Writer – Screenwriter, playwright and Writing Doula
Sharmila is currently on BBC VOICES.
Her feature script Without You / Thermoo was on THE BRIT LIST and THE WRITERS LAB
She is the Writer Lead for SOHO WRITER’s LAB.
Sharmila is a screenwriter, playwright and prose writer: Her work is a transgressive exploration on love, sexuality, power as well as the South Asian diasporic experience.
Sharmila’s feature Without You was on the Brit List and The Writer’s Lab.
She is currently developing a tv series with BBC VOICES.
Sharmila has had two short films commissioned by Film London and written two features: Heart of the City (part of the Film London and Cinestan India Microschool 2015) and Mother Land.
Her short film Oysters – an exploration of desire in the face of grief – was shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Foundation and her feature Mother Land – is currently being developed by Cinestan International and has been long-listed for the Sundance Writers’ Lab.
FILM LONDON: Director Pratyusha Gupta, Producer Emma Duffy.
FILM LONDON – Directed by Rajinder Kochar, produced by X-FILMS.
A young South Asian woman’s experience with sex and the challenges she faces in navigating a sexually pressurised culture in London.
My work is female centric, exploring power, gender and sexuality.
THE HUSBANDS
An exploration of polyandry and matriarchy in India. Toured nationally and completed its run at London’s Soho theatre (Kali and Pentabus Theatre),
Purnajanam / Born Again (Kali Theatre, Southwark Playhouse)
In a city of transition and tradition, three liars, two lovers and a reluctant leader all desperately search for truth. As Mumbai burns, Purnjanam questions destiny, love and power, asking what must be destroyed for something new to be created.
10 Women
Produced by JackDaw Theatre
Using a combination of theatre verity and devising, this piece explored the relationship of ten women and their bodies.
Not Today’s Yesterday
This work aims to open up conversation through a clever appropriation of whitewashed histories and give a voice back to lost histories and communities.
Not Today’s Yesterday offers audiences a chance to engage in the most important geo-political conversation of this decade
Shocked and moved by true stories of honour killings of young women in the UK where on average 12 such killings occur each year, twelve writers have collaborated to create a moving and poignant theatre event that celebrates and gives voice to these lost lives.
Short story awards: Sharmila was shortlisted for the Asian Writer Short Story Award 2009 and 2012.
Sharmila’s short stories have been published both in print and online.
She has written about the experience of being in a cross cultural relationship during BLM as well as editing together a series of pieces about Prince called The Morning Pages.
Sharmila is the Lead Writer for Soho Writers Lab.
Sharmila teaches playwriting and screenwriting courses at University level and adult education centres: such as City Lit.
She has also taught a module on Race and Gender in British Theatre at Theatre Academy London, University of Florida.
Sharmila also runs theatre and screenwriting workshops in schools and works with TiE.
She was commissioned by the Migration Museum and Tamasha theatre for Corelli College, London called Nothing to Declare: exploration objects and trans-generational migration.
She is also working on the Barbican Box: a portable box filled with the ingredients for making and creating original theatre, visual art or music inspired by our world class arts programme. It is sent out across 40 secondary, SEN schools and FE colleges in east London with a national programme currently being piloted in Manchester.
Writing Doula
I work one to one with writers to create a holistic and writer centred approach to creativity.
I will work with you and your process in a sustainable way to help you to create the best work possible.
I offer:
So whether you have a project already underway or are starting something new – we can find a way to help keep you and the project in synch and working together.
Drop me a line at sharmilathewrter@gmail.com
Sessions can be person or (in London) or carried out remotely. Sliding scale rates apply and discounts to former students.
Sharmila Chauhan 