Liam Ashmead and Laura Shoebottom are the co-founders of Thematic Theatre, a company they set up last year to specialise in new writing. Next week they’ll open their debut production, Blue Tights, Red Knickers and an ‘S’ on Her Vest, at the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham. Written by Laura and directed by Liam, the play follows the effects of anxiety and workplace bullying on the central character, Jenna, and the toll it ultimately takes on her health.

Laura, who also plays Jenna, has previously had work performed at Theatre 503, The Churchill Theatre and The Tabard Theatre. Blue Tights, Red Knickers and an ‘S’ on Her Vest is her first full production, and was inspired by a conversation with her mum: “Around a particularly stressful exam period, she told me it was ok to ‘take the superwoman outfit off once in a while’ and look after myself rather than trying to be all things to all people. It’s always stayed with me and the message is the essence of the show really, that it’s impossible to be everything to everyone.”

As a new company making their debut, Laura and Liam are looking forward to sharing their show with audiences within their local area, and taking the opportunity to start a conversation about mental health. “We hope that audiences will empathise with Jenna, but mostly it’s about raising awareness for mental health. We’re so happy that we’re fundraising for Mind because it’s a charity that’s very close to both our hearts.“

The two friends graduated last year from Italia Conti, where they decided to set up their own company – and Thematic Theatre was born. “We knew that we enjoyed working together as creatives and we were both passionate about creating new work for ourselves, so we thought a theatre company would be a great route to go down.

“We want to collaborate with as many people as we can and make contacts with others who share the same passion as us. We’ve both been involved in many scratch nights and new writing festivals and we believe they are great platforms for creatives. We want to offer these same opportunities to others and we aim to do this through our own new writing event ‘Box of Themes’, where we pick out a theme and then get writers/ directors and actors to create a short piece based around it.”

Both founders agree that starting their own company has been both exciting and challenging: “The biggest challenge has been trusting our work and making sure it’s sensitive to the subject matter. We’re very excited about it but as it’s our first time producing we naturally have moments of doubt. It’s also very expensive putting on a show so there’s always money to consider, and balancing rehearsals and promotion alongside our other jobs.

“Creatively, though, it’s been amazing. We both work well together and we’ve enjoyed the freedom and fun we’ve had in the rehearsal room – there’s equal control and it’s relaxed since we’re good friends. There’s always been that mutual trust and respect there so we’ve been able to be totally honest about whether something works or not from the get go; that’s something we’re both really thankful for.”

Following next week’s short run at the Bread and Roses, Laura and Liam are looking ahead to the show’s future. “We plan to take it to The Vaults and the Edinburgh fringe next year. We’re really happy with where the play is at the moment and we want to use this run in London to get an idea of how audiences react and develop it even more.”