Meet the Amplified Eastbourne Team
Roy McFarlane Writing Leader for Amplified
Dr Roy Mcfarlane FRSL (he/him) is an award winning poet, playwright, tutor and former youth and community worker born in Birmingham of Jamaican parentage spending most of his years living in Wolverhampton and the Black Country, now living in Brighton.
He’s a regular host and performer at the Brighton Book Festival. He’s been the National Canal Laureate, a former Birmingham Poet Laureate and one of the Bards of Brum performing in the Opening Ceremony for Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. He’s presently touring Take Flight a performance collaboration of words, jazz, gospel and blues influenced by his third collection Living by Troubled Waters (Nine Arches Press 2022).
He continues to perform nationally and internationally sharing his passion for social justice, equality, identity love and the healing power of poetry as a witness to our times.
At Amplified, Roy will share his experience of how to go from an empty page to performing boldly on stage as our Writing Leader. He will also host the final performance event and get the audience ready for the show!
Cate Ferris Lyrics Leader for Amplified
Cate Ferris (she/her) is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumental performer, recording artist and producer from Brighton.
She fuses loops and electronics with acoustics and vocals to create full live productions on stage. An extensive collaborator she was a core member of Dizraeli & The Small Gods, part of femme noize choir The Larsens, has gigged extensively with Martha Tilston and her work and voice have featured on BBC1 Xtra and prime-time television.
Cate has been working with young people for the past 10 years, facilitating workshops, mentoring and running sessions with organisations like AudioActive, Brighton Dome and Trinity Laban.
She’ll focus on supporting Amplified participants with finding their unique voice, crafting lyrics, and performing with power. If you want to experiment performing with a backing track, or want to sing/rap/involve an instrument that you play, Cate will support with these ideas for your performance.
Suhayla El-Bushra Guest Artist for Amplified
Suhayla El-Bushra (she/her) is a UK based playwright and screenwriter.
Her plays include a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Long Song (Chichester Festival Theatre), The NW Trilogy (The Kiln) and others at National Theatre. Her TV work includes Hollyoaks, Becoming Elizabeth and Ackley Bridge. She was in the writers room for Nida Manzoor’s BAFTA-winning Channel 4's We Are Lady Parts. Her feature film, Brides (Neon Films/BFI) was released in 2025.
She has many years experience of mentoring and working with young people in Sussex. Suhayla is a trustee of the charity Little Green Pig and Young Writers Collective. She has been a workshop leader on all Amplified projects. Suhayla will join as a guest artist to help participants edit and perfect their stories ready to perform on stage.