The Ryan Calais Cameron Season to champion new British playwrights

Ryan Calais Cameron has unveiled a new initiative to champion the next generation of British playwrights.

The Olivier Award nominee has designed the new development and production programme in association with Broadway Theatre, Catford. It will involve providing dramaturgical support, financial backing, development space and mentorship to three early-Career Black and Global Majority writers based in the borough of Lewisham.

The three plays have been chosen by Cameron and are written by Justice Ezi, Demi Wilson-Smith and Kaleb D’Aguilar.

They are titled Last Goal Wins, Cranes and How to Keep Warm in Winter, and all works will be progressed from script to production, concluding with each performing 12 shows in the Broadway Theatre’s studio space. The plays will run across the upcoming summer and autumn months and employ over 23 creatives.

The season launches with Ezi’s Last Goal Wins from 1 to 12 July. The high-stakes football drama sees two players competing for a place on the Nigerian national team. Cranes by Wilson-Smith will follow from 23 September to 4 October and tells the writer and performer’s true story about attending her first protest and the life-shattering consequences of finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Finally, D’Aguilar’s How To Keep Warm in Winter, a Caribbean love story set against the adversity of 1970s London, will play 14 to 25 October.

Cameron said: “Growing up in Lewisham, the Broadway Theatre was the place that sparked my creative imagination. To establish this season is a dream come true, but more importantly, it’s a structural necessity. The new writing sector is facing a massive crisis, and we risk losing an entire generation of vital Global Majority working-class voices if we don’t build doors for them to walk through.

“Justice, Demi, and Kaleb are phenomenal talents. What makes their plays so unique is how fiercely they capture universal truths, culture, and deep personal resilience. I’m incredibly proud to provide the resources and mentorship they deserve, and I can’t wait to champion their work as it takes centre stage in Catford.”