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In the case of acclaimed playwright this talented artist, penning feels like a battle. “I find it quite painful,” she confesses. “It feels raw and unpleasant. Expression comes with effort. At times, it seems almost unhealthy.”

The writer is celebrated for her blazing works that routinely explore bold formatting and intensity. One of her earliest successes, a provocative theatrical piece, was written in a 72-hour whirl. Her latest work, titled Romans, took shape in roughly under two weeks—however, she notes that its themes had been developing for eight years. “Naturally, it wasn’t created in just 10 days,” she says. “It was an eight-year journey. It’s just that the words were up here.”

Her research involved outside her comfort zone: Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, classics from the 1970s, and ‘trying to read Ulysses and failing’.

Romans is a disruptive examination of male identity along with literary form spanning a century and a half. Its focus is a character named Jack, brought to life by an accomplished actor. He is introduced as a youth, through successive segments of his existence is presented in a varied narrative approach: 19th-century novel, experimental forms, post-modernism. “The idea that it’s almost impossible,” she explains, “is where it feels exciting.”

Structure always comes first with this artist. Romans marks her first use of a central narrator. “Some might call it traditional,” she says, “but a novel that’s interested in a man defining himself, demands a solitary figure addressing the audience.”

Birch was eager to delve into male themes for years. “I often get notes on my male characters lack the depth of female characters.” This “felt like an interesting challenge”. The play begins in an era when women are giving birth behind partitions as men enjoy cigars. The narrative moves into private academies, prisons, secret societies, digital platforms. “Several segments required research into controversial figures and the manosphere,” she grimaces. “It was deeply unpleasant.”

Over time, she consumed voraciously in unfamiliar genres. Moreover, developed thoughts with her partner, Sam Pritchard. This collaboration marks their first time onstage. “We were tentative,” she reveals. “There was concern about failure.”

She has also made a name in reimagining stories in TV. She co-wrote TV interpretations of Sally Rooney’s a hit series and another Rooney adaptation. She is now developing Ministry of Time.

Adapting existing material in her view, “a rewarding task”, yet she felt eager to create from scratch. Her last play was a radical retelling from a renowned playwright an iconic piece. With this new play, she goes beyond adapting a single story, but the entire concept. “It may come across as arrogant,” she admits, rolling her eyes. But she wanted to see if such a thing was possible live performance.

The idea first found its footing after encountering a vintage broadcast with a literary figure on manhood and literature. “Male characters were in action settings,” she elaborates. “And then man was slowly being dragged indoors due to social changes.” It offered the edges of her structure, tracing narrative development to examine masculine storytelling impacted culture, “and how female inclusion changes these narratives.”

While drafting, Birch toyed with letting female characters take control of the plot from the protagonists. “Yet it lacked authenticity.” Rather, societal attitudes toward women who are labelled as mad echoes throughout the drama. This theme reappears throughout her portfolio, from Anatomy of a Suicide to her recent film adaptation based on a novel. Co-written with Lynne Ramsay, the psychological thriller stars Jennifer Lawrence portraying a mental health decline soon after giving birth. Birch finds herself continually drawn to these themes. “In my view, little has progressed, how people think about female psychological well-being and creative force and fury,” she states. “It still feels like an enraged woman is a terrifying thing in society, something to suppress.”