Manjeet is an actor and award-winning novelist and playwright. She grew up in Walsall and studied performing arts at Coventry University. She spent two years as an associate artist at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Soho Writers lab and Quarter house Theatre in Folkestone. She is now a multi-award-winning author of novels and picture books for young children. Her stage adaptation of her debut novel Run, Rebel won best production at the 2025 Off West End Theatre Awards. Other plays include, Flying Solo and A Dangerous Woman.
Written for Tutti Frutti Productions, her new children’s play – Red Robin’s Winter Song – is touring nationally from Oct 17 – Dec 23.
Can you tell us a little bit about Red Robin’s Winter Song?
It’s a story about Robin who finds himself at the beginning of winter with the world around him changing. His best friend Swallow goes away as the seasons change and he feels a bit lonely and frightened, but slowly he learns how to be a little bit braver and make new friends. So it’s about showing that change is natural and that it can lead to new friendships and something wonderful.
What was the idea behind the story?
Tutti Frutti wanted a children’s story that celebrates change so that got me thinking about the changing seasons, and the robin is a bird we often associate with winter. They’re small but there’s something wonderful and familiar about them with their colourful appearance. So that idea of something small but bold that really appealed to me. I also really liked the idea of having a small character dealing with something big because I think that’s something that will resonate with young children.
What makes a good children’s story?
It needs to be a good story that doesn’t dumb it down. Children can take in quite a lot, and that goes for really little ones as well as teenagers. It’s about keeping the story and the characters real, because if you talk down to children they won’t engage with the story. What’s great about doing a children’s show is they will tell you if they don’t like it. Adults will sit and politely clap at the end, but if kids don’t like it they won’t. And I like that kind of honesty.
Who were your favourite authors growing up?
I loved Roald Dahl when I was younger and Judy Blume, they were big influences for me, as well as Jill Murphy who wrote the Worst Witch series. I always loved stories and wanted to be a storyteller, but I liked to tell other people stories, which is why I wanted to be an actor.
You started your career as an actor, so why did you end up becoming a writer?
I only started writing out of frustration that I wasn’t getting the parts that I wanted to play. At the same time a lot of people in my peer group we’re writing their own shows and I thought ‘maybe I should try that.’ So I wrote a solo show and ended up touring this for two years up and down the UK. From this I got more writing work and a literary agent, so I feel like I fell into it by accident.
Penguin Random House were doing a mentorship programme, called the Write Now Programme, and I applied to this on a whim. Out of 3,000 people they whittled it down to 10, and I was one of the 10 they took on. I got a year’s mentoring with an editor and my story got acquired and that was my debut novel, Run Rebel. So after that I was like ‘okay, so this is what I do now.’
What has it been like collaborating with Tutti Frutti?
It’s been brilliant. I was a bit nervous to start with because I was writing for really young people, but then I thought no, if you’re scared of something that’s when you need to walk through the fire and do it because something wonderful might come at the end of it. And funnily enough, that’s kind of what the show’s about.
Wendy [Harris], the director, is really open and collaborative, and that definitely suits how I like to work. When I came into one of the rehearsals and heard the script being read out loud and some of the music I thought, ‘gosh, it’s better than I ever could have imagined.’ It’s been a beautiful experience and I’m so grateful.
Why is children’s theatre important?
All art is important at every age, especially when we can either see ourselves or we can walk into another person’s shoes. Even if it’s for three-to-seven-year-olds, a story told on stage can be really inspiring and can help build empathy. And then seeing yourself, or your own situation, reflected back at you, is just so powerful. It’s also a bit of escapism. You walk into a space and see this whole other world, and this helps young children build their imagination and I think there’s something really wonderful about that.
Book tickets for Red Robin’s Winter Song
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-By-Sea – Oct 24
Hat Factory Arts Centre, Luton – Oct 26
Norwich Theatre Royal, Norwich Stage Two – Oct 27
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk – Oct 28
The Kenton, Henley-on-Thames – Oct 29
Tetbury Goods Shed, Tetbury – Oct 31
The Wesley Forest of Dean Arts Centre, Arts in Rural Gloucester, Cinderford, Gloucestershire – Nov 7
Arts Centre Washington, Sunderland – Nov 14
Artsreach, Dorset – Nov 28 & 29
Leeds Playhouse, Leeds – Dec 12 to Dec 23