Nia Williams

I’m a freelance musician and writer based in Oxford, UK.  Please use the menu to find out about my work, and drop me a line if you’d like to know more—follow the link to the Contact page.

NEW FOR 2021:

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VERA VENTI is my 8th novel—a grand, cinematic tale of love, obsession, scandals and lies. It’s out as paperback and ebook now! I hope you enjoy it!

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‘an insightful piece of theatre’ … ‘powerful’ … ‘moving’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Broadway Baby  
‘fresh, innovative … a fast-paced production that is sure keep viewers on their toes’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Theatre Weekly

SHAKESPEARE (SHE/HER) is a digital collection of 35 monologues, sonnets and songs by Shakespeare’s women, placed in 21st-century settings. From 15th October, international theatre platform Scenesaver is launching a video a day at 7pm. Featuring a superb cast and directed and filmed by Wayne T Brown for Three Chairs and a Hat, Shakespeare (she/her) was first seen at the Brighton and Edinburgh Online Fringe Festivals, and is now linking with Scenesaver and charities Crisis and The Samaritans, to highlight some of the issues raised in the videos. In February 2022 the project will be showcased at the Equality Shakespeare Festival, a digital initiative hosted by The Shakespeare Institute and University College London to foster equality across race, class and gender.
‘Shakespeare (She/Her) is a timely, accessible and valuable educational tool which should be viewed not just by students but by everyone who cares about gender equality. It places centre-stage women’s voices and viewpoints in ways which are by turns witty, arresting, poignant and powerful. To watch it is to have expectations about Shakespeare altered and prejudices challenged. Watch it, therefore, and be prepared to see Shakespeare’s women in a completely new light.’—Dr Chris Laoutaris, The Shakespeare Institute

CARTOON MUSICALS
During the Covid-19 pandemic we found new ways of sharing music and theatre. In my case this has involved grappling with video-editing and taking my first steps into animation. I’ve always enjoyed drawing and this seems like an interesting direction to take my musical theatre work.

We’ll Work Together—This short animation is, set to a song from ‘Loom to the Moon,’ a musical which I co-wrote with magician Simon Jones to take to children’s hospital wards. If you enjoy it, please consider donating to Blue Skye Thinking, the children’s charity established in memory of Skye Hall. Details via the video link.

Lady M: Midday Hags
Launched with a taster at the winter online fringe, this animated version of my musical Lady M will soon be available in three short videos. Episode one, MIDDAY HAGS, introduces us to vlogger Lady M and the shenanigans at Hannigan’s, a department store wasteland haunted by hags. MIDDAY HAGS was selected as part of the Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival 2021. The second episode, MR KING, was a Finalist in the Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift, a Semi-Finalist in the Stockholm Short Festival, and winner of an Award of Distinction at the Canada Shorts Film Festival.
Both are available on Scenesaver and on the Three Chairs and a Hat YouTube channel.

ONLINE FRINGE
Three Chairs and a Hat was one of many theatre groups encouraged to carry on creating by Edinburgh Fringe venue theSpaceUK. Our talented team of performers and directors contributed several videos to the summer and winter digital fringe festivals, and their work can still be seen on the Three Chairs YouTube channel.

One of those videos, Haunted, was awarded an Honorable Mention for Best Mobile Short, Independent Shorts Awards, Los Angeles 2021; and was a semi-finalist for Indie Short Fest, LA 2021. Haunted is also available to view on Scenesaver.