Tayla Kenyon is a producer, playwright, actor, teacher and workshop facilitator whose award-winning debut play FLUFF is a play text at the National Theatre. Her new play, Tell Me Where it Hurts, explores Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder andis currently on tour.
“There weren’t masses of theatres in Hemel Hempstead where I was brought up, although we had a youth group and Watford Palace Theatre wasn’t far. At 13, I saw Educating Rita in London and thought ‘this is what I want to do’. I don’t come from a family of performers although my mum loves karaoke! When I was little, I’d perform an annual Christmas play for my family that I’d force my siblings into, so perhaps drama was always the plan.
I went to The Cavendish School – now the Laureate Academy, then on to Amersham & Wycombe College to study Acting, where Irene Rambota, an amazing RADA trained teacher worked with us. At Manchester School of Theatre, my BA (Hons) in Acting taught me how to approach text, use my body & voice effectively, create characters and be in the moment – all things I still use now. I have no formal writer’s training, but my understanding of character, relationships and different texts have fed into this.
I’ve been supported by many people in different ways. Some helped develop my craft, others encouraged me to be persistent or given emotional support. Grandad Terry, now 88, has always been supportive, comes to everything and gives me notes. Alex Murray at Watford Council helped us obtain the funding to set up our company, TeePee Productions in 2023. James Piercy, my co-founder, is an all-round amazing support: writer, performer, theatre maker and friend. We share the same sense of humour and both like darkly comedic work. Our local theatres, The Old Town Hall and Watford Palace Theatre, have been a great support of late.
My work often explores class, women and social issues. Theatre can help with unrepresented voices, evoke empathy and understanding and drive change. Educating Rita which inspired me was all about class, gender, access, privilege. I recently saw Care by Alexander Zeldin at the Young VIc which was incredible but also relatable. I ask questions that don’t have clear answers, prompt conversation and aim to write plays that take the audience and characters on a journey.
I have Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and wrote this play six years ago – primarily to understand the uncontrollable emotions I was experiencing. My symptoms included severe mood swings, uncontrollable rage, sadness, self-loathing – also brain fog, extreme fatigue and sensitivity to light or sound. PMDD can be misdiagnosed as bi-polar disorder, but it all happens during ovulation. It can even bring on early menopause and lead to some women having hysterectomies in their twenties.
Through staging the play, I’ve discovered many women have had similar experiences – not just with PMDD – but the surrounding lack of understanding, awareness and research in women’s health issues overall. Where Does it Hurt? Is also about feeling unheard and misunderstood and the impact this can have on our life and sense of self. The last few years have seen more research and a need for these conversations to be had. I’ve had women come up to me afterwards and say, ‘So, I’m not nuts after all.’
While It’s not fully biographical, the play is deeply personal. The plot is not my life but the symptoms of PMDD, the impact on relationships, the difficulty and joy of being a teacher are very real to me. There’s a bit of me in all the characters. Annie, the student, is a concoction of some students I knew who struggled to navigate adolescence, felt alone or unheard and were lost in the system.
We’re offering workshops to school groups and youth groups around the theme of invisibility and being unheard, also devising and collaborative writing. These help our mission to start conversations in schools. It’s confusing being a young person at the best of times. The arts really saved me as a child, so I’m hoping these will help others including teachers broach difficult conversations as well as encouraging children to explore theatre, the arts and just have some fun.
If I could speak to my younger self, I’d say it’s hard work but worth it. You need a lot of resilience for the struggle ahead. One of my favourite quotes is ‘We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there, too’. On a practical note, I’d also say, connect with as many people as you can and find healthy ways to switch off and look after yourself.”
https://linktr.ee/tayla.kenyon
Tell Me Where it Hurts at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford, 23 Sept; The Arena, Wolverhampton, 24 September; The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 27 September; The Courtyard Hereford, 8 Oct; Luton Library Theatre, 13 Oct; Nottingham Playhouse.15 Oct, 2026
Discounted tickets available for Tell Me Where it Hurts if also booking workshops.