Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet and playwright who became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. His plays include The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Importance.

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished American novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of his seven novels, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and his next-to-last novel, The Eighth Day received the National Book Award (1968). Two of his four major plays won Pulitzer Prizes, Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943). His play, The Matchmaker ran on Broadway for 486 performances (1955-1957) and was later adapted into the record-breaking musical Hello, Dolly!

Wilder's many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.

Joy Wilkinson is a playwright and screenwriter whose plays include: The Sweet Science of Bruising (Southwark Playhouse, 2018); Acting Leader (part of Women, Power and Politics season at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in 2010); Fair (Finborough Theatre, 2005; Trafalgar Studios, West End, 2006); and Felt Effects (joint winner of the 2004 Verity Bargate Award, staged at Theatre503, London, 2006).

She has been a Screen International Star of Tomorrow, a two-time Brit List nominee, one of Den Of Geek’s ‘50 Brilliant Screenwriters To Watch Out For’, and she was mentored by Sir Kenneth Branagh on the prestigious BFI/Lighthouse Guiding Lights scheme.

Charon Williams-Ros is a writer, teacher and multi-award-winning actor. She established the Williams-Ros voice-training studios in 1992, where she trained a host of talented singers. Later, she formed an agency to promote them, and began to write and direct musical revues to showcase that talent. The Williams-Ros alumni have gone on to win Idols, excel in Musical Theatre and solo Pop careers, or become teachers and lecturers themselves.

Charon has written over fifty musical revues and musical events. She devised the Williams-Ros Foundation Music Course and wrote the popular Howard & Thandi Performing Arts book series for children. She is the editor of Curtain Up!: How to Stage Great Youth Productions (Nick Hern Books, 2023).

Liam Williams is a writer, comedian and actor known for his stand-up shows and work with sketch group Sheeps. His self-titled debut show was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Best Newcomer Award in 2013, and a year later his follow-up show, Capitalism, earned a nomination for the main Edinburgh Comedy Award.

His writing credits include: Comedy Blaps (Channel 4), From Fact to Fiction: Purple Saturday, Ladhood and The Now Show (all BBC Radio 4), People Time (BBC Three), and Charlie Brooker's 2015 Wipe (BBC Two).

His debut play, Travesty, published by Nick Hern Books, was premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Author photo by Noel McLaughlin

Tyrell Williams is a writer and director for stage and screen. He co-created, co-wrote and directed the viral web series #HoodDocumentary, which had over three million views on YouTube. Following its online acclaim, #HoodDocumentary was commissioned as a web series for BBC Three, which Tyrell directed and co-wrote.

His plays include Red Pitch (Ovalhouse Theatre, London, 2019; Bush Theatre, London, 2022; West End, 2024).

Red Pitch was the winner of the 2022 George Devine Award).

He was named Best Writer at the 2022 Stage Debut Awards, and Most Promising Playwright at the 2022 Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Ross Willis is a playwright from Bristol, the UK. His plays include: Wolfie (Theatre503, London, 2019) and Wonder Boy (Bristol Old Vic, 2022).

Wolfie won Best New Play at both the Writers' Guild Awards and the Off-West End Awards 2020, and also earned him a nomination for Best Writer at the 2019 Stage Debut Awards and Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He won the 2019 Royal Court and Kudos Fellowship and the 2019 Channel 4 Playwright Award. He has been described as 'a fresh and fearless voice' in British theatre.

August Wilson (1945–2005) was an American playwright, best known for his series of ten plays, collectively called The American Century Cycle, which chronicles the African-American experience over the course of the twentieth century. It comprises Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf.

He won numerous prizes and honours, including two Pulitzer Prizes and the Humanities Medal from the President of the United States.