queynte
/kweɪnt/
Old English: A borrowing from the French
Cunning / Wise / Ingenious / Elaborate / Fine / Gracious / Curious / Remarkable / Mysterious
~ The Precious Thing ~
queynte
Queynte Laydies are writing and producing duo, Máirín O’Hagan & Sarah Anson
We tell historical stories for a contemporary world. Our accessible and entertaining theatre has toured the UK and Europe, combining historical research with inventive playfulness.
Our history play, Lady Percy, inspired by Henry IV, Part 1, was a finalist for the American Shakespeare Center’s ‘Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries’ competition and has since been performed in Virginia. Long-running Medieval drama, Marge and Jules, has been performed and acclaimed at academic conferences throughout the country. Pirate comedy, The Life & Opinions of Mary Read, was chosen for Wilton’s Music Hall ‘Plays Without Décor’ scheme.
As Queynte Laydies, we have produced comedy shorts Bean (starring Lou Sanders) and Sarah Surname (directed by Máirín), as well as horror short The Going (with awards from Amsterdam Short Film Festival, Renegade, Scream Queer, Toronto Indie Shorts, Toronto Int Women Film Festival, Feel the Reel & LGBT+ Film Festival Poland).
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As well as being a Queynte Laydie, Máirín runs film company, Barefaced Greek, which makes shorts from ancient Greek drama in the original language.
Last year, she was commissioned to write Dancing Bear and the Hunter in the Stars for the The Dream Factory Theatre in Warwick. She has been invited back this year to write a new musical for the company.
Máirín directed comedy short, Sarah Surname, and upcoming horror short, The Going.
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Sarah currently works as a TV writer. Recent credits include Rings of Power (S3, Amazon Prime) and Father Brown (S11, BBC One). She has also had original scripts in development with Sky Drama, Euston Films and Leopard Pictures, as well as a historical drama for Golden Wings Development.
In 2020, Sarah released Ghost on Toast, a podcast about real-life ghost stories, available on iTunes, Acast and Spotify. She also wrote and co-produced Queynte Laydies’ horror short The Going.
praise for lady percy
“A really beautiful play… A joy to listen to”
JESSICA LUSK, SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE
“This should absolutely be happening on the Main Stage at the Globe”
RAMIN SABI, PRODUCER
praise for marge and jules
“Powerful and deeply thoughtful”
PROFESSOR JOHN MCGAVIN, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
“A rare sensibility to Medieval texts and a capacity to make sense of them for a contemporary audience”
PROFESSOR GUILLEMETTE BOLENS, UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA
“Beautifully crafted… An easy balance of comic and serious — a positively Medieval skill, Chaucer does it too!”
DR DIANA WYATT, DURHAM UNIVERSITY
