WORK
THESE FLOWERS MIGHT BE OURS
Feature Film | 1h | 2023
Part atmospheric noir, part fuzzy rock-and-roll romp through the streets of London, These Flowers Might Be Ours takes an affectionate glance askance at the mechanics of a murder mystery.
Written and directed by Merlin Stevens.
Starring
Atrix Cragnotti, Bre Tomey, Kota Horiuchi, Oakley Swinson, Ana Mirabel, Daryn Russell, Jennifer Kehl, Levi Sterling, Merlin Stevens
Rose Bruford College IRP
2023
Based on Amazon Bestselling novel These Flowers Might Be Ours by Merlin Stevens
2023
THE MACHIAVELLI PROJECT
Stage Play | 1h | 2023
A darkly comedic play-with-music about 16th century Italian diplomat and self-described “comedian, tragedian, historian” Niccolò Machiavelli’s relationship and creative partnership with the courtesan Barbara Salutati, and the fallout of a night of Achillean ardor with infamous mercenary Cesare Borgia at a Florentine inn in 1502.
Also: a neuroqueer 21st century look at moral philosophy, realpolitik, loving women and men, and what it might really mean to be Machiavellian.
Written by Oakley Swinson.
Music & Lyrics by Merlin Stevens.
Directed by Atrix Cragnotti.
Produced by Merlin Stevens and Arden Fitzroy.
The Etcetera Theatre,
Camden Fringe August 14-18, 2023.
The Pleasance,
ACT II Festival September 07, 2023.
Starring
Oakley Swinson, Arden Fitzroy, Merlin Stevens
"Interesting dive into history, layered with nuance"
Everything Theatre
2023
"Boldly challenges conventional perspectives"
The Upcoming
2023
★★★★★
Queer Filmmakers Network
2023
ERGOSPHERE
Short film | 20m | 2021
A double-agent contacts Sherlock Holmes in a London wracked by superhero battles, a student kicked out of university as a result of Holmes’s deductions is drawn into seeking revenge by a space alien journalist, and an electrokinetic accountant seeks truth at the dubious pleasure of their mysterious employer.
Written and directed by Merlin Stevens.
Starring
Merlin Stevens, Reilly O'Shaughnessy, Marissa Martin, Kota Horiuchi, Jennifer Kehl, Khairika Al Sinani, Tess Hermann
Official Selection Imaginarium Independent Film Festival
2021
Nominee Best Student Film London Shorts Awards
2021
THROUGH BUSH, THROUGH BRIAR
Stage Play | 1h | 2021
An adaptation of a Midsummer Night's Dream in which a Scrooge-like town councilman is planning to tear down a fairy forest to build a theatre. Eldritch fairies enlist the councilman's daughter, her activist girlfriend and their friends to stop this from happening while construction workers polish off a goofily pretentious love letter to theatre.
Edinburgh Fringe, August 02-30, 2021
Directed by Eva O'Connor.
Movement directed by Sarah Dowling.
Written by Merlin Stevens.
Starring
Kota Horiuchi, Merlin Stevens, Jennifer Kehl, Reilly O'Shaughnessy, Tess Hermann
"The company's energetic, youthful performances are charming"
ThisWeek Culture
2021
"They construct a new narrative of environmental activism"
A Younger Theatre
2021
"A unique take on Shakespeare"
Lothian Life
2021