Meet Theatre Royal Windsor's New Writers in Residence: Catherine O’Reilly & Tim Churchill

Following the success of last year’s world premiere of Closure, the Theatre Royal Windsor is delighted to announce a three-year partnership with the play’s writers Catherine O’Reilly and Tim Churchill who have become the theatre’s inaugural Writers in Residence, under the umbrella of the theatre’s new Creatives in Residence initiative. As Writers in Residence, the theatre is committed to producing at least one of Catherine and Tim’s new works for each of the next three years; starting with Doubting Thomas in June.

The dynamic writing duo are, in fact, also a husband-and-wife team who have been collaborating on producing new work together for over a decade. Tim is no stranger to the Theatre Royal Windsor as he has also frequently appeared at the theatre whilst on tour in the Bill Kenwright Ltd production of Blood Brothers, where he plays the role of Mr Lyons and is the show’s Resident Director.

The Creatives in Residence initiative has been made possible thanks to funding raised for the theatre’s outreach work during Sir Ian McKellen’s 80th Birthday Fundraising Tour to Windsor in 2019 and reflects the theatre’s commitment to encouraging new work and talent as its reputation as a producing theatre continues to grow.

Anne-Marie Woodley, Theatre Director said:

“We love the original ideas that Catherine and Tim bring to the table with each new piece of writing. Last year’s production of Closure was extremely well received by our audiences, and we are confident that the twists and turns in Doubting Thomas will prove every bit, if not more, enthralling. I can’t wait to see what else Catherine and Tim have up their sleeves for the next few years as they continue to hone their amazing writing skills: but I am confident each work will be just as innovative and creative.

We are so grateful to the generosity and vision of Ian McKellen whose 80th Birthday Fundraising Tour has enabled small and regional theatres, such as ours, to facilitate new works to be commissioned.”

Regarding their new appointment, Catherine O’Reilly and Tim Churchill commented:

“We are privileged to have been given this opportunity to work with such an amazing team to create new stories in the glorious Theatre Royal Windsor. Our passion is to write plays that are not only entertaining but also relevant and our last thriller, Closure, demonstrated the audience’s appetite for that thrilling combination. We are looking forward to developing a body of work that will enthral, challenge and provoke a conversation and hope Doubting Thomas, our first play as Writers in Residence, will do just that.”

CATHERINE O’REILLY & TIM CHURCHILL

Theatre Royal Windsor’s Writers in Residence 2025-2027

Catherine and Tim have always had a passion for storytelling but neither had the nerve to put pen to paper until they met in 2012. Realising each other’s passion to create, and frankly not knowing where to start, they embarked on writing a jukebox musical, What’s All The Fuss About?, based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The musical played at The Regent Theatre, Hanley starring Anne Nolan and Niki Evans. Bitten by the bug, next came a play. After the media storm reporting on Bernard Jordan, escaping from his nursing home to attend the 70th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, they wrote The Magnificent Seven; a tale set in 1994, telling the story of seven D-Day veterans, who break free of their nursing home to attend the 50th D-Day celebrations. After a successful theatrical run, Citoq Productions acquired the television film rights and Seven was released on Zee Theatre in 2019. They then adapted The Hound of the Baskervilles which was produced on stage starring Jenny Hanley and later broadcast as a radio play in Scotland and Canada.

An original musical, One Show More! followed, with twenty original songs composed by Catherine and Jeremy Wootton. Following this, Catherine and Tim temporarily stopped writing for the stage to try their hand at film. Their original screenplay Finding Nessie was adapted into the family film Nessie and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. It won Best Screenplay at the Monaco Film Festival the same year.

However, one idea they kept coming back to was Closure. They always knew it was a story they wanted to tell and the advent of Covid-19 gave them the time to do so. During lockdown, Catherine’s father, Joe, sadly passed away, but not before imparting an intriguing story which then inspired the play The Turnip Field. It was this play that the couple were lucky enough to chat about to Bill Kenwright. He offered notes and a wealth of knowledge before generously offering The Turbine Theatre in Battersea for the production. It played to socially distanced audiences, receiving great reviews. The relative success of The Turnip Field led to a reading of Closure for Bill and the team at Bill Kenwright Ltd. On a blisteringly hot afternoon in May 2022, the readthrough went ahead successfully, and nearly two years later, it premiered at the Theatre Royal Windsor and the feature film is now in development.

Catherine and Tim are currently writing their next thriller Hidden and have recently completed two further screenplays: Three Knocks and The Monkey Puzzle.

To find out more about Doubting Thomas, click here.