Francesca is a Singer, Playwright, Actress and Blogger based in London. As a session singer, she has a wide repertoire from classical to more contemporary styles and to which she performs all over the country. Recently, she founded FEMM Theatre, a theatre company producing fresh and exciting work by female artists, which promotes equality and diversity, with its first production, a collection of monologues No One Wants A Pretty Girl, performed at The Bread & Roses Theatre, London. Francesca also has her own Blog Frantastic View, that is all about life in the Arts industry and has honest and inspiring articles, written by Francesca, as well as guest writers.
We had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Francesca about FEMM Theatre. This is a pretty amazing project. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Francesca! Thank you for speaking with us about FEMM Theatre. Tell us what inspired you to create this awesome platform.
Thanks for having me! I created FEMM Theatre in mid-2017, as I wanted to create a support network and platform for other female creatives, which promotes equality and diversity. We need to, as females, celebrate each other, not pick each other and ourselves apart. We all have different skills-I’m a classically trained singer, as well as a theatre-maker and well-blogger and I love versatility, which I think is so important in the Arts today. FEMM is also definitely not about excluding males, quite the opposite, theatre needs to be leading the way with inclusiveness. In terms of the name FEMM, this is actually my initials, which I guess you could call it fate!
This is such a wonderful time to have a theatre like this and available to female creators. How can talent get involved?
I would love to hear from anyone who would love to get involved or has any ideas for FEMM!
What are some of the awesome projects you’ve created, thus far?
The first production produced by FEMM was No One Wants A Pretty Girl in October 2017, my collection of six monologues about what it’s like to be female right now, directed by Laura Clifford. Performed at The Bread & Roses Theatre in London, we had an amazing cast of six actresses and had a lovely response to its performance to which I was truly grateful, Women’s Radio Station will be broadcasting a few of the monologues later this year. Next up I’m running contemporary monologue feedback sessions for writers and actors, which gives those who have written about their own experiences or have their own one-person show in development, a platform for constructive feedback and support. As I always say we need to be constructive, not destructive in the Arts.
You’re also a playwright. Do you have anything we should watch out for?
Currently, I’m writing the lyrics to a new musical called Vashti, with its music composed Luke Simnett. It’s a gothic romance, set in the early part of the twentieth century in both England and Iran. We are hoping to showcase a couple of the show’s songs in London, at the end of May. Other future writing projects include a play about a significant event in twentieth-century American history, which I can’t say too much about just yet! I’m also looking forward to being back on stage at the end of June, performing as the role of Anna in Closer by Patrick Marber, directed by Cameron Bell at The Bread & Roses Theatre, London which is exciting!
How important is it to have a platform like FEMM Theatre?
There is a definite change in the air, felt in the last year, in changing things in theatre, primarily by female theatre-makers. FEMM Theatre is important, in the fact it gives a platform for new writing and ideas, especially with the upcoming monologue workshops, to which I’m very much looking forward to.
How has the journey been, thus far?
I created FEMM Theatre quite spontaneously, I needed a Theatre company to produce No One Wants A Pretty Girl and thought why not construct my own new theatre company.The support has been immense, feeling very grateful for all the love. Working with so many inspiring women is an amazing feeling!
How can people get involved in helping FEMM Theatre grow?
Check FEMM out on Twitter @FEMMTheatre or contact me via my email on my blog https://frantasticview.wordpress.com/
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would______
. . . have a long career filled with a lot of amazing memories!
Connect with Francesca:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506651463
Twitter: https://twitter.com/femmtheatre
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FranMephamG
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