A Q&A with Kent writer Eloise Fairley ahead of the reading of her new play Calcite at the Writers’ Room Festival
Tue 28 Apr 2026How does it feel to now see your rehearsed reading of Calcite presented as part of the Writers’ Room Festival, and what has this meant to you?
It’s really wonderful to be listed alongside such amazing playwrights in a brilliant celebration of new work, but more than anything it means a great deal to me to be trusted in my work by my home theatre with a play so intrinsically about place and heavily influenced by mine and my families lives here. That feels incredibly special to me. We so often hear stories of playwrights being lifted up by their home theatres in their early careers so it feels really excellent to know that the Marlowe can be that for me.
How are you feeling about audiences having a chance to see your work at the Marlowe?
It’s the first time I’ve had a paying audience see something I’ve written, so that bit is still quite surreal. I’m excited mostly, but it can be quite exposing sitting in an audience with the people around you watching something that came from your brain, so I wonder how that will feel in the moment. I’ll have to report back on that one!
Tell us a little about Calcite – how you think audiences will respond to it and some of the key themes you think will resonate with them?
I first started writing Calcite when I was in my very early twenties at drama school, and I was interrogating what it is to be from where I’m from; Dover. It’s something I’ve continued to really ponder in my work, but here I feel I was working through the question of what it is to be a woman in rurality and how the legacy of that rurality can chase down generations. Calcite tumbles through time, so really I hope that the audience enjoy the inspection of place and those people who continue to inhabit it.
Why is it so important for new writing like Calcite to be shared by a theatre like the Marlowe?
New writers are so frequently told that we should be self-producing, heading to Fringe, or taking on pub theatres, and as much as we often want to, in this economic climate it’s getting harder and harder to make that kind of work happen. Without it, how else can we show the industry what we’re trying to do? Having the Marlowe respond to the work and believe in it not only reminds you that you’re on the right track and gives you that credibility to take the next steps in your career, but really helps you to enter more rooms and start conversations about the work which you couldn’t have had without them. It’s invaluable to have someone backing you in these early stages, and having the Marlowe be that organisation willing to vouch for you makes all the difference.
What are your hopes for the future life Calcite will have going forwards from here?
Calcite is a huge world-building play, so I hope it excites people in its scale and ambition. I’d love to see a fully realised production one day, so I hope this reading gives people a taste of what it could be!
Why are events like this so important for new writers in Kent, and in general?
Kent is so close to London, but so many parts of it feel so far away. Whether that be in transportation, accessibility, or geographical eligibility to opportunity, it can be hard to find things for new writers that are built for us down here. Having something to celebrate the some of the work we make, here in Kent, feels like something that allows Kent-based writers to shout nationally about the footprint we are able to leave. In a socioeconomic climate that sees so many opportunities for new talent disappearing or narrowing its eligibility beyond application, it’s nice to have a bit of light within the tunnel to show that regional venues can and will try to support their local talent as best they can.
The Marlowe is the home of new writing in Kent – why this is such an important thing to champion?
To be honest, it can be exhausting as a writer seeing a climate of programming saturated with reboots of classics or screen to stage adaptations, and whilst I strongly believe we should have access to a diverse programme of ideas, there feels like a distinct lack of investment in new work. The fact that a theatre is taking the risk to invest in their local talent and new work itself is really heartening and it is work like this that allows new writers to develop in their practice for our future generations of stage work.
How does it feel to be part of the festival alongside award-winning writers like Simon Stephens and Penelope Skinner?
Absolutely mental. I studied Simon Stephens and Penelope Skinner during my secondary education and my degree, so to be able to show my work alongside theirs is such a privilege. At the risk of sounding far too earnest, if it’s the coolest thing I ever do, I’ll be chuffed with that.
You can find out more about the Writers’ Room Festival and book tickets here.