About the Playwright

Lou Beckett.

From appearing in a high school performance of a Death of a Salesman to reading Tennessee Williams pieces in speech contests, Lou’s passion for theatre started early. 

While studying drama at university, Henrik Ibsen, Caryl Churchill and Ntozake Shange were early inspirations.

Being one of three plays chosen for a full-scale production as part of an Arts Council scheme was a big first step. The Arts Council grant meant the ten-minute play was transformed into a full-scale production with four sold-out professional performances. Called 'Rotten Luck,' the play was staged a second time in 2019 as part of Gloucester History Festival. 

Beckett's most well known play is Bletchley Girls. Originally performed on stage as Secrets, Lies and Spies, it was adapted and developed as a three-part audio play. Bletchley Girls has reached over 4,000 listeners on major streaming platforms, regional festivals and area radio stations.

Bletchley Park created a code breaking workshop to go along with the play called Bletchley Girls: Battle for Equality. 

Lou’s radio play, Forbidden Music (2021), is a true story about the fight to save and restore the large body of music forbidden by the Nazis and based on the book by Michael Haas of the same name.

Lou's most recent radio play, We Can't Be, tells the story of two young women who notice that Cheltenham’s only statues of women are the tightly clad, delectable young females set along shop fronts in Montpellier. Surely, they think, Cheltenham is ready for a statue honouring an important local woman. Or is it? They are about to find out.