Colette Kane is a Liverpudlian who studied drama at Liverpool John Moore’s University in 2002. In addition to working as Housing Support Officer for NACRO Union and the Salvation Army, (2008-2012), Colette has dedicated herself to building a theatrical identity; drawing dramatic material from her work experience and the characters around her. She describes her theatrical voice as “economical, lyrical and muscular but completely anchored in the reality of character.”
In her early years as a playwright, Kane took a range of courses to mature and expand her skills. Her 10-minute play for the National Theatre Playwriting Project was inspired by Alan Bennett’s “The Habit of Art” and at the Young Vic she worked around the relationships between writer and director.
Many of the earlier scripts served as seeds: the acclaimed “Ways to Look at Fish” emerged at Manchester’s 24:7 Theatre Festival in 2008, and the emotionally compelling and gently humorous “Hatch” was launched at the Everyman Theatre then also moved to 24:7 in 2010. In 2013, “I Know How I Feel About Eve” was produced Downstairs at Hampstead Theatre and revealed the full emotional intensity and depth which characterizes Colette Kane’s work. Her approach sometimes comes from a therapeutic angle, she says, and her intense scripts are often built around fractured families; human behavioural habits and the effects of toxic relationships. The focus in “Eve” was on two parents exploring grief within a plot concerning what she describes as human genetic engineering; it launches her further pursuit into science fiction.