Feature: Lawler’s dramatic past

Before taking on his new job as planning director of Momentum, Tim Lawler (pictured) revived his youthful dreams of West End stardom. He joined forces with long-time friend Jon Claydon, with whom he worked at Claydon Healey Jones Mason, to write Haunted, a play that ran last month at the Arts Theatre, starring ex-Eastender Jessie Wallace.

But this was no bolt out of the blue. As students, Claydon and Lawler sold out revues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe three years running, sharing a space with a yet-to-be discovered Harry Enfield. After appearing on the BBC’s Pick of the Fringe, they joined the BBC’s writers programme and worked on topical radio comedies such as The News Huddlines and Week Ending.

Lawler even won an award for best actor at the 1984 National Student Drama Awards for playing Alan Strang in Equus – the part that saw Daniel Radcliffe and Alfie Allen show off their parts in the latest production. According to the publicity for Haunted, Lawler then went on to build a theatre in north-west London “with a respectable level of fringe success”.

With Haunted receiving a few decent reviews, let’s hope that Lawler’s new role at Momentum provides him time to create new roles for the stage.