David Mears | Writer, Playwright & Creative Director

The places we’ve been

‘The places we’ve been’ was published in 2024. The inspiration for the book came partly from the Spanish writer, Camilo José Cela and his wonderful ‘Journey to the Alcarria’. His book centres on the simple but beautiful concept of travelling with no clear destination or time limitation, - an intoxicating idea.

In the book I take a journey backwards and sideways across Spain, my home for 25 years, visiting some places I have been before and others never, - lifting the lid on a country that is normally unseen.

‘The places we've been’ can fit snugly into your favourite jacket pocket but punches way above its paperweight in shrewd observation, poetic turn and delicious comic timing that delivers proper laugh out loud moments. That’s the back cover blurb and why would I argue?!

‍“The writer’s trip through Spain doesn't hide the grit, but rather finds beauty in the realness of the country. It is both a love letter to Spain and a cathartic trip down memory lane. Oh and it's funny too. A quick read for days when you want something a little quirky and a lot joyful.” - Amazon Reader Review

Purchase book here

Plays for theatre include:

221

A three hander set inside Room 221 at a very ordinary business hotel somewhere off a motorway in England’s East Midlands. Central character Susan calls it ‘dandruffy’. Lust, obsession, the grinding realities of life and an antique gun collide inside a very small space. The play was born in a Royal Court Theatre writer’s programme around 2013 and I finished a few months later.

Derek and the Missing Bananas

Derek is 38, a South Londoner, has an intellectual disability and works part-time in his local supermarket until one day, some bananas go missing. Mr. Broom the Departmental Manager is forced to act. It’s an ending of a sort but a new beginning for Derek as he reshapes his life set to the rhythm of a new, gentle love and the fixture list at Crystal Palace. Written as a monologue and was half intended for radio but then later developed for theatre. I sent it off to the Soho Theatre Company, got a sunny, positive review and it got me into a writer’s programme at the National Theatre. The play didn’t get produced in the end but it did get a professional actor reading which helped me understand the difference between a script and a play, i.e. words on the page and then spoken.

Core Values

Written as part of development programme at Royal Court Theatre, London. Yes, writing is autobiographical so this is the play (wot I wrote) set inside a funky ad agency….errrr, kind of like the places that I’ve worked. Can Carmen save Richard from his rapid descent down life’s water slide into mid-40s irrelevance? Can Jenas or any Nordic really be that cool? When the music starts and the dancing begins can 24 ‘little hours’ really change everything?

Corporate Work

I'm the Founder of DMA Partners Creative + Communciations Agency. For more than 20 years, together with a brilliant team I have worked on hundreds (probably thousands!!!) of communication projects for major global corporations including C-level speeches and presentations, corporate film scripts, creative art direction for brand and comms campaigns. And the work is still rolling...

Writing for corporations and politicians is a kind of impersonation; listening to find a voice and putting it into written form, a skill for me stickily adjacent to hearing voices for effective dialogue in dramatic work.

Visit DMA Partners Creative + Communications Agency here

Scriptwriter, creative director, author of ‘The places we’ve been'