A passenger wakes up on a ship with no idea who they are or where they are going. Their seemingly simple quest for answers becomes increasingly difficult as they discover that no one else on the boat knows where they are going either, but they don’t seem to care.
A serious comedy, Unity are delighted to be collaborating on this R&D.
A Work in progress sharing
The Team
Liam D Gillies is a writer from Liverpool. He is a graduate of The Royal Court Stage Writers Program and was among the first in the country to earn a master’s degree in writing for comedy.
Staff writer for the UK’s leading satire magazine The Daily Mash, Liam has also been shortlisted for a Faber Fiction Prize in publishing and in 2025 was nominated for the BBC’s Alfred Bradley Award in radio drama
Frankie Gold is a neurodivergent theatre maker, performer, singer, facilitator and clown, based in the North West. She trained at ALRA North and recently toured with HER Productions as Malvolio in their all-women/non-binary adaptation of Twelfth Night. Her performance was described as, “A standout performance… a tour de force… Gold’s every movement and expression is executed with calculated precision… sending the audience into uncontrollable hysterics.“[thereviewshub.com] She is a versatile storyteller with a passion for absurd theatre, music theatre, art in the North and collaborating with women, queer and neurodivergent creatives.
Joe Shipman Winner of Manchester 24/7 Festival Favourite Actor Award 2010 for performance in Hatch.
Joe is also a founding member of street theatre collective EggPeople for whom he has created several shows & performs at festivals nationally and internationally.
Lee Hithersay is a multi-award-winning performer and theatre-maker specialising in comedy, clowning and accessible interactive theatre. An LJMU drama graduate trained at The Why Not Institute, Lee co-founded the Rubbish Shakespeare Company in 2010. Serving as Artistic Director, he starred in critically acclaimed productions including A Rubbish Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Incomplete Works and the major UK tour of The Story Forge: Make Your Own Myth. Renowned for his high-energy delivery, slapstick and skilled audience interaction, his turn as Juliet in Romeo & Juliet recently won Best Kids Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival 2026. His performances have spearheaded multiple smash-hit Edinburgh Fringe runs with The Pleasance, as well as West End dates at Leicester Square Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, MAC and Leeds Playhouse. Beyond family theatre, Lee co-founded Liverpool’s cult alternative sketch troupe The Legion of Doom Comedy (Sketchfest finalists), hosted the sell-out Cabaret at the End of the Universe (The Voodoo Rooms, EdFringe) and recently debuted double act Thumb Ducks at Unity Theatre’s Up Next Festival. Recent performance credits include Terrible Tales, Top of the Chops and The Seriously Stupid Show – a family-friendly residency at Unity Theatre where he co-creates a new show each month. He has also collaborated with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Storyhouse and the Canal & River Trust amongst many others.
Mariana is a Portuguese performer and theatre maker passionate about innovative, experimental storytelling that explores contemporary issues. She is an associate physical theatre performer with Tmesis Theatre and co-founder of Clementine Arts, creating community arts projects that foster inclusion and cultural change.
She trained in Acting at ESMAE (Porto, Portugal) and has experience in movement-based storytelling, devising and improvisation, physical comedy, and puppetry.
Mariana is delighted to be part of the cast of An Absurdist Play Set on a Boat, exploring a clever, funny and imaginative piece alongside a brilliant team of local creatives.
Theatre credits include Sealskin by Tmesis Theatre (UK and international tour), Sleep Can Wait (Unity Theatre, directed by Elinor Randle), Memoria (Tmesis Theatre Physical Fest), Up and Away (UK tour), Wicked Women by Tmesis Theatre (UK tour), Lights On Lights Off (Shakespeare North Playhouse, directed by Ben Crystal), and A Thousand Feet Deep by Periplum. More recently, she co-directed Please Make It Hopeful for Unity Theatre’s Heritage Project A Radical Reimagining.
