Director’s bio

Hailing from Bridgend, South Wales, Mari’s work champions bold female, working-class voices with humour and heart. A fluent Welsh speaker, she works in both Welsh and English, exploring complex and difficult themes through a sharply comedic lens.

Mari trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before completing an MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and her dual training underpins her character-driven style. Living with an invisible disability and as a neurodiverse artist, Mari brings lived experience, emotional precision and wit to her work, placing underrepresented perspectives at the forefront of stories.

Mari’s writing credits include winning the Violet Burns Award and becoming a Writer in Residence for Theatr Clwyd/Paines Plough in 2018. Her debut bilingual play, Hela, was nominated for the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer in 2020, the Sky New Comedy REP scheme in 2020/21, The Fâr for Little Door Productions in 2021, Sherman Theatre’s Explode Programme in 2023, Little Wanders Comedy Artists Development Scheme in partnership with Channel 4/S4C in 2024, Signal for MOJO Productions and most recently Mari was named as one of WFTV and Gobby Girls Productions’ Women in Comedy on the Rise 2026.

She is also an actor, best known for appearing alongside her identical twin in Brian & Charles (Film4/BFI). Cranogwen a Fi is Mari’s directorial début.