.
JALICE CORRAL
CREATIVE PRODUCER - SHE/HER
Is a writer and stand-up comic from Baltimore. Since finishing her master’s degree at RCSSD, she has become a member of the 2019/2020 Soho Writer’s Lab. She also is a member of the stand-up group, Mumsn3t Comedy Collective, with whom she performs at The Apple Tree.
WILL JARVIS
CREATIVE PRODUCER - HE/HIM
Is a writer, producer, director and actor from London. Since finishing his Writing MA at RCSSD, he's been writing scripts, working at Battersea Arts Centre, managing content for a startup podcast app and playing Animal Crossing. He created 'The Clockwork Arms', soon to be performed at the Boulevard Theatre, and is one of the OSO's resident Panto Players.
ANNA SUWANASUK RATTRAY
CREATIVE PRODUCER - SHE/HER
Is a Scottish-Thai writer and producer from Edinburgh. She is currently on Playwrights’ Studio Scotland’s Mentoring Programme 2019/2020, following her masters at RCSSD where she was an Embassy Scholar. She is part of GOATS whose work has been showcased at Camden People’s Theatre and the Boulevard Theatre (West End).
D I G I T A L R A T
Born during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown, Digital Rat is an ongoing digital festival of online content that shares bold new stories across social media.
HOW IT WORKS
Sign Up via our Online Form
Attend our Town Hall Meeting via Zoom
Make your 5-15 minute video
Producer Check In, discuss your Deadline
We help match you with your Team
First Meeting with your Team
Submit your
finished project
The Premiere.
We share.
You share.
Our inaugural Distracted Rat was the May edition, where Teams
responded to the stimulus:
Everything AND The Kitchen Sink
(it's a play on words)
You can watch their finished work below.
If you would like to get involved, check out our Opportunities page.
ACCESSIBLE
Open to Everyone, Everywhere
Everyone Who Signs Up Participates
TIME SAVVY
Emerging artists are constantly working against the clock to make their art. Juggling jobs, education and pursuing creative projects can mean they spend hours travelling, coordinating and producing their work. Digital Rat circumvents this with a digital process - everything happens over video call: development, rehearsal and performance.
CONTENT THAT LASTS
By creating an online video with Digital Rat, you will have a piece of your work that you can share on social media, add to your website, to a showreel or just to send to the fam.
WHY DIGITAL?
Digital Rat embodies some of the core principles of Distracted Rat Productions.
FREE TO MAKE
Sustainable Process: Use What You Have
You Don't Need A Fancy Camera: Use Your Phone or Webcam
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
Digital Rat fosters community by connecting artists from all over (the world!) who wouldn't normally have the opportunity to work together. We encourage participants to explore new roles within the creative process, or strengthen their skills in their chosen discipline, while receiving support from the DR Team and their fellow collaborators.
GETTING NEW STORIES OUT QUICKLY
On average, Digital Rat takes 1 - 4 weeks from idea to publication. The simplicity of this project means we’re able to get new stories out quickly. Relevant, snappy stories that brighten and resonate with your everyday.
A GOOD TIME
Making art makes us feel good.
Making art will make you feel good.
Let’s all feel good.
P R E V I O U S W O R K
DIGITAL RAT : SPRING EDITION
Born during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Digital Rat is an ongoing digital festival of online content that shares bold new stories across social media.
Our Spring edition saw 27 creatives create 11 short films that premiered on Youtube in the month of May 2020.
You can watch the finished videos here:
OLD SORTING, NEW WRITING FESTIVAL
Distracted Rat’s first outing was a three-night New Writing Festival at the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes. We produced 14 new short plays with over 50 writers, actors and directors to three nights of sold out audiences.
Several of the plays we premiered at this event have gone on to be developed further: one has been reimagined as a short film, several have been written as full-length plays, and there are even plans to take one to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
