Writer, dramaturg, producer & proofreader working in international new writing fringe theatre and publishing.
US-raised and London-based.
WRITING
In January 2020, Callan performed comedy sketches during the 10-week Soho Theatre Comedy Lab: Sketch programme led by Tony Craze award-winning writer Fran Bushe (A Gig for Ghosts). Her short play SO I BLED was chosen for Theatre503’s Rapid Write Response night in response to Gillian Greer’s Meat in March 2020. Callan is an alum of the Royal Court Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting group in spring 2023 led by writers Ross Willis (Wolfie; Wonder Boy) and Yasmin Joseph (J’Ouvert), where she drafted her play CANARY, a sci-fi imagining of the future (or present? gulp) which critiques individualism and morally vapid technological innovation.
Callan started developing her debut play HALF A SORROW on the Flux Theatre Lab in spring 2021 led by writer Max Wilkinson (Rainier, Union). Formerly titled IT COULD NEVER BE ME, this love story with a bizarre psychological twist (and includes her serious obsession, football!) was Longlisted for the BOLD Playwriting Prize 2024. She continued developing the play on Omnibus Theatre’s Re-Write programme in autumn 2025 under the tutelage of Literary Associate & Dramaturg Sam Pout.
Originally from the US, Callan earned her undergraduate degree from Fordham University. After a taste of the Big Apple, she moved to the Big Smoke to earn a Distinction in a two-year MA in Playwriting and Screenwriting from City, University of London where she was tutored by dramaturg Tommo Fowler and mentored by award-winning playwright Eve Leigh.
DRAMATURGY & PRODUCING
As a dramaturg, Callan works mostly with scripted new writing from emerging (whatever that means) and mid-career international theatre-makers working across diverse genres and styles.
In 2025 she joined Lucille Lortel Theatre’s Alcove Circle, a dramaturgical & advisory circle of artists focused on holistic engagement with the Alcove’s new works focusing on sustainability and accessibility, led by Caridad Svich. Callan worked independently as dramaturg on the text & digital reading of Hassan Abdulrazzak’s play American Nightmare, commissioned by the Alcove’s New Play Development Program in Year 3. She also dramaturged the text for Year 4 artists Mona Kasra & Adam Kassim’s play In the Space Between.
Callan is working with writer Amy Kidd (Breaking, Fishamble 2024) as dramaturg on the text & set design for her play THIS IS NOT A ROM COM in early 2026, recipient of Arts Council (Ireland) funding.
Continuing her connection to the arts in NYC, Callan is one of thirty Creative and Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA) Rising Producer Fellows chosen for the 2026 cohort. She’s currently working with Elysium TC to co-produce a North East tour & London run of Misha Levkov’s sophomore double-bill Life Guard and Unannounced in 2027.
“I’ve worked with Callan in many capacities, receiving the benefit of her keen and generous insight as a dramaturg, her vision and efficiency as an editor, and the illumination of her playwriting. Callan is as amiable as she is gifted.”
“I can’t recommend Callan enough here; such a keen and exciting perspective to have on scripts as they develop. I’ve been expanding my pool of dramaturgs to call on when in need of script advice and Callan ranks among the best of them.”
PROOFREADING & PUBLISHING
Callan was Commissioning Editor of Plays at Methuen Drama (Bloomsbury Publishing) for 2.5 years, commissioning into the Modern Plays and Plays for Young People series with a particular focus on new writing from emerging and mid-career theatre-makers. During this time, she gained valuable insight into the current UK theatrical landscape for new writing at all levels. Callan has a huge passion for new writing and wants to see it continue to flourish here in the UK and globally.
While at Methuen Drama, she read 400+ scripts and commissioned around 140 programme playtexts & collections for publication, working closely with both major & independent agents, theatres and producers in the new writing space across the UK, US and EU. She attended Edinburgh Fringe and travelled regionally to Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and locally around London to scout new work and build and maintain close relationships with creatives in all corners of the fringe theatre world. All of this collaboration came in pursuit of one important goal: to add brilliant new work of varying styles and genres to the published canon from a diverse and exciting pool of theatre-makers.
Callan has devised a workshop on ‘Demystifying Play Publishing’, consolidating and sharing the must-have knowledge she gleaned from her years on-the-job. Among others, Callan has delivered this workshop to: Pleasance Theatre Edinburgh Fringe artists; Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s students in the MA/MFA Writing for Theatre, Film, Radio and Television programme; Mango Ensemble’s ‘Mango Meets’ sessions at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre; ‘Page-to-Stage: Lightning Writes’ for Purple Strings Productions. Get in touch if you’re interested in this workshop.
At the start of 2025, Callan was inspired to go freelance and reintroduce herself to the theatre world as a writer, dramaturg and producer.
Callan is also a freelance proofreader, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). In 2025 she passed CIEP’s Proofreading 1, 2 & 3 courses with Merit, continuing with her training. In 2026 she will be accredited as a Professional Member.
During her undergraduate degree, Callan worked with several high-profile arts organisations based in New York City. She was Cherry Lane Theatre’s Literary Intern in summer 2016, compiling script reports after reading new writing cold submissions for 2016’s Mentor Project. In autumn 2016, she was New Victory Theater’s Artistic Programming Apprentice (theatre for young audiences), where she led her fellow Apprentices in a project to unveil LabWorks, a programme for NYC-based artists — and also assisted in developing internal materials and researching various companies & artists to feedback to the programming department for commissioning upcoming seasons. At both organisations, Callan attended, reviewed and discussed dress rehearsals and final productions with the wider arts administration teams.
Needless to say, she’s been obsessed with theatre for a long time!
THE PROCESS LOOP
Coming soon… 🎙️
In case you’re curious…
Callan is a lover of horror in all its iterations and has been working with ADHD since her diagnosis as a teenager. In an ideal world she would spend every day at the beach and every evening snuggling with her rescue cat. She has a not-so-secret passion for both women’s and men’s football (USWNT fan & Tractor Girl here).
She’s been obsessed with loving theatre ever since she was five and her teachers cast her in Annie and the Wild Animals to try and curb her troublemaking tendencies.