‘I want the world to change shape.’
‘I'm not sure theatre can do that.’
‘Well then where am I meant to take that impulse because I'm very serious about the endeavour?’

A young writer challenges the status quo but discovers that creative gain comes at a personal cost.

The Writer premiered in 2018 at the Almeida Theatre, London, in a production directed by Blanche McIntyre.

The Writer was a finalist for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

'A playwright who grabs the zeitgeist' Independent

'Wow. Here's a drama that channels all the righteous anger of the moment, the pent-up fury that women have found themselves at last allowed to express... [Ella Hickson] hits the jackpot once more with this coruscating examination of power structures both artistic and personal and how received ideas shaped by an inescapably patriarchal society infuse the two realms' — Evening Standard

'An eloquent, intellectually agile, vividly written and frequently furious play...
a compelling theatrical experience' — The Stage

'Electrifying... very punk rock, a thrillingly uninhibited rally against the establishment' — Time Out

'Hickson strikes a nerve with her story of toxic masculinity and egocentrism... this momentous new play is a voice that needs to be heard' — Broadway World

'Funny, raw, unflaggingly inventive... a sophisticated play for the MeToo generation' — Telegraph

'It's sharp, savage stuff... it never for a second is anything less than engrossing and serious, raising issues that need to be raised... Hickson's writing can take the breath away' — WhatsOnStage

'A bold and vivid explosion of anger' — Radio Times