Celestial Itch | Writer/Performer | WIP IT Good Artist Collective | 2026–
Developing a new solo work as part of WIP IT Good, a new artist collective supporting work-in-progress feminist performance, peer development and artist-led experimentation. → About The Collective
boof | mockumentary web series and community initiative | creator, writer-performer, producer | 2024–2027
Satirical digital series about Bella, a 2000s celebrity heiress turned wellness influencer, and Lucy, her chronically ill assistant, exploring women’s health, wellness culture, invisible labour, image-making, and the public policing of female behaviour.
The series uses satire, mockumentary and short-form digital comedy to explore the gap between the fantasy of wellness and the reality of living in a body; the pressure on women to appear desirable, productive and “fine”; and the ways care, labour, friendship and image-making become tangled. → Watch the series coming Jan 2027
The Poetry Podcast | Founder, Producer, and Performer | 2020–present
An audio project dedicated to recollecting poems in an over-saturated digital landscape: digitising them, performing them, and making them audible again.
The podcast focuses on public-domain works and is interested in poems that are under-heard, overlooked, politically complex, unfamiliar or outside the usual canon. → Listen Now | About the Project
Pieces Of US | Writer/Performer | 2023 | OffWestEnd Award nominee
Solo theatre work exploring grief within capitalism. This project incorporated recurring essays on my personal experiences of grief and it’s alchemy in the creative process, as well as a closing series of discussion with a Death Doula. → Watch the trailer | About the Project
Reviews:
★★★★ “Heartfelt & well-crafted.” — The Scotsman
★★★★★ “This piece of theatre hangs around under your fingernails long after you’ve left.” — Broadway Baby
What A Drag! | Commissioned Writer/Performer | Bradford Producing Hub & Barrel Organ | 2022
Commissioned live and live-streamed 20-minute performance exploring the high standards placed on women, specifically mothers.
The performance involved Jessica putting on drag makeup while speaking about the mothers in her life and the impossible expectations placed on women. Co-created and performed with Madiha Ansari. →About The Project
The Imposter Newsletter
The community branch of everything we do. Seasonal reflections on creative process, resources, and inspiration for fellow “imposters.”
→ Join the newsletter | Read the Diary
Verbal Processor | Writer/Performer | Writer’s Corner Scratch Night, Pleasance Mainstage / 2024
A 20-minute monologue about anger, the limits of our gendered imagination, and the gender politics of domestic chores. → Watch now
MalContent | Writer/Performer | Omnibus Theatre Engine Room Scheme | 2024
An action-thriller drag march into fascism, exploring modern masculinity, politics, and the stories people tell themselves to feel powerful. Co-created with 2022 Untapped Award winner Davinia Hamilton. → Learn More
Degenerate Fox | Writer-performer | The Dirty Thirty | OffCom winner*
Contributed to Degenerate Fox’s signature show, The Dirty Thirty: 30 original two-minute plays performed in an order chosen by the audience in 60 minutes or less.
Also made short “digital plays” with Degenerate Fox, contributing to Jessica’s ongoing practice mixing live and digital forms.
Visual Art
Wildlife Photography collaboration with John Bauer Ceramics | South Africa
Collaboration with South African ceramicist John Bauer in which Jessica’s photographs of South African wildlife were printed onto ceramic bowls.
Reference: John Bauer Ceramics / Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/jjbmceramics
Participatory Photography Project with SHAWCO | South Africa
Black-and-white portrait photography of SHAWCO students at the University of Cape Town charity afterschool programme.
As part of Jessica’s Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship year in Cape Town, she raised money to give cameras to SHAWCO students, supporting young people to make images themselves rather than only being photographed or represented by others.
This project connects directly to Jessica’s wider practice around authorship, representation and who gets to make the image.
Recognition, Artist Schemes, Commissions, and Training
LAMDA — MA Classical Acting, Distinction
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship — South African College of Music, University of Cape Town
Barnard College, Columbia University — BA American Studies / Film Concentration, Cum Laude
OffWestEnd Award nominee — Pieces Of Us
Off-Fest nominee / finalist — Pieces Of Us / Distant Memories of the Near Future
OffCom-winning theatre-maker / performer — Degenerate Fox / The Dirty Thirty
Bradford Producing Hub / Barrel Organ commission — What A Drag!
Omnibus Theatre Engine Room Scheme — MalContent
WIP IT Good Artist Collective — Celestial Itch
WHOHAHA feature — The Grass is Always Greener
SOHO Theatre Comedy Lab Alumni