Tell us a bit about yourself, who are you and what do you do?
Hello, My name is Kelly Jones, I am a playwright from Dagenham. I am also sometimes a comedy cabaret performer.
What influenced you to pursue a career in the arts?
I like telling stories. I grew up in a big East End family full of natural storytellers and performers. I originally wanted to be an actor, so I went to Uni to study Performing Arts. I feel into writing accidently, I was invited onto a writer’s workshop and I fell in love. I liked that the page could become anything I wanted it to be, as long as it made sense, and that an audience could witness it live – it still feels like magic to me.
How has the Mercury helped your career/personal development?
How long have you got?! My first intro to the mercury was when I won the Weinberger Monologue competition during the pandemic. From my first interactive I felt supported and treated like a writer. When the opportunity came up for Mercury Playwrights came up, I had to apply! It was on that Programme that I wrote My Mother’s Funeral: The Show, which has since been co-produced by The Mercury and Paines Plough; and won a Fringe First Award for Outstanding new writing. None of this would have happened had it not been for The support of the mercury and helping me open doors previously locked to me.
If you could have dinner with any two famous people, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
Ooh this is tricky! There are loads of non-famous people I’d love to have dinner with – especially family members no longer with us whose roast potatoes I miss. Famous, I would have to say Victoria Wood and Kathy Burke. I bet we’d have a right bloody laugh
What are you most looking forward to (professionally or personally) over the next 12 months?
Professionally My Mother’s Funeral is still on tour, so I am looking forward to visiting it this week at Bristol Old Vic and in a few weeks at northern stage. Personally, it’s my Mum’s 70th birthday this December and we’d go a big family party.
Do you have any top tips for creatives just starting out?
My favourite thing about being a writer is other writers. I am very lucky to have a close-nit group of writer friends who support each other. It’s important to find your people. It also took me a long time to realise that even if I have another non-writing job, I am still allowed to call myself a writer first and foremost.
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