Mary Cooper writes for theatre, radio and television.
writer,
project & workshop leader,
teacher, mentor & dramaturg
uk, international, M6 Theatre, M6
mary cooper writer
I write to make sense of the world;
I write to tell untold stories, to unravel paradox.
I write for head, heart, eyes and ears; to make an audience think and feel,
and to delight the senses.
From Shore to Shore by Mary Cooper is a multilingual theatre event which tells the stories of the Chinese Community in the UK. The show will be touring nationally from May 16th to June 10th, 2017 to Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Oxford.
But Not Forgotten
A poignant and reflective installation examining the First World War through letters, photographs and objects in Leeds Museums & Galleries’ collection. The Worker’s Cottage at Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills was used as a location. Writer Mary Cooper and photographer Ian Glover produced these newly commissioned creative pieces and the film to explore imagined attitudes to the First World War.
Mary has been working on The Daughters of Fortune project with Mind The Gap theatre company since May 2016. She has been leading and mentoring a research team of Mind The Gap associate artists in interviewing learning disabled parents about their experiences. The findings have fed into Anna and Mia, the first shows in the Daughters of Fortune trilogy, giving the pieces authenticity and depth. Over the next few months she will be working with Mind The Gap to create a photo-book revealing the images and stories of learning disabled parents.
Commissioned by NHS Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale CCG in partnership with Healthy Young Minds Rochdale, Clueless is one of a series of short, single voice plays by M6, aiming to raise awareness around, and support for mental health issues for audiences 13+.
The monologue and interactive workshop toured seven schools for two weeks in November, as well as being spotlighted at a local cultural conference. Participant feedback illustrates the positive impact of M6's creative intervention model, with one young participant stating 'before today I hadn't thought about how easy it is to regret a decision'.