Ed Hartland
Actor/Writer
Writing
Robocop: Rogue City
Ed co-wrote a live action trailer NACON's RoboCop: Rogue City video game with director Conor Boru. The trailer was producer with 4media Group UK in conjunction with Teyon
and MGM.
When the Screaming Starts
Ed co-wrote the horror-comedy feature film, When the Screaming Starts, with Conor Boru. Following its premiere at FrightFest in Leicester Square the film went on to screen at festivals around the world, including Grimmfest (9th October 2021) in Manchester, FilmQuest in Provo, Utah named one of the World's 50 Best Genre Festivals (MovieMaker Magazine) and one of The Best Horror Festivals in the World by (Dread Central), and Telluride Horror Show.
When the Screaming Starts is 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and received rave reviews from genre and mainstream outlets, being named one of Dread Central's Hidden Gems of 2022 and IGN'S Best Horror Movies of 2022. Recently Collider named it one of the 10 Highest Rated Horror Movies of the Past Decade.
Described by Fangoria as "the This is Spinal Tap of found footage horror", When the Screaming Starts tells the story of an aspiring serial killer and the filmmaker following him on his twisted journey. It is available to buy/rent now.
Photography by Geraint Lewis
Photography by Geraint Lewis
Photography by Geraint Lewis
Photography by Geraint Lewis
Selected Theatre Productions
On the Other Side of the War
Commissioned by the Oxford School of Drama and produced at Southwark Playhouse
Directed by Aileen Gonsalves, 2023
In a world torn apart by fear, fighting and infection, a soldier embarks on a remarkable journey across the frontiers of a broken continent to reach his home and the artist he loves. On a hazardous trek he encounters friend and foe while at home the world is undergoing a menacing transformation as people struggle to survive. On the Other Side of the War is a black comedy about finding hope in despair and asks if art can change the world.
Alice in Wonderland
Elizabeth Samuels Drama School, 2018
Teomas Theatre (directed by Yasmin Sidhwa), Lithuania, 2018
Butterfly Theatre (directed by Nicholas Humphrey), Germany and UK tour, 2016-2017
Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland.
After Butterfly Theatre's successful 2016 tour in Germany, visiting Heidelberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Alice in Wonderland went on a UK tour in the early summer months (2017).
"From the moment the Cheshire Cat ushered us into the mouth of the cavern, you could sense that we were in for a magical time...So began an enchanting hour and a quarter" (Sian-Elin Flint-Freel, Buxton Fringe)
"Inventive and fun" **** (Fringe Guru)
Be My Bloody Valentine
The Drayton Arms, 2018
It's Valentine's Day and at the headquarters of Friendship Assistance In London, Grace and Nigel are preparing for a night spent helping those in need of a friend. As the evening unfolds, the desperate and deranged that make up F.A.I.L.'s staff and clientele vie for each other's affections, culminating in the most romantic gesture of all: Murder.
Allez Hop! Theatre presented Be My Bloody Valentine, an evening of love, laughter and a higher than average body count inspired of iconic French farces at the Drayton Arms in 2018.
"This play is almost wholly absurd, serving up a very dark comedy but without even a scintilla of guilt (at least, on my part) about laughing about details in a storyline that would, ordinarily, be quite disturbing, and maybe even worthy of a ‘reconstruction’ on those Crimewatch programmes they used to do on television...A brief but nonetheless delightful play" **** (London Theatre 1)
"In this production Ed Hartland's script is the star of the show. The dialogue is punchy and well-measured, the characters well defined and likeable" (London Pub Theatres)
Elizabeth Samuels Drama School
Ed has a close association with Elizabeth Samuels Drama School. Since 2018 he has written scripts for their Show in a Week courses for children ages 5-11 and 11-14. These shows include adaptations of: Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Robin Hood, Doctor Dolittle, Oliver Twist, The Railway Children, Dracula, Frankenstein, and many more. As well as adaptations of classic stories, Ed has written original plays including New Earth, New Earth 2, Dracula's Daughter & the Vampire Academy, and Dracula's Daughter & the Vampire Slayer.
The scripts for Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland are available on Amazon now.
Poster of In the Bleak Mid-Winter, performed at the University of Heidelberg
Poster for My Flatpack Life performed in Heidelberg IKEA, 2023
Poster of In the Bleak Mid-Winter, performed at the University of Heidelberg
In 2017 Ed worked as dramaturg on a production of Twelve Angry Jurors for the Thadden EDC in Heidelberg. Since then he has worked as writer and dramaturg on three productions with the English Drama Group of the Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg; site-specific productions of California Suite, adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Midsummer Night's Dream, and original productions Boxed Up (a site-specific thriller in a storage centre) and My Flat Pack Life (a site specific production performed in IKEA).
Ed has been an associate writer with Butterfly Theatre Company for a number of years, working as Writer and Dramaturg on a number of their productions in the UK, Jersey and Germany. These productions have included: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Alice in Wonderland.
Between 2017-2020 Ed worked with the third year acting students at the London College of Music on rehearsed readings.