About Us
We provide networking, training and opportunities for writers, artists & theatre-makers, especially those with low incomes and/or those who are neurodivergent.
Ironclad Creative CIC was established in 2020 as a place for writers, artists and theatre-makers to find each other, learn about the business of making art, and develop their skills.
Founded by Michelle Allen and Andrew Allen, our mission is to support, signpost and provide spaces where people can come together and discuss and learn.
We know how hard it is to make connections, network and learn about how to get paid for what you do.
We want to support all people and are especially interested in making sure that our work reaches people who currently have low incomes, or come from low income backgrounds.
We’re also neurodivergent and know that being creative and neurodivergent adds additional complexities and barriers to networking, making and putting your work into the world.
While we have a paid membership, we also have free events that are funded by partnerships, trusts, and grants. We also offer bursaries, low cost writing competitions with publishing opportunities and in kind support a few times a year.
Ironclad Creative CIC is a not for profit organisation, which means that whatever we make goes right back into the work we do for the community and the arts. It means that the more you support us, the more people we can reach, the more conversations we can have, and the more opportunities our community can create.
Please consider joining the Creative Cauldron, our membership community, or donating to us to create a scholarship pot for those who would like to join.
The Team
Michelle Allen - Co-founding Director
Michelle is an autistic & ADHD multiple business owner, coach and writer.
Michelle has worked in the creative industry for over fifteen years and was the Assistant Producer for Curated Acts at Reading Fringe Festival in addition to producing and writing independently as one half of Cast Iron Theatre.
After script reading for the BBC Writers Room and Theatre 503, Michelle gained an MA Screenwriting at Nation Film and Television School (NFTS) and was the winner of NBC Universal & SyFy Channel's Original TV Pitch Competition for the series Mimicry, which was developed to treatment stage with mentoring from Carnival Films.
Michelle’s plays have been staged in London, the US and Brighton. In 2021 she was selected to attend the Curtis Brown Breakthrough Novel Writing programme for her manuscript, Otherlings, which will be released in Autumn 2024 as part of her new publishing company!
As a coach and consultant Michelle works with creative business owners, artists and writers around their work, funding and visibility.
She’s the host of the Resting Biz Face podcast which offers actionable advice, mindset and strategy for people wanting to shift away from the old, hustle and corporate way of doing things, into a life full of inspiration, creation and rest (something which is very important for all people, and especially so for those who are neurodivergent).
Michelle mentors emerging theatre-makers with The Pebble Trust Bursary at Brighton Fringe, and Greater Brighton MET College.
Andrew Allen - Co-founding Director
Andrew is a writer, director, host and workshop facilitator.
Andrew has taught drama for almost two decades, working with children, young people and adults. He teaches improvisation in corporate and community settings, and leads workshops and mentoring for emerging writers and directors.
Andrew trained in theatre-making and performance, he also writes and directs. His writing has been staged in Croydon, Chelmsford, Brighton, Reading, Edinburgh and London.
Andrew wrote and directed One Woman Alien which features Katy Schutte. He has recently written a short story collection and has a number of short stories published by Candy Jar Books
Through his other business, Confidence in Communication, Andrew consults and trains people and corporations on public speaking, facilitation and confidence building.
Non-Executive Directors
Steph Weller - Independent Producer
Old Vic 12 (2018-19); Stage One bursary holder
Steph is an Old Vic 12 trained and Stage One supported theatre and festival producer. Steph is co-founder of PlayWell Productions CIC, working to elevate visibility and give equality of opportunity and voice to artists and their stories. These stories include (but are not limited to) the voices of: the queer lived experience; women and those who identify as non-binary; those who identify as disabled; and the lived experience of people of the global majority.
Commissions and credits include shows that engage with communities historically underserved by theatre offerings including: queer communities (Very Special Guest Star, Omnibus Theatre London; I Ain’t Dumb, Belgrade Theatre Coventry; Clown Sex, VAULT Festival London, Edinburgh Festival, Wardrobe Theatre Bristol), people living with disability (Live To Tell: A Proposal for the Madonna Musical, Omnibus Theatre London, Camden People’s Theatre London), and those from the global majority (Black Power Desk, premiering 2025). Other shows in development include the disability-led musical Lesbian Pirates! and coastal musical With Courage. Via their Dark Room scheme, China Plate is supporting Steph through the ongoing development of Black Power Desk.
Steph has worked for and with a whole range of organisations including China Plate, Reading Rep, Reading Fringe Festival, Fizzy Sherbet, Tonic Theatre, and Inspector Sands.
Zsuzsi Lindsay
Cultural Placemaking Officer, Reading Borough Council
Zsuzsi is the Cultural Placemaking Officer for Reading Borough Council, supporting both the Cultural Services and the Housing and Development Team.
She has worked in the creative sector for the last 20 years in both in the UK and abroad.
As a result of her experiences, she has developed a passion for delivering and designing cultural projects with social impact outcomes. Seeing first-hand the impact that cultural projects can have on wellbeing, sense of self and place, community building and academic achievement.
Outside of her role as Cultural Placemaking Officer she is a mum of three, founder of the Reading Fringe Festival, space animator, planet protector and keen novice biker.
Sally Orr
Dramatherapist & Youth Theatre director
Sally specialises in children and teenagers with a passion for supporting mental health through drama and finding out what issues her groups can use to explore their own experience in life- through drama and all the creative arts, using drama, music, movement and the visual arts .
She has run her youth theatre DQ Brighton for nearly 20 years and has produced and directed numerous plays around Brighton with her enthusiastic groups , connecting with funding partners in the UK, including UK Youth for teenagers and AGE UK, with arts groups for older people . She has a strong belief in arts for all whatever your ability.
Sally has also worked in education as a Dramatherapist, and more recently with East Sussex Discovery college and Culture Shift CIO to run creative groups to support the mental health of local 11-20 years olds . This has been a huge positive learning curve and also she has also learnt how to make Street Art! She has also worked in the NHS for 30 years as a Registered nurse practitioner , supervisor and learning mentor.