Lauren Mooney is a writer & dramaturg working in theatre, audio drama & prose fiction
Fiction
Lauren’s debut novel Service is published by Manilla Press (an imprint of Bonnier), and was released in June 2026. It is currently available in hardback, ebook and in an audiobook edition read by comedian Stevie Martin. The paperback will be released in 2027.
You can order Service here. There is a special, sprayed-edge edition (below left) available in independent bookshops.
Reviews include:
A debut that speaks to our times... Genuinely chilling ― The Guardian
For those who like their ghost stories with a side of class politics, put Service by Lauren Mooney at the top of your TBR pile. ― Stylist
Witty and haunting . . . Evokes Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca in its creeping psychological unease and the house's looming, inescapable presence ― Woman & Home
Forthcoming 2026 live events for Service include:
Tuesday 29 September, In Conversation - online, as part of the Bronte Women’s Writing Festival (tickets)
Friday 9 October, in conversation with Clive Judd & Matthew Rice (Plastic) as part of Birmingham Literature Festival (tickets)
Saturday 10 October, Creative writing workshop (tickets & info), also at Birmingham Literature Festival
Sunday 18 October, in conversation with Dr Sophie Oliver and Saul Leslie (A Working Title I Want to Change) as part of Liverpool Literary Festival (tickets)
Saturday 31 October, Houses of Horror panel (tickets) as part of Women in Horror Weekend at Waterstones, Nottingham
Service was sold to Bonnier in a two-book deal; Lauren is currently working on her second contracted novel. She is a 2020 graduate of the Creative Writing (Prose) MA at the University of East Anglia, where she held the David Higham scholarship. She is represented by Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates.
Since 2015, Lauren has co-run award-winning Kandinsky Theatre Company with director James Yeatman, where she works as a writer and dramaturg. You can find out more about the company’s work here.
Lauren’s work as a writer and dramaturg for Kandinsky includes More Life (Royal Court 2025, ★★★★ The Guardian, Whatsonstage), There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Royal Exchange 2019, ★★★★ The Stage, The Observer), Dinomania (New Diorama 2019, ★★★★★ ‘No-one else makes theatre quite like this’ Time Out) and Trap Street (New Diorama/Festival of International New Drama, Schaubühne Berlin, 'not only the highlight of the festival but one of the most ingenious pieces of new theater I have seen recently' New York Times).
Kandinsky have toured nationally, delivered extensive engagement projects and worked in drama schools, including premiering an adaptation of Mrs Caliban with students at Central School of Speech and Drama in 2024. In 2021, Kandinsky’s The Winston Machine (★★★★ 'a typically probing and playful work from Kandinsky…shot through with music and mischief' Guardian) toured to venues including the Marlowe in Canterbury, Bristol Old Vic and Theatre by the Lake.
Lauren is a graduate of the Royal Court Writers’ Group. Her writing for stage, screen and audio is represented by Imogen Sarre at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.
Theatre
More Life. Photo by Helen MurrayThe Winston Machine. Photo by Chelsey CliffDramaturgy
Beyond Kandinsky, Lauren works freelance as a dramaturg in scripted and devised theatre. Recent dramaturgy credits include Top Gs Like Me by Samson Hawkins (Royal & Derngate Northampton, spring 2026) and My Mother’s Funeral: The Show by Kelly Jones (Paines Plough Roundabout 2024 / SoHo Playhouse New York / Yard Theatre London), which won Fringe First and Summerhall Lustrum awards.
Lauren previously spent two years in the literary and producing team at Clean Break Theatre Company, where she co-edited their monologue collection Rebel Voices (Methuen, 2019), and has worked as a dramaturg with venues and companies as varied as Wales Millennium Centre, Live Theatre, the Mercury and the Globe. She was the dramaturg on LAMDA’s annual Collab project from 2020 to 2025.
She has also run workshops on dramaturgy for Wildcard, Leeds Conservatoire, Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, and worked as a script reader at the Royal Court, Polka Theatre and National Theatre, including on the 2024 and 2026 Polka Playwriting Awards.
My Mother's Funeral: The Show, photo by Nicola YoungTop Gs Like Me, photo by Manuel HarlanAudio
Lauren has co-written several audio dramas for Big Finish Productions with her husband, Stewart Pringle. Their extensive credits include:
The Lincolnshire Poacher, Torchwood, November 2022
Below There, Ninth Doctor Adventures, August 2023
Lost Hearts, Eighth Doctor Adventures, May 2024
The Quintessence, Third Doctor Adventures, Oct 2024
The Miracle of Pendour Cove, Jan 2025 - nominated for a 2026 Scribe Award
Lauren’s full Big Finish credits can be found here.
She has also script edited for the Torchwood range, where her work includes Restricted Items Archive, The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello and Suckers.
Recording day for Dog Hop, Dec 2022. Photo by Tony WhitmoreAbout
Lauren grew up in a working-class family in Northampton, attending the University of Liverpool on a scholarship for high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. She graduated in 2012 and lived in London for thirteen years, working variously as a waitress, receptionist and PA before going freelance in 2018. From 2018-20, she was a part-time student on the MA in Creative Writing (Prose) at UEA, where she held the David Higham Scholarship.
She now lives in East Sussex with her husband Stewart Pringle, also a writer, and their small Greek tortoise, Sacher Tort. She likes swimming, ceramics, group singing and the pub. Her fondest wish is to have a medium-sized dog one day. You can also find her on Instagram.
Photos by Helen Murray
