Sumerah Srivastav

Sumerah Srivastav is a playwright, librettist and screenwriter with a background in TV, film and radio production. She is a regular writer on EastEnders and has been identified as a rising star in the BBC's 2017 New Talent Hotlist. She is currently one of fifteen writers selected for a year-long MediaXchange/Creative Skillset Programme on Advanced Writing for TV drama under which she is developing an original television series. As a playwright she has been a member of the Royal Court's Critical Mass and invited Studio Writers' programmes, Orange Tree Writers Collective, Criterion playwright programme and as a librettist twice taken part in the Stratford East's Musical Theatre Initiative. Sumerah is a full member of Mercury Musical Developments, the Royal Television Society and the Writers Guild. Sumerah is a playwright and screenwriter. As a playwright she has been a member of the Royal Court's Critical Mass and invited Studio Writers' programmes, Stratford East's Musical Theatre Initiative,Orange Tree Writers Collective and The Criterion playwright programme. Her plays include Jigsaw, Veiled & Vinegar, The Fairy King, Space Invaders, Downfall and Border Lies. Her work has been performed at Soho, Tristan Bates,Redbridge Drama Centre, Contact, Orange Tree, The Pleasance, The Barbicanand The Criterion. She is currently developing a period play with support fromthe Criterion Theatre Trust and Worthing Theatres. For the screen she has written for EastEnders and her short film Origami starring Nicholas Pinnock and Pearl Mackie, is currently in post-production. In 2017 she was identified as a rising star in the BBC's New Talent Hotlist. This year she is as a BAFTA Crew participant and has been selected to take part in Vertical Lab, a mentoring programme by the Independent Film Trust.