I Ain't Dumb

A tough inner-city school, proud of its inclusivity, suddenly explodes in a rapidly escalating culture war. Sex secrets, hip-hop and hope fight for centre stage in a vibrant, loud and proud, real talk rollercoaster. Tom Wright's hard-hitting new play tackles contemporary issues in a school setting, published to coincide with Coventry's year as City of Culture.

Tom Wright is a writer, director and dramaturg for theatre and film. He is currently the Artistic Director of Leeds Playhouse. In his previous role as Associate Artistic Director at Kiln Theatre, Tom worked closely with Artistic Directors Indhu Rubasingham and Amit Sharma on commissioning, developing, and programming new work, including contributions from acclaimed writers such as Marina Carr, Zadie Smith, and Ryan Calais Cameron, with productions successfully transferring to the Abbey Theatre (Dublin), Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), and London's West End. Tom also founded the Kiln's Listen Local Writers Programmes, empowering first-time local writers to share their voices. As Head of Artist Development at The Old Vic, Tom steered the prestigious Old Vic 12 initiative to success over five years, culminating in a ground-breaking repertory season - cut short only by the pandemic. Through this and a range of innovative projects, Tom nurtured over fifteen new plays and propelled countless theatre artists into the next stages of their careers, many of whom are fast becoming major names. Tom's two back-to-back debut plays My Dad's Gap Year (Park Theatre) and Undetectable (King's Head Theatre) achieved acclaim with seven Off West End Award nominations, including Best New Play and Most Promising Playwright. Undetectable returned the following year and has since been licensed worldwide. Tom's third play Very Special Guest Star (Omnibus Theatre) earned praise from The Guardian as a 'thoroughly original play that entertains, provokes and unsettles'. Returning to his hometown of Coventry, Tom premiered I Ain't Dumb at the Belgrade Theatre as part of UK City of Culture celebrations. Additional projects include Rebel Song (The Other Palace), a musical adaptation of Jamie O'Neill's award-winning novel 'At Swim, Two Boys', and Sirens and White Lies (ArtsEd) a double-bill of new plays that he both wrote and directed. As a theatre director, Tom's recent credits include Dumbledore Is So Gay (Southwark Playhouse, Pleasance Theatre and Vault Festival - Origins Award Winner), Blowhole (Soho Theatre and Pleasance Theatre) and Tumble Tuck (King's Head Theatre and Underbelly Edinburgh). Tom has been Associate Director to Rikki Beadle-Blair and Indhu Rubasingham on various productions including Indhu's Olivier Award nominated production of The Invisible Hand (Kiln Theatre). Tom's award-winning debut short film Stockholm premiered at BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival, garnering recognition at festivals internationally and winning Best Cinematography at the LA LGBTQ+ Festival. The film has amassed over 100k views online. His second short film Kweenship was completed in the same year, followed by a commission from Sky Arts to make his third short film Sent To Cov for national broadcast. The film was subsequently shortlisted for a Broadcast Digital Award. Tom is a trustee of the Olivier Award winning Papatango Theatre Company, as well having participated in the Programming Committee for the Belgrade Theatre. He is a sector leader in LGBTQ+ inclusion, conducting bespoke training workshops, whilst dedicating himself to broadening and diversifying the LGBTQ+ cannon. Self-organisation, mentorship and skill sharing are central to Tom's collaborative activity. Whether offering feedback on scripts, facilitating workshops, running playwriting courses, or curating shadowing placements, Tom hopes this nurturing of the next generation of talent forms an ever-expanding revolution of empowered, joyful and disruptive theatre artists.