About me

I'm a playwright, director, editor, and performer, with a couple of published plays (1970s-set play-with-songs In Everglade Studio and Hitchcock-esque noir thriller Port City Signature, both published by Methuen Drama in 2024) and a long history of new writing: from 1950s jazz noir (Mack The Knife) to Twilight-Zone-inspired mystery (Technicolor) to razor-sharp political satire (Chagos 1971), heist thriller (Fear of Roses), 1960s fashion-industry caper (Nines), contemporary comedy-drama (The Kindness of Strangers), and beyond. I founded Black Bat Productions (blackbat.uk) in 2017.

My Plays

Chagos 1971


Synopsis:

Take a darkly funny trip into the dog days of Empire. In a Parliament building in April 1971, five government reps were tasked with a surreal mission: find a way to clear 2,000 indigenous people off an archipelago in the far corner of the Indian Ocean. What they decided is so grotesque you may not believe it, but this here is a true story. Written and directed by Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller.


Number of Characters: 9


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 6


Length (in Pages): 70


Location: Westminster, London, 1971


Key Words: political, politics, 1970s, history, empire


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? No


Award nominations/wins:


Reviews:

★★★★★ "Fantastically cerebral and high-octane satire on ramshackle diplomacy" "tour de force of a script" "genius" "the most intelligent piece of theatre I have seen at the Fringe. I would give it more stars if I could" - Annabel Jackson

★★★★★ “Brutal, shocking and hilarious" "an utter triumph of theatre complete with compelling acting and a fast-paced script written by Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller" "Twisted humour delivers punch after punch" "Chagos 1971 is a masterpiece of theatre that I wanted to go back and watch immediately after it was over." - Hannah Goldswain

Fear of Roses


Synopsis:

This fast-paced, darkly comedic crime story written & directed by Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller follows three women, four eventful days, and a nefarious plot straight out of mid-century pulp. When ruthlessly ambitious bank manager Tabby is blackmailed by the mysterious Keely into robbing her own bank, Tabby incorporates her put-upon assistant Nicolette into the nefarious scheme. Of course, nothing goes quite as planned.


Number of Characters: 3


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 3


Length (in Pages): 60


Location: A bank


Key Words: heist, thriller, women, twisty, murder, crime


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? No


Award nominations/wins:


Reviews:

Fear of Roses was reviewed with multiple ★★★★ four-star reviews, which called it “a masterclass in character development” (The Violet Curtain), “a punchy, effective ride with a delightful array of cat and mouse powershifts” (Culture Fix), and “a show you can bank on to entertain” (Edfringe Review), with “delicious tinges of a 1940s film noir” (One4Review) and “an almost miraculous cool” (AllEdinburgh Theatre).

In Everglade Studio


Synopsis:

In 1974 London, three musicians and their manager seal themselves inside an underground recording studio to complete a country-rock album, unaware that materials in the walls are driving them to the brink of insanity.

As artistic and social tensions flare, the atmosphere grows thornier, the music grows stranger, and Everglade Studio’s mixture of creativity and claustrophobia demands its pound of flesh…


Number of Characters: 4


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 4


Length (in Pages): 82


Location: An underground recording studio in London, 1974


Key Words: thriller, music, 1970s, race, violence


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? Yes


Award nominations/wins: The British Blacklist's Best Theatre of 2024. Longlisted for the BBC Writersroom Popcorn Award for Best New Writing.


Reviews:

In Everglade Studio ran for 25 performances at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Assembly. The play was longlisted for the BBC Writersroom’s Popcorn Award for Best New Writing, nominated for an Offie Award, and received multiple five-star and four-star reviews. Critics called it “an intelligently constructed masterpiece” (★★★★★ - The Student), “fierce and intense” (★★★★★ - Butterwort), “tuneful, tense and entertaining… Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller’s most impressive piece to date" (★★★★ - AllEdinburgh Theatre) and a “well-written and well-acted thriller... that truly earns its claim to the genre” (★★★★ - Flora Gosling), where “not a moment is wasted” (★★★★★ - Lothian Life).


Production Photos/Posters/Playtext Cover:

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Nines


Synopsis:

Backstage at an upscale fashion show in 1966, an ambitious young model begins to suspect her two stylists are hiding a scandalous secret.


Number of Characters: 3


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 3


Length (in Pages): 60


Location: Southern United States, 1966


Key Words: fashion, mystery, 1960s, race, comedy, fun


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? No


Award nominations/wins:


Reviews:


Production Photos/Posters/Playtext Cover:

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Port City Signature


Synopsis:

In this tightly-wound four-hander thriller written by Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller (In Everglade Studio, Press, Blood Red Apples & Deep Gold Honey), four characters navigate shifting alliances in the middle of the night in a seaside pub.

A newcomer has missed her train. She waits for the next one, the last of the night, in a quiet pub near the station. Before long, a charming regular begins to chat. He soon proposes a deal to her, involving a gun, a hefty payout, and fleeing on the approaching train. As the evening ticks by, the regular and the bartender try to sweeten the deal, the port city’s sadistic sheriff makes an appearance, and as the train whistle gets closer, the newcomer must decide.


Number of Characters: 4


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 4


Length (in Pages): 72


Location: A seaside pub, Britain


Key Words: thriller, noir, hitchcock, intense, pub, fun


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? Yes


Award nominations/wins: OFFIE nomination for Set Design


Reviews:

★★★★ "A timeless, tense and tenacious tale" - Broadway World

★★★★ "A brilliant homage to Hitchcock and the film noir genre' - RatedReviewed

★★★★ "Oodles of tension right from the start" - London Pub Theatres

★★★★ "Original and very exciting" - The Deskbound Dramatic

★★★★ "A thrilling tale of morality and possibility" - A Shiny Life for Me


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The Kindness of Strangers


Synopsis:

A sharp and witty three-hander about what it takes to stay relevant in our modern theatre landscape.

At a prestigious English theatre, the stage is set for an ambitious reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire - rising star director Pierce Mitchell has dug into the racial undertones of the original to craft an incisive new vision. However, the theatre’s board have instructed Candie Woodley, the Artistic Director who made it all possible, to force Pierce in a new direction that better suits the topics they think audiences care about. Caught in the middle, Candie and her number-two, Lea Celeste, must concoct a solution at the last minute.


Number of Characters: 3


Minimum Number of Actors Required: 3


Length (in Pages): 60


Location: A theatre in Britain


Key Words: theatre, satire, race, contemporary


Has the Play Been Produced? Yes


Are the Rights Available? Yes


Has the Play Been Published? No


Award nominations/wins:


Reviews:

★★★★ "A mischievous sense of humour permeates this thoughtful play, with engaging performances from a committed cast" - LondonTheatre1


Production Photos/Posters/Playtext Cover:

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Location

Camberwell, London

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