Artist Spotlight: Playwright & Dramaturg, SOMEBODY JONES

Somebody Jones is a Los Angeles native playwright/dramaturg, currently living, working, and dreaming in London. Jones received a bachelor’s in Theatre with an Emphasis in Playwrighting from the University of Southern California and a master’s in Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths University of London. Jones’s work celebrates and champions Black culture in all of its charms and complexities. The playwright/dramaturg primarily works within the genres of horror, magical realism, verbatim, and recently, Black fantasy.

​Jones’s debut play, HOW I LEARNED TO SWIM premiered at Roundabout at the Edinburgh Fringe and then toured to Brixton House and Bristol Old Vic. SWIM was a finalist for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting and shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2021. In 2022, Jones won the Tony Craze Award for the play ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD. 

​Formerly, Somebody Jones was a Paines Plough’s Playwright Fellow (2023/2024), a part of Soho Theatre’s Writers’ Lab (London, 2022), an Artistic Associate with Nouveau Riche (London, 2022), a Creative Associate at Jermyn Street Theatre (London, 2021), and a part of Boston Court’s first Playwrights’ Group (Los Angeles, 2021).

​The name Somebody Jones means the more you run from your past, the more you’ll run into it.

How did growing up in Los Angeles shape your voice as a playwright, especially now that you’re based in London? 

LA is a bit of a theatre barren. We maybe have 6 major theatres with the rest being equivalent to pub theatres, except they don’t have a regular season or schedule. Trying to do theatre in LA really pushed me to meet people and find any opportunity possible, which made moving to London and experiencing the theatre scene here feel like a luxury. Obviously London theatre isn’t perfect, but I do always feel privileged to be here. 

How does your dramaturgical background inform your writing style? 

Once I get to the second draft, I’m always thinking about stakes. If you ask anyone who knows me, that’s my favourite dramaturgical word. Especially when I get stuck, it really helps to think, “What does this character want right now? Ok, so what can they do to get it?”  

What’s a play you wish you had written? 

The Climbers by Carmen Nasr. I’ve always wanted to write about mountain climbing and Carmen has done it in such a captivating way with a touch of magical realism.  

What’s your go-to snack or ritual when you’re deep in a writing session? 

I’m not a big snacker, but I can’t write without coffee nearby and Lofi Hip Hop Radio playing in the background.  

You’ve been part of several notable writer development programs – how have those shaped your artistic growth and community? 

There’s not enough time or space to talk about how each one influenced me, so I’ll just mention one that’s been on my mind — Jermyn Street Theatre’s Creative Associates programme. I wrote my debut play, HOW I LEARNED TO SWIM in three weeks for a deadline for this programme. And although I never want a deadline that soon again, there was something freeing (and no doubt stressful!) about writing something that you couldn’t spend too much time fretting over.  

Was there a particular moment when you knew you wanted to be a playwright? 

This is a fun story. In some acting-based university degree programmes in The States, when you pass your first or second or even sometimes third year, you might have a “jury.” This is when the heads of your programme decide if you’ve done enough to stay in the programme. And if not, you either get kicked out permanently, or you’d have to spend a semester or so out of the programme and then re-audition to get in.  

In the last year of high school, my school decided to do a sort of jury in preparation for university and it was intense! The feedback that I got was that I was too reserved. I excelled at playing characters like queens and diplomats, but I was told that if I didn’t open up, my acting career wouldn’t go far. And that moment was basically the end of my journey as an actor, and I’m truly so thankful for it. In that moment, I realised that I’m much happier behind the pen instead of in front of it. 

First memory of going to the theatre? 

I had to be 4 or 5 and I saw The Princess and the Pea with my grandparents. I can’t remember the name of the theatre, but they’d make sets that doubled as playsets. So children were encouraged to play on the set before and after the show. I don’t know how we all didn’t destroy the set, but it felt really special.  

What’s the best thing about being a writer? 

Getting to play. I love being in a rehearsal room, even if it isn’t mine. It’s so fun to go deep into lines and take risks when you put material on its feet.  

Who were your creative inspirations growing up? 

I always loved horror books or anything on the darker side, so it was definitely Stephen King, Joan Lowery Nixon, and Lemony Snicket. I read The Shining when I was 12, which I probably shouldn’t have, but shout out to the librarian who didn’t question me! 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into playwriting? 

Network! I don’t care what anyone else says, it’s really about who you know. Even if you win a prize (which I’ve have!). It seems like many theatre artists think of networking as laborious and gross, but if you like working with people you know, trust me that theatres do too! Besides the development programmes I’ve been a part of, every other opportunity I’ve gotten was because of my network.  

What’s coming up next for Somebody Jones?  

I’ve got some really fun and varied projects in the works — from a show set in the late 1600s to dramaturging for a dream theatre — but until the contracts are signed, my lips are sealed. Just watch this space in 2026 and 2027 for more horror, magical realism, and cat antics.  

Exciting News! Somebody Jones is leading our Dramaturgy Workshop: Reading, Rethinking, and Red Flags on Thursday 25 September!

A limited number of spaces are still up for grabs – if you’re curious, creative, or just love a good script deep-dive, hit this link to grab your spot!