ABOUT

Living without creativity isn't really living. At the heart of everything I do - from writing shows to making Tiktoks - is a commitment to thinking imaginatively, and building a world where unapologetic self-expression invests every day with excitement and joy.

I live in Walthamstow, London, where I'm working to bring numerous projects to the light of day - while also tutoring English, riding for Deliveroo, and freelancing in various directions.

This year, I'm working with Rob Gathercole on a new adaptation of The Little Mermaid commissioned by the Nottingham Playhouse, premiering in November for a month-long run before it goes on a tour of schools and libraries.

Last year, I wrote Rishi Sunak's Doing A Musical!, also with Rob Gathercole, an election satire we put together in just six weeks after the snap election was launched. The show ran at Waterloo East Theatre on election week and received glowing reviews from the Daily Telegraph, Theatre and Tonic and others, and many commentators suggested the incisive satire helped swing the election for Keir Starmer.

My show On Your Bike (co-written with Ben James) went to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021 and won Musical Theatre Review's award for 'Best New Musical'. It went on to a short professional run at Cambridge's Town and Gown Theatre, then returned to the Fringe in 2023 and then toured Poland in the autumn.

In 2023 I wrote Jingle Street (co-written with Georgia Rawlins) which went to the Fringe with my new company, Chordstruck Theatre. It was nominated for The Stagey Place's 'Best Musical at the Fringe' Award, and for an OffFest Award.

Three of my musicals were staged at Cambridge's student theatre, the ADC, in 2020 and 2021. Cymbeline: the Musical was a riff on the Shakespeare oddball (book, music, lyrics and directed); No Cash Left on the Premises Overnight was a madcap heist comedy (book & lyrics, music by Ben James); and Sleeping Beauty was a pantomime nixed by Covid but moved online (book & lyrics with Jade Franks; music by Jonny Whiting).

My play Rapture, about delivering food at the end of the world, was runner-up for the Marlowe/Other Prize 2021. My play Sentences, about juvenile delinquents forced to attend a book club, was Highly Commended for the Harry Porter Prize 2020.

I've performed stand-up, comedy song and musical improv around the UK, and was a semi-finalist in the Musical Comedy Awards 2018. Currently my main outlet for comedy is on TikTok, where I create minute-long musicals and other short-form absurdities.

Photos: Lucy Korzeniowska
Claire Lee Shenfield