With a debut play under their belt, Kayleigh Benham hasn’t stopped since graduating from BA (Hons) Creative Writing in 2022. They now run the Brighton-based Halfway Down Theatre with their latest play, The Skins (Or The Revenge of Princess Diana), having already sold out three nights in a row at this year’s Brighton Fringe.
We sat down with Kayleigh to find out more about their journey since graduating, from award-winning social campaigns with The Sushi Agency to working freelance alongside playwriting.
The last time we caught up, you’d premiered your debut play, SAINT, in Brighton as part of Halfway Down Theatre, followed by Edinburgh Fringe the year after. What was your biggest takeaway from this experience?
It was amazing. We signed up for Keep It Fringe and when we found out about it, we were like “Oh Jesus, we have to take the show to Edinburgh now!” So it was a whirlwind and we took it there on a whim.
Saint was a one person show. I learned that your creative community who you surround yourself with is so important, having a really strong base. We were sometimes doing 18-hour days because we were a small company and we didn't have like the budget for flyers – so it really mattered who I had around me to support and make it possible. Otherwise, I would have burnt out (fringe flu alone took me out!) In the show I'm doing now, you can really see we took that on board.
Around this time, you started your role as a Social Media Manager, with some of your biggest campaigns and clients including Jollibee. Walk us through some of your favourite highlights from this.
I miss the bee so much! It was the silliest three years of my life, which is weird to talk about it in past tense as it’s only been a month since I left.
We supported Katseye’s first European show. I was in the room with them helping them make TikToks and we brought the Jollibee mascot down to the actual event, where we were giving out loads of freebies with our influencers. That felt big. It was a really amazing moment in my career.
We also worked with one influencer in particular across those three years called AJ Clementine. My first activation with her was six times award-winning! That was a fun summer of going to award shows, and I even ended up planning her hen do last year, which was just ridiculous. Those were definitely two big highlights.
Your new play ‘The Skins’ blends puppetry, pop culture and a deep love for Princess Diana. What inspired it?
I wrote a short story in college about this woman seeing a trench coat full of aliens on the tube, which is how the show starts. Spoilers if you’re coming to see it, sorry!
While Saint was funny and had a puppet, it was also a one-person show with some really heavy themes. The Skins is half-based in reality – the rise of the far right in the UK – but it's got Princess Diana and Austin Powers and a load of silly characters in, like alien puppets who are “puppeting” the far right. My dissertation was on the Muppets, so I wanted more in this show! I definitely want Halfway Down Theatre to be a puppet-y theatre group.
My amazing friend Amy Jane Brice, who I met at AUB from BA (Hons) Fine Art, made us a few puppets and as a group we made the big one for the start of the show. The main thing for The Skins is having it be as silly as possible. That’s the vibe.
Why is fringe so important to you as a playwright?
I think a huge part of fringe theatre is that it's designed to be accessible. Not just for audiences, but for performers and for creators too. A lot of fringe festivals have a lot further to go in that sense (Edinburgh Fringe is now much harder to afford and survive at) but generally, they’re open application, so anyone can put on a show with the funding. That’s really exciting. It gives everyone a platform and doesn't require a drama school background or really any kind of background. If you've got something and you want to do it, you can do it.
Something that’s joked about is how theatre is the last frontier against AI. As much as people use it to create posters, theatre fundamentally comes down to like a person on a stage. You can't replace that. And when you're in at these festivals, there's a real creative energy in the air that I don't think that you could fabricate. It has to be human, and it has to be real.
What are your next moves in terms of your career journey, and where would you like to take The Skins next?
At the moment, I’m continuing to find social media clients that excite and challenge me through freelance work while we take The Skins to London. I think it’s going to be sort of a retainer show for us, so while we all continue to create new things, it’ll be the wheel that keeps everything rolling along. We'll definitely be applying for festivals next year – there are a few I’d love for it to be a part of.
Finally, what’s your one piece of advice to students or graduates interested in following in your footsteps, whether that’s through playwriting or socials?
It’s all about building a creative network that’ll support you after graduating. The person who made my puppets is my best friend who I met at uni, and going to festivals and meeting people has really kept the creative projects afloat. So, collaborate and meet and network! Do all of that while you have the time.
Socials are hard, because it's the era of brainrot, but the same goes. I’ve been helping out on theatre Instagrams and things like that for years. If you have the capacity, volunteer to help wherever you can – it’ll give you a leg up for the future.
Want to find out more?
The Skins is next being performed at FUSEBOX in London on 2 July, 19.30.
Buy tickets and follow Halfway Down Theatre and puppet maker Amy Brice on Instagram for the latest updates.
