Industry - Guest Speakers & Networking

Come and join us on Thursday 10th October for the next in our series of 'Industry' nights at the Stage Door in partnership with MAST Mayflower Studios.  Doors are 6.30pm and we will be having guest speakers with a Q&A session afterwards, followed by some networking downstairs in the bar afterwards. So make sure you book your free tickets to join us at this fantastic event and come and network with like-minded artists and creatives in the city.

We are delighted to be welcoming 3 industry experts as guest speakers to Southampton, Laura Elmes, Robyn Grant and Hannah Benson.

Robyn Grant is a director, writer and performer from Leeds.

She began writing and directing back in 2015 whilst studying at East 15 Acting School. Since then she has written for both stage and screen, with a passion for comedy and creating exciting roles for women. 

Previous work includes: 2:22 A Ghost Story Associate Director: UK Tour 2022/2023, as Assistant Director: Apollo Theatre, Lyric Theatre, West End), Come Dine With Me The Musical (Turbine Theatre), Waiter There’s a Murder in my Soup! (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), Vulvarine: A New Musical (Assembly, Edinburgh Fringe and UK Tour, winner of the Fairy Powered Best New Writing Award, Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour. Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Tom and Bunny Save the World (UK Tour, Winner of the Vaults Festival Spirit Award), Buzz: A New Musical (Winner of the Otherplace/Balkan Award).

Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx were also shortlisted for a Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for their work on Unfortunate for Best Musical Theatre Book Writing in 2020.

Laura Elmes is an award-winning producer of theatre and live events, including all of the iterations of Unfortunate. Alongside a slate of theatre productions with Wildpark Entertainment, Laura set up and ran the UK’s largest drive-in cinema and theatre from 2020-2021, with its own contact-free diner. Originally planned for an 8-week limited season, The Drive-In became the top-grossing cinema in the UK and ran for 11 months showing classic movies, new releases and a range of live events. Laura was Line Producer for Runaway Entertainment on 2:22 A Ghost Story (Noel Coward Theatre) and The Windsors Endgame (Prince of Wales Theatre), and was previously Production Coordinator for their productions of Girl From The North Country (Noel Coward Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre, Phoenix Theatre and UK tour); In The Heights and The Railway Children (both King’s Cross Theatre). Prior to this she worked with Jamie Hendry Productions on Impossible (Noel Coward Theatre) and Let It Be (Garrick Theatre).