Clare Bayley

Clare Bayley is an award-winning British writer, who writes for theater, radio, film, and fiction. Bayley’s works explore contemporary political stories through the lens of human relationships. Bayley’s most notable work is The Container (2007), which follows a group of migrants attempting to reach the UK, hidden inside of a shipping container. The Container won the Fringe First Award and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award for its production at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Some of Bayley’s other notable works include The Enchantment (2007), Blue Sky (2012), and After the Peace (2019), which was longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize.

Clare Bayley’s works have been performed in The UK, USA, Australia, Mexico, Italy, and Canada. In addition to her works for the stage, Bayley has written a number of radio plays for BBC Radio 4. She is the co-author of Playwrighting: an artists’ and writers’ companion and is the former Theatre Editor of the Independent newspaper. Bayley also received fellowships from the University of East London from 2016-2017 and 2018-2020.

In October 2020, Bayley was the writer in residence at University College Oxford, developing a new version of George Sand’s Gabriel. Bayley is currently running Playhouse Playmakers, the playwriting development programme at Oxford Playhouse. Bayley also teaches playwriting and creative writing at NYU Tisch London campus and at London South Bank University. Additionally, Bayley is a mentor for the MA/MFA students on the Central School of Speech and Drama’s playwriting course.