About Us

Savage Heart is a Brighton-based new writing theatre company led by theatre makers Joy Forsythe (Director/Producer) and Rachel Mae Brady (Writer/Director/Producer/Dramaturg).

We create bold, contemporary theatre that champions new writing, ambitious ideas and local artists. Alongside developing and producing original plays, we create opportunities for emerging writers, actors and theatre makers through workshops, performances and festivals.

Following the success of Rachel's debut play Wolf Tamer, which received five-star reviews and was a finalist for both the Best New Play and Best Newcomer Awards at Brighton Fringe, Savage Heart was founded in 2020.

Since then we've continued to produce innovative theatre, including the online social media play #WeAreNotEven, the industry showcase of THIRST, and our regular new writing night DARK BITES, showcasing short, unsettling plays by Sussex writers.

In 2025 we staged our second sold-out Brighton 24 Hour Play Festival at Theatre Royal Brighton, bringing together writers, directors and actors to create brand-new plays in just twenty-four hours.

Later that year we presented DARK BITES 3, a site-responsive promenade theatre experience at The Regency Town House featuring Isabella McCarthy Sommerville, Samuel Masters, Heather Rose Andrews, Sharon drain, and a community ensemble, continuing our commitment to immersive new writing in unusual spaces.

Alongside our productions, we now run six adult drama and performance groups across Brighton, Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing, supporting performers of all experience levels and helping to build a thriving local theatre community.

Rachel Mae Brady

Rachel is an award-nominated playwright and director whose work explores contemporary social issues through dark humour, heightened realism and theatrical imagination.

She recently completed the New Writing South Playwrights' Cohort, culminating in a sharing of her latest play at Chichester Festival Theatre. She is an alumnus of Theatre503's 503Five writing residency and Oxford Playhouse's Playmaker programme, and in 2026 was commissioned through Theatre503's Land Writes programme. Rachel was also a finalist for the 2026 OffWestEnd Plays & Playwrights Adopt a Playwright Award.

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We are always interested in collaborating with artists, writers and theatre makers from a wide range of disciplines. If you'd like to work with us, we'd love to hear from you.