This workshop is the first in a three-part series ‘How To Succeed In Business’, designed to equip writers of new musical theatre with skills and knowledge related to the business side of getting their work on stage.

Join producer Tanya Truman (How To Make A Mess, Pretty Poison, Pickle, and These Demons) and MMD team member Lexi Clare for an in-depth discussion about putting together a budget for an R&D workshop. What and who might you budget for? Where do you go for industry pay rates? What are the financial implications writers should be aware of when making decisions around cast size, instrumentation, creative team makeup etc?

Whether you’re self-producing an initial development workshop in the hope of getting a producer on board long-term, or you just want to understand more about what goes into a workshop financially, this conversation will give you an insight into Tanya and Lexi’s experience producing workshops – and what they wish they knew starting out.

Tanya Truman is a performer and producer, developing and producing new writing for theatre independently under her production company Tanya Truman Productions. Tanya works closely with writers and directors to collaborate on a piece from conception through to production.

Her current projects include How To Make A Mess: A Totally Unauthorised Love Letter to Nigella Lawson, a tender, mouth-watering, and heart-warming new musical by Emily Rose Simons. Previously titled Becoming Nigella, the show has presented work-in-progress excerpts at Oxford Playhouse (BEAM 2023), The Other Palace Studio, and Manchester Jewish Museum, and now presents its first full-length production at Upstairs at the Gatehouse from 4th – 28th June 2026.

Lexi Clare is Projects Manager for Mercury Musical Developments. Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Lexi is a multi-disciplinary creative, with a focus on the development of new work. Her career has included roles as an independent theatre producer, dramaturg, access support worker, actor and writer.

Producing credits include Maiden Speech (2017-19), a festival of new work that supported more than l00 early-career artists across its three year tenure, GROOVE (2022), and four ACE-funded R&D workshops for new work in development.