The Theatre Reviewer

As an actor, writer, and practising NHS junior doctor, Mo Maka brings a unique perspective to the stage with her debut full-length play, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CONVERSATION. Set during a single high-pressure encounter between a junior doctor and a patient's relative, the play explores medicine, ethics, grief, and the realities of working within an overstretched NHS. Following early critical acclaim and ahead of its transfer to the Bread & Roses Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe previ

With the launch of the brand-new Mainstage Prize, a £10,000 award championing ambitious large-scale theatre, I sat down with founder Sophie Cairns and chairperson Pippa Hill to discuss the future of new writing, the urgent need for commercially ambitious theatre, and why horror has been chosen as the Prize’s inaugural genre. Backed by Riverside Studios, the Mainstage Prize aims to discover bold theatrical voices capable of captivating large audiences, and terrifying them too.

Ahead of the final UK performance of at the this summer, I caught up with writer and performer to discuss the extraordinary journey of the show — from a 50-seat Edinburgh Fringe venue to the West End and Off-Broadway. Inspired by one of English football’s most infamous viral moments, the critically acclaimed one-man play explores tribalism, toxic masculinity, male friendship, and the desperate search for belonging through humour, heartbreak, and football culture. As the sh