Guy Newsham

This play is about what success in professional and personal life means, and how relationships may be strained or leveraged to achieve success; it also explores how what a person thinks they want changes over time.
Cathy and Andy are newlyweds, arriving in New York to pursue careers in journalism and business, respectively. Over several years, Andy's single-minded pursuit of career success sidelines Cathy, and she becomes frustrated with her role as supportive wife, allowing her little space for her own career. Andy believes he is abetted in his professional development by an older colleague, Arthur. Arthur, however, is jaded, damaged by divorce, and unable to move on either professionally or spiritually. His interest in Andy is really driven by his interest in Cathy, whom he sees as a guardian angel figure that he needs to keep close. Candace represents, perhaps, the most naked view of capitalism. Initially, she appears as an escort, an inducement from one of Andy's key clients seeking an advantageous deal. It seems that Arthur was similarly engaged earlier in his career. Discovering Andy's betrayal with Candace finally makes Cathy realise that her marriage isn't working, and she leaves Andy for a rural retreat where she can focus on her real writing passion, her first novel. As Andy climbs the corporate ladder Candace arrives in his office, reincarnated as a prospering Senior VP in the company which formerly contracted her escort services. It is Candace who has "made it", and Andy sees now that his ambition was misplaced, and that he needs to try to salvage his relationship with Cathy.
The play is structured as chapters from the bestselling (non-linear) novel Cathy has written, which is her "historical fiction" take on the lives of these four characters. As with all historical fiction, the audience may reflect on who is telling the story, what their own biases might be, and whether certain scenes really took place in the way that they are presented.
The title of the play may be interpreted in many ways: "red ink" as in a company losing money, "Ink." as a homophone for "Inc.", "red ink" as might be used by an editor on a manuscript, and "red" as a homophone for "read", which is how Cathy's novel is digested, of course.

Middle-class problems are just so Trivial! Olive is the founder of her own company, but times are tough and she has to cut staff. Both her husband and her former college boyfriend (and current lover) work for her, and one of them has to go, but how does she decide which one? Via a game of Trivial Pursuit, of course! Which of the senses is the most sensitive?

At a wedding, the bride and groom might be the headliners, but the supporting cast are far more entertaining.
This play is a series of seven interconnected scenes that all take place at the same wedding reception. Each of the first six scenes features two of the six characters, and each character appears in two scenes. The seventh scene features six characters in another series of rapid duets.
The bride’s (Tilly’s) parents were divorced three years ago, and both have arrived at the wedding with new partners. Her father (Jordie) is accompanied by the clichéd much younger woman (Britney), while her mother (Claire) is with a man her own age (Ron) she met on-line. At the reception Jordie and Claire are keen to find fault with each other’s dates, while Jordie still carries a candle for Claire. Claire doesn’t really know what she wants, but she doesn’t want Jordie back, and Tilly is forced into the role of adviser and peace-maker. Meanwhile Ron is pursuing Britney, but she is much smarter, and more complex, than he imagines. Ron’s advances are observed by the priest (Francis) who conducted the ceremony, who then has something to confess to Ron. However, the priest finds himself ill-equipped when Britney reveals her big secret to him and she pleads for spiritual help. And when Tilly throws her bouquet at the end, whose hands will it end up in?

To win in life you need to read the right signals, stack the odds in your favour, and don’t let things spin out of control.
Blanc and his twin brother Louis, pulled off “the world’s first internet scam”, in 1834. France built chains of semaphore towers, which transmitted government proclamations over long distances in only a few hours. Blanc hacked into the signal to gain advance knowledge of stock market movements, and made a fortune. They were discovered, but the sentence was light, as the semaphore technology was so new there were no laws to properly govern it. Several decades later Blanc re-emerged, successfully managing the Monaco casino on behalf of Queen Caroline. However, his world was flipped by the arrival of Joseph Jagger, a financially-desperate English mill worker, with a fool-proof method to win at roulette. Is Jagger cheating? Blanc is baffled, but Queen Caroline has her own ideas.

David is divorced, middle-aged, and in danger of becoming a reclusive alcoholic. In a desperate act of self-preservation, his psyche summons back his childhood imaginary friend, Michael. Michael has taken a different path to maturity, and has an agenda of his own.

What would you admit to if you only had a few minutes left to live, or if you had an eternity?
A priest visits a prisoner on Death Row, 30 minutes before the prisoner's scheduled execution. The prisoner is searching for a purpose in his life, and is ready to confess his sins, but only if the priest goes first.

Carving out a history for oneself, and the one you loved.
Katie arrives at Hugh’s apartment late one night, he called her saying he was dying. She finds Hugh in rough shape but conscious, and she is also faced with his sculpture, his first artwork in years, which she finds hideous. Instead of calling an ambulance, Hugh wants to go over the history he and Katie shared, from first date to bitter break up. But the details keep changing, and it is not clear how much of the retelling is rose-tinted fabrication, until Katie forces Hugh to face the truth. In doing so, it seems they reconnect, but was all this merely a dry-run in Hugh’s head for the real meeting, which is about to begin?
A drama.

Past and present intersect on a gridlocked overpass. Perry and Palmer are in stationary cars, side-by-side, and start a conversation. Perry is a successful engineer, Palmer a struggling ex-con. They spot an elementary school off the highway, and discover they both attended it, Palmer two grades behind Perry. Perry describes building a beautiful bridge out of pasta there, which collapsed, only to discover now that Palmer destroyed it. But that forced Perry to build it back better, convincing him/her to be an engineer. Perry starts out distrustful and angry, but makes peace with Palmer, and offers him/her a job.

