Writing.

Michael's writing has appeared on stage, screen, radio, t'Interweb and the printed page.

He's currently writing a new Bill Kemp novel, Thin Ice, as a sequel to 2023's Outback.

He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Tess, co-written with composer Michael Blore. An adaptation of Thomas Hardy's much-loved epic Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the show received standing ovations at workshop performances in The Other Place at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon.

His debut original stage play, Rasputin's Mother, won the national playwriting competition and was professionally produced in Yorkshire and Birmingham.

His monologue South Sea Bubble was shortlisted for the Lyric Hammersmith/ Warwick Arts Centre Playwriting Competition.

His play Reality received a staged reading at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, directed by Gary Sefton and starring Robert Daws and Michael Fenton Stevens, while his Shakespeare-themed farce MacHamLear toured the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2023.

After a successful career editing newspapers, Michael graduated with an MA in TV Scriptwriting from De Montfort University and has a wide portfolio of television scripts. He has also written radio plays, one of which has Sir Derek Jacobi attached and is currently being taken through the BBC’s commissioning process by a Radio 4 staff producer. Other work includes feature films, corporate and online scripts and short stories.

Michael has been a professional theatre critic for 30 years. His work has appeared in national newspapers and he has been a regular reviewer for The Stage, as well as serving as resident critic for a host of regional titles. His reviews can be read at whatsonstage.com as well as on his own website, www.stagereviews.co.uk