Across
the Square
Non Vaughan-O'Hagan
Co-producer, playwright and performer
Biography
Born and raised in Aberystwyth, Wales, Non Vaughan-O’Hagan is an international award-winning playwright, actress and broadcaster. Across the Square is her sixth play commission. Her most recent work includes Dust. Commissioned and staged in the USA, Dust explored the complex 200 year history of a beloved educational institution.
Other plays include A Play Upon Words and a successful adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Her play about the establishment of the abolitionist movement, I, Dido has been adapted into a short film. It has enjoyed critical acclaim and nearly thirty awards at film festivals worldwide.
Non’s credits as an actress include the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. Non is a well-known face on Welsh language television including BBC’s longest running series Pobol y Cwm.
She was honoured to be asked by the BBC to be a commentator at Her Majesty’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Non dedicates Across the Square to her husband, Ed.
A Play Upon Words
On a sleepless night in the middle of the pandemic, Millie is struggling to find the words for her Masters’ thesis. She suddenly finds herself with two uninvited guests, Lady Ottoline Morrell, patroness of the Bloomsbury Group and Peter Mark Roget, creator of the Thesaurus. Are they a figment of her imagination or are they really here to help? And will Peter Mark Roget conquer his fear of bicycles in order to get his revenge on Darwin? A play which explores the power of words and the joy of taxonomy.
I, Dido
On a hot June night in 1780, as rioting continues to rage in London, a unique Bloomsbury family faces some difficult home truths. I, Dido recounts the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the daughter of a Navy Captain and an enslaved black woman and her upbringing in the home of one of Britain’s greatest judges, Lord Mansfield. I, Dido explores the far reaching impact which family relationships can have on issues beyond the hearth and home.