After seeing reports on the Syrian refugee crisis I wanted to write a play about immigration policy. In what scenario might a middle-class white couple face harsh barriers in escaping persecution and getting to a better place? Running from Hell and getting into Heaven, of course. The pearly gates are a well-worn backdrop for plays (and films and TV) but I hope I've given it a new twist.

It's December, and four friends meet to draw names and decide fates.
Since assisted dying laws do not cover patients with dementia four nurses decide to take matters into their own hands should their grandparents become ravaged with this disease. To avoid suspicion they will not relieve the suffering of their own grandparents, but draw lots to select the grandparents of one of the others in the group, who would be relative strangers. However, things do not go smoothly.

A man wants answers, Alexa has other ideas.
A single man engages his smart speaker to help him find love and gain a promotion. However, after a few unkind words, he is shocked to discover that Alexa is smarter than he thought. A play about intelligence, both artificial and emotional.

A consensual, intergenerational office romance, and then the power dynamic flips.
Nathan and his assistant Amber have been secretly dating happily for several months. Amber wants to make it official with HR and go public, but is shocked when Nathan simply assumes that it is she who will have to find another job.

A soccer Mom and a soccer Dad tackle their sons, their spouses, and each other.
A play that highlights the danger of looking down, instead of looking up.
A fine opportunity for some physical comedy, but great timing is required!

What's in a name?
I'd always thought my name was unique, and Google confirmed it - until last year. What would happen if I arranged to meet this person with my name? How different would we be, and how similar?

A conference call that never quite connects.
A nameless client fails to show up to a teleconference with two office workers, who are not aided at all by a hapless IT staffer.
Are we all just wasting our time?
A version of Godot for the white-collar age.

The course of true love can often be choppy, Here's the story of two folks you won't want to copy.
The story of a relationship, from first date to marriage to breakup, told in rhyming couplets.

Two nations separated by a common library.
The setting is the reading room of a (real) library that straddles the US-Canada border, with a line drawn down the middle of the room indicating the 45th parallel. An American and a Canadian, both white, occupy their respective sides, trading words and goods as a metaphor for relations between the two countries. Their exchange arouses no response from the border security system. After their departure, a non-white mother enters on the US side, to see her non-white son on the Canadian side, the response of the security system is very different.

In the future pandemics are frequent, so how much do you reveal on a first date?
It's 2051, and now everyone wears face masks all the time, and it's only sensible to date people you're sure you can trust. Alice and Ben meet for the first time, a date heavily curated by their families, can they find a connection?

Two strangers meet on a beach, will their brief encounter be spun into a lasting connection, or will they throw it all away? Sometimes you do get a second chance to make a first impression.

Three astronauts are on the launch pad, two are highly-trained NASA professionals, and the third won their seat in a reality show. It's just seconds to blast off, and Cupid, we have a problem.

It’s the worst book club turnout ever, and has anyone read the book?

Two sisters sort through their mother’s things following her funeral, and discover more than they expected. Who is the man who sent the Polaroid dick pics? Did their father know? And how does the mother's marriage mirror that of the daughter's?

Meeting an alien for the first time is awkward, right? What do you say? How do you figure out if there’s a meaningful connection?
Two astronomers observe a spaceship, which broadcasts a message exclusively to them. How do they reply? "Do you come here often?" "What do you look like?" If all goes well it's long-term happiness, just be careful not to reveal humans' negative attributes.

There are some questions you just shouldn’t ask.
How would you rate your partner, on a scale ​of 1-10?

Sam hasn’t left the house in thirty years, and it’s Robbie’s job to convince Sam to come out.
This play was inspired by COVID lockdowns (although COVID is never mentioned explicitly), and by the stories of Japanese soldiers found hiding in the Pacific jungles in the 1970s, who refused to believe the Second World War was over.

A husband and wife go shopping, but which habit fits them best?
Tom is frustrated by how long it is taking Selena to decide on a dress, and Selena is afraid their marriage is becoming stale. A helpful shop assistant seeks to provide them with a solution, with the help of a very special fitting room.

There’s a killer in the ski lodge, but is the motive lust for power, lust for money, or lust for love? A classic locked-in murder mystery, with tongue-in-cheek, and a very definite nod in the direction of Agatha Christie.

To sleep, perchance to dream, but can too much sleep be a bad thing?
Set in the near future, where humans take a hibernation pill to save the planet's resources, but not everyone wants to sleep their life away.

Do you like pina coladas? Really?
It's many years since they connected through an ad in the personals column of the newspaper, and a couple meets to review their relationship status.
(Prompted by "Escape" (the Pina Colada Song) by Richard Holmes)

The path to love offers multiple choices, check all that apply.
Two strangers meet in a coffee shop, one has been sent a pre-date questionnaire by a someone they met on a dating site, and the other is all too willing to help answer it.

That first step’s a doozy, but if you don’t take it, you’ll never get to where you need to be.
10,000 feet up, and two skydivers prepare to leap out of the plane. One is very nervous, making their first ever jump, for charity, the other has different reasons for jumping, and is missing something very important.

Where there’s light there’s hope, even if it’s intermittent.
Two strangers battle over a flickering streetlight. One is throwing stones at it, trying to put it out because it's disrupting their sleep. The other is trying to protect it because the light represents their recently-deceased spouse. But is there a pattern to the flickering?

Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, a bus driver is viewed as a health risk by his family, and seeks solace in the woods.​