Draft:Louise Breckon-Richards

Louise Breckon-Richards (born Louise Richards) is a Welsh actress. She has worked extensively in film, TV, theatre and radio for over thirty years. She is also a playwright and award-winning screenwriter.

Early life
Breckon-Richards (born Louise Richards) was born in 1972 in Wrexham, North Wales. She was brought up in the village of Mynydd Isa. She studied acting for three years at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and lives in London.

Theatre
Breckon-Richards debuted on the stage in 1993 in the non-profit Torch Theatre. Over the years, she performed in a variety of both touring and fringe productions of plays and musicals. Her notable roles include Eleonor in the Queen's Theatre 1997 production of Northanger Abbey, starring as Juliet in a 2000 touring production of Romeo & Juliet by the English Shakespeare Company.

In 2016, Breckon-Richards starred in a one-woman play at the Pleasance Theatre London called Can You Hear Me Running, which was co-produced by herself  and is based on her experience losing her voice as a professional singer. Her performance was described as "courageous, honest and very physical" by the Theatre Things, "mesmerising" by Love London Love Culture , "perfect agony" by The Play's The Thing UK , and having "moved to tears" the reviewer at Like the Wind Magazine. The show was praised as "visually distinctive and innovative". The project was funded by the Arts Council England. In 2019, Breckon-Richards played the role of Bet in The Wind of Heaven, performed at the Finborough Theatre in London.

Breckon-Richards also has a career as a playwright, and has produced multiple works for the stage. In 2017, she wrote Fire blight, which was selected for reading as part of the Arcola Theatre PlayWrought festival. In 2019, Breckon-Richards wrote and put on a play called Four O'Clock Flowers. The play was later adapted into a feature film by Breckon-Richards.

Breckon-Richard wrote and produced the play The Cloak of visibility which was performed in The Space in 2021.

Television
Breckon-Richards has portrayed a variety of minor and recurring roles in television. Her first television role was in 1996, where she played Lucy in an episode of The Bill, a British police serial. Breckon-Richards has had various roles in crime fiction, including the role of Angela in Mortimer's Law in 1998, Helen Castle in Midsomer Murders in 2006, Jennifer Wilson in Sherlock in 2010.

Her other work includes roles in medical dramas, soap opera and period dramas, such as her role as Louise Kavanagh in the BBC One Wales show Belonging between the years 2000 and 2001, her roles of Debra Kilbride and Ruth Unsworth in the BBC One series Casualty from 1999 to 2007, her roles of Rebecca and Julia Harrison in EastEnders from 2002 to 2011, 3 roles on the 2000 show Doctors. In 2023, her most recent television role is that of Beattie Jones on Call the Midwife.

Film
Breckon-Richards made her film debut in 1994 in a short student film titled Virigin Moon, directed by Peter Callow, for whom this film was a directorial debut. In 1996, she portrayed WDC Wendy James in Harpur and Iles. In 1999, Breckon-Richards took on the role of P.C. Edwards in the satirical comedy film Beautiful People, directed by Jasmin Dizdar. She also had a minor role in the 2003 English Civil War film titled To Kill a King, directed by Mike Barker. In the BBC One drama Dirty War directed by Daniel Percival and aired on the 26th September 2004, she played DC Vicky Loman.

From the years 2011 to 2021, Breckon-Richards played in various short films. In 2011, she played in the film Corvus,. In 2014, she played in the short titled Mike. The film was co-produced by the UK Film Festival after winning the 2012 short script competition, and went on to win an award for the best short film at the Berlin International Film Festival. In the 2021 science-fiction short film titled Best Self, she played Erica. The film was screened at the Bermondsey Project Space in December of that year.

In 2018, Breckon-Richard played the role of Joanne in the science-fiction film Time Will Tell. She then played the therapist in 2019 British romantic comedy film A Guide to Second Date Sex, alongside George MacKay and Alexandra Roach.

As of August 2023, she has acted in two shorts films, Sorry and Four Evil Deeds, that are yet to be released.

Breckon-Richards also ventured into film writing and production in 2022, with a screen adaptation of her 2019 play Four O'Clock Flowers. The film marked a reunion with director Peter Callow, with whom she had debuted her film career. The Sussex Express described the story as being "at times incredibly moving" and "[injecting] a much-needed human factor" into the discussions of knife crime in the United Kingdom. The movie is distributed through Amazon Prime Video.

Radio
Breckon-Richards has done radio work for the BBC Radio 4. In 2001, she provided reading voice-over for Writing Music. In 2003, Breckon-Richards portrayed Jancis Beguildy in Gaynor McFarlane's adaptation of Precious Bane.

Personal life
Breckon-Richards lost her voice to sulcus vocalis, a deformation of the vocal cords. Her voice cracked during an audition for the musical Mamma Mia!, after which she underwent surgery to recover. During her recovery, she started running and ran the London Marathon for Shelter UK. Breckon-Richards is married to Steven Grihault, a director and educator, and they have two children: Owen and Elliot Grihault.

Breckon-Richards has written a screenplay based on her family history, retelling a fictionalized account of her grandmother's evacuation to North Wales during the second world war.

Plays
Works written by Breckon-Richards: • Can You Hear Me Running (2016)

• Fire blight (2017)

• Four O'Clock Flowers (2019)

• Trace (2019)

• In the Mouth of the River (2020)

• Flyology (2020)

• Cloak of visibility (2021)

Awards and nominations
Breckon-Richard's movie Four O'Clock Flowers received various accolades. The movie was nominated for the Best Feature Film awards both at the 2022 Wales International Film Festival, and at the 2002 British Urban Film Festival (BUFF). The movie's lead actress, Sophie Cartman, received the award for best actress at the BUFF.

At the 14th edition of the Toronto Women Film Festival, the movie won the Best Film About Women award and the movie's composer, Mari Sainio, received the Best Female Composer award. Breckon-Richards won the award for Best Feature Film of 2022 at the UK Film Festival, an award which she shared with director Peter Callow. Breckon-Richards won the award for Best Produced Script at the 9th edition of the LA Independent Women Film Awards. Breckon-Richards and Callow shared the award for Best Drama at the Worldwide Women's Film Festival, and the cast won the award for Best Ensemble Cast at the same festival. In October 2023, the film also won the Best Feature Film award at the Worcester Film Festival. Breckon-Richards shared the award for Best Screenplay with Callow at the Hastings Rocks International Film Festival.