"The Katie Lees Fellowship gave me the space, support, and confidence to push my creative boundaries and bring King Ludd to life."

For playwright Madeleine Stedman, the Katie Lees Fellowship was a transformative experience, providing her with the time, resources, and support to create her ambitious new work, King Ludd. 

“The fellowship gave me the space to drop into a new world of research and character development,” Stedman reflects, “and this has spurred me to take the next steps in my career with renewed confidence.”

Inspired by Brian Merchant’s Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, King Ludd centers on a fictional family of weavers navigating the upheaval of the industrial revolution. Stedman’s goal was to balance historical depth with contemporary resonance. 

“I felt I achieved my goals,” she shares. “At the reading on the 2nd of November, I was proud to show an excerpt of the play, the first Act, which will hopefully go on to have another life somewhere.”

The fellowship also allowed Stedman to refine her artistic process. She describes her method as “90% deep thought and 10% frantic writing to get to the finish line,” adding that deep thought, while rare in the multitasking pace of life, is “the essential ingredient and can’t be rushed.”

Several surprises marked her journey, from the success of a staged reading developed in just two days to the depth actors brought to the script. “The actors took to the scripts and accents better than I’d hoped and brought the text to life,” she notes, adding that the warm reception from the audience was both a relief and a source of motivation.

Beyond the immediate success of King Ludd, the fellowship’s broader impact on Stedman’s career has been profound. “The Katie Lees Fellowship has been much more than an impressive addition to my resume,” she says. “It allowed me to move past my previous work, Mercury Poisoning, which became so big I wasn’t sure I’d be able to write another play... I’ve finished the fellowship feeling confident about taking the next steps in my career.”

The fellowship also underscored the importance of compensating collaborators. “Paying the actors allowed all participants to go deeper into the process without anxiety or fear that I was being too indulgent as a writer,” Stedman reflects.

Looking to the future, Stedman is determined to continue the momentum, and possibly staging King Ludd in 2026. "I am interviewing for, and hope to become, one of the Griffin Theatre Company Studio artists for 2025. This interview means I have made the shortlist for a second year in a row, and I’m hopeful that with more experience under my belt I will be just the candidate they are looking for."

To the donors and supporters of the Katie Lees Foundation, Madeline says, "Thank you for your generosity and for your investment. It is only when we collectively decide to invest in arts that our entire culture grows richer. Personally, I appreciated this time you gave me to learn and push myself as a playwright, but more inspiring to me is to consider that I am part of a continuum of artists who have passed and will pass through this fellowship; a continuum you are directly creating.”