One Play At A Time with Catrina McHugh MBE

An inspirational and award-winning playwright, Catrina McHugh MBE is chief executive and artistic director of Newcastle-based Open Clasp Theatre Company, which she co-founded in 1998 before going on to write 23 plays, six short films and ten participatory-led performances – all aimed at bringing about social justice. The aim of Open Clasp is to create bold and urgent theatre alongside women affected by the criminal justice system, those seeking asylum and with refugee status, young women, minoritised women and trans and non-binary people, to bring about personal, social and political change.

At 32, Catrina went to University and achieved a first-class honours degree in Drama from Northumbria University before receiving a Distinction in her Masters degree in creative writing from Newcastle University, which she did alongside running Open Clasp. She has dedicated her professional life to making ground-breaking theatre that matters, and changes lives for the better, championing a feminist model of theatre-making and seeking to ‘change the world one play at a time’. 

Catrina has unparalleled experience of working creatively with women excluded by society to create risk-taking, exciting theatre. Her writing style has a unique ability to expose and tackle vital and pressing issues surrounding violence against women and girls within beautifully crafted, engaging narratives.

The company has been widely influential in the North East where it has opened up a wide range of career development opportunities for theatre makers. In the region and beyond, it has created a substantial impact on the women whose lives have been transformed by engagement with the company.

“Over the past 10 years, we’ve worked in partnership with criminologists using theatre and a creative response to train thousands of police officers of all ranks, as well as multiple agencies involved with domestic violence and abuse [...] We’ve learned over the years the value the arts can play to make change happen.”

Catrina’s plays are directly influencing policy and have contributed to debates on the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper 2016, Independent Review of the Family Court 2019 and the Independent Care Review 2021. Open Clasp’s work continues to be endorsed across academia and by the government’s Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Victims Commissioner and Police and Crime Commissioners.

In 2017, Catrina was awarded an MBE for outstanding services to disadvantaged women through theatre. A year later, she was given the Charity Leader of the Year Award at the North East Charity Awards, and in the same year, at the Journal Culture Awards, she was named ‘Writer of the Year’ for Rattle Snake – a play featuring the real life experiences of women who have faced and survived coercive controlling domestic abuse. Other awards have included the Carol Tambor ‘Best of Edinburgh’ Award in 2015. 

Catrina has also spent 25 years highlighting the challenges faced by the region’s LGBT+ community, for whom she has created community concerts, pantomimes, and festivals.