Milk + Mallet, founded by Abbey Gillett, with Elsa Strachan as Associate Artist, make work influenced by their upbringings in rural areas, Abbey in the Misbourne Valley and Elsa in the Scottish Highlands. They create theatrical worlds with a heightened sense of place, exploring how environment shapes character perspective and audience imagination. Their work uses music to unlock deeply human truths within highly specific worlds.
Gillett’s debut solo show Monobog was previously programmed at London’s The Cockpit Theatre, and Strachan is currently developing a project supported by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
Milk + Mallet make playful, music-led theatre that finds absurd and theatrical ways of telling naturalistic stories.
‘I dreamt you differently’ CREATIVE BIOS
ABBEY GILLETT (playing Mariella Mason / Writer / Producer)
Abbey Gillett trained at LAMDA, graduating in 2022. She was nominated for an Off-West End Award for Lead Performance for her role as Hilde in Stray Dogs at Theatre503 (2023), directed by Tommo Fowler.
Credits whilst training include: Johanna Faustus in Faustus: That Damned Woman (dir. Anna Marsland), Mr Burns: A post-electric play (dir. Emma Baggott), The Welkin (dir. Gemma Brockis.)
Abbey is a performer, writer and founder of Milk + Mallet theatre company. Her debut solo show ‘Monobog’ was programmed at London’s Cockpit Theatre in 2020.
Formed of Abbey Gillett and Elsa Strachan, Milk + Mallet make playful, music-led theatre that finds absurd, theatrical ways of telling naturalistic stories. ‘I dreamt you differently’ is Milk + Mallet’s first company-developed production.
ANDREW PEARSON-WRIGHT (playing Billy Mason) :
Andrew Pearson-Wright trained at The Drama Centre London. His theatre credits include The Mousetrap (West End), That’s Love (Lincoln Theatre Royal and UK Tour), Haunting Julia (Colchester Mercury and Tour), Never Ever After (Margate Theatre Royal and Tour), and Death and the Maiden (MAC). He has also appeared in numerous productions at The Mill at Sonning, including Spring and Port Wine, Guilty Secret, If I Were You, Two Into One and How the Other Half Loves.
Andrew is Co-Artistic Director of The Long Lane Theatre Company, for whom he co-wrote The Giant Killers, which completed its second national tour last year and is now in development as a film, and The Actress, which tours from February 2027. On screen, he will appear in a major upcoming series for Amazon directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
ELSA STRACHAN (Director) :
Elsa Strachan trained on the MA Directing programme at Rose Bruford College, graduating with distinction in 2023. Growing up in rural Scotland, she did not see live theatre until the age of 14. That experience continues to shape her commitment to making work that is inclusive and accessible, and her interest in stories that explore community, identity, and heritage.
Recent directing credits include To Be You (rehearsed reading, Mercury Theatre Colchester), Unwritten (R&D, also co-writer, Iona Bremner Productions/Aberdeen Performing Arts), The Last Keepers (Edinburgh Fringe), and Mum (Tramshed Theatre).
Assistant directing credits include The Autobiography of a Cad (Watermill Theatre), Operation Epsilon (Southwark Playhouse), Stray Dogs (Theatre503), and productions of The Suicide, The Angry Brigade, Blue Stockings, The Welkin, and Phaedra (Rose Bruford College).
She has also worked as a visiting tutor and director at Arts Educational Schools London, Rose Bruford College, Kingdom Drama School, and Acting Coach Scotland.
LUCINDA PLUMMER (Sound and Set Designer)
For Milk + Mallet: I Dreamt You Differently
For the Royal Court:
As Lighting Designer: Godots to do list
As Lighting Supervisor:The Shitheads, Guess How Much I Love You, Porn Play, The Unbelievers, Deaf Republic, 4.48 Psychosis, Scenes From a Repatriation, Manhunt, More Life, A Good House, Expendable, Giant, G
As Video Supervisor: John Proctor is the Villain, 4.48 Psychosis, After the Act
Lucinda is Deputy Head of Lighting at the Royal Court
