Introducing Christen Shepherd, the playwright of our first London Drafts featured script, MRS. KRAY

Christen Shepherd studied Anthropology at Western University, and is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. In 2013 she co-authored The Promise: Truth from the Trenches of Adoption, which has become widely circulated among adoption professionals and adoptive parents in Canada and the US. Recently, she helped famed American art forger, Mark Landis, on his memoir, Self-Portrait of a Master Art Forger. This month she releases Broken Promises: The Battle to Find Help for Kids with Aggression, an exploration of violence in the home directed at caregivers.

You can catch Christen’s play being performed at The Poacher’s Arms on June 1st, 2025!

Reading Cast:
Violet Kray – Heather Heathcote
May – Helen Wrack-Adams
Vera – Louisa O’Keane
Charlie Kray Sr. – Charles Burnetts
Joe – Nicholas Buchanan

Introducing Jan Sims, the playwright of our second London Drafts featured script, A FORK IN THE ROAD

Jan is a performer, writer, playwright and journalist. Her short story, Girl, Lost in Thought, was published in The Humber Literary Review. Her story, Things at the Centre of Unfulfillment, appeared in Fleas On the Dog online magazine. Jan’s play, Get a Life, was the co-winner of best production at an international festival. Her plays, Gracious Living, and Weight, were performed at The Arts Project in London. Jan’s work has also been performed through the Grand Theatre’s Playwrights Cabaret. Most recently she wrote and performed Moments in Time at Alvegoroot’s This Hour Has 10 Minutes Playwriting Festival. Her play, A Day at the Beach, was also showcased at a national play festival. Jan’s career in television news includes being a reporter and anchor in London and with CTV Toronto.

You can catch Jan’s play being performed at The Poacher’s Arms on June 8th!

Reading Cast:
Maggie – Elizabeth Durand
Buck – Tim Bourgard
Elspeth – Chiedza Gondoza
Sinjin – Nicholas Buchanan

Introducing Shelley Lapkowski, the playwright of our third London Drafts featured script, GEEZ, LOUISE!  

Shelley Lapkowski is a Canadian playwright whose debut comedy Geez, Louise! explores the tensions and unexpected bonds that form when generations and personalities clash in a quirky condo complex. Based in the London, Ontario area, she has acted in numerous community theatre productions and brings that performance insight to her writing. Shelley is currently dreaming up future projects—including potential sequels to Geez, Louise! featuring Amber and Louise—and somehow juggling it all while raising a spirited teenage daughter.

You can catch Shelley’s play, and the final performance of this series, at The Poacher’s Arms on June 15th!

Reading Cast:
Louise – Eve Cohen
Amber – Charlotte Emma
Sam – Charles Bernetts
Diane / Mrs. Chanel – Charlene McNabb
Betty / Nick / Dave – Ryan Memarzadeh-Qehedani
Steve – Gabriel Sizeland