Meet Trinity’s new Shaffer Playwright-in-Residence Horatio Holloway

Currently completing their MA on the inaugural playwrighting course at RADA, Raish Holloway has written and staged shows in Durham, Edinburgh and London. Here they share their fascination with purgatory, playwrighting and hedgehogs – and what they hope to achieve as the Peter Shaffer Playwright-in-Residence at Trinity 2026-2027.

What plans do you have for your time here?

I’m incredibly excited to dive into Cambridge’s historical, theological and literary departments, Trinity College’s various teams and societies and Cambridge’s student theatre scene. There are numerous scripts I’m eager to offer to the student theatre cohort for performances, workshops and rehearsed readings, including two or three new ones I’m hoping to write this year. I am hoping to take at least one show to at least one fringe. I am looking to offer one-on-one dramaturgical support to any aspiring writer, as well as running numerous workshops and guest lectures spanning from industry starter packs to in-depth thematic analysis.

What do you hope to achieve beyond the role? 

I hope to become a better teacher, dramaturg and facilitator as well as a writer. I hope to create a genuinely inclusive environment where any aspiring writer / creator feels emboldened, regardless of their style, background or experience. I am eager to expand my perspective, through books and through people. Bubbles are easy to slip into, so I’m hoping to sharpen myself. I want to see if any hedgehogs turn up in Trinity’s grounds; and if so, how frequently. I want to explore the city. I want to explore the countryside around it. I want to drink in Cambridge’s history and culture until I splutter / choke in embarrassing fashion.

What does the opportunity to be a Shaffer Playwright-in-Residence represent?

It is an immense privilege. For me, it represents an opportunity to grow as a writer and as a facilitator simultaneously; to keep learning from my peers in an environment which oozes talent, ambition and imagination. It’s an opportunity to build on my experience as a subject tutor, director and mentor. It is a responsibility to be a supportive presence and a catalyst for exciting new work. It is an obligation to take risks; creatively, academically and personally. It is a position defined equally by faith and by action; believing in new and imaginative projects and putting in the work to realise them. I would love to become a full-time professor one day; to combine academic research around my specialist interests with fully-fledged and consistent creative output. I am so excited to continue pursuing this goal at Trinity!

What are you most proud of in your creative endeavours thus far?

I have been lucky enough to put on shows I’ve written in Durham, Edinburgh and London. The best part of these is always, unfailingly, the people. The thing I am proudest of is the capacity of work I’ve dreamt up, typically in random, feverish and isolated contexts, to cultivate lifelong friendships and interests within its cast and production team members.

To give this slightly clichéd sentiment an example; two years ago, I put on a rough draft of my play Everything Means Nothing To Me at university. The play heavily features the music of Elliott Smith; a singer-songwriter whose music had (and continues to have) a massively profound impact on my life. Almost none of the cast were fans of his prior to the show. Almost all of them are now. It’s THAT, more than anything, which makes me proud. To be able to touch people with my writing, in any capacity, is such a surreal thing; to see one’s work not just brought to life, but expanded into something far more meaningful and beautiful through other people.