Ursula Rani Sarma is an award-winning playwright, poet and screenwriter of Irish-Indian descent.

Recent plays include a new version of Yerma (West Yorkshire Playhouse), RIOT (A.C.T. San Francisco/Theatre Royal Bath), The Dark Things (Traverse Theatre), which won Best New Play and Best New Production at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (2010); The Magic Tree (Djinn Theatre Company/Cork Midsummer Festival), Birdsong (The Abbey); The Exchange (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre); The Spider Men (NT Connections); The Parting Glass (53E53 Theatre New York); and Orpheus Road (Paines Plough). 

She has been Writer in Residence for companies such as The National Theatre Studio London, Paines Plough Theatre Company London and The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre amongst others. Her work for the screen includes episodes for series two and four of Ecosse Films RAW for RTE, Breaking into Houses and Stealing Things (B3Media/Featurelab), Rough Country (Rock Forest Fims), short film The Woods (Rock Forest Films) and The Trial (Irish Film Board). She is also currently developing a drama series for TV with Director Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic).

In 2010 she was selected for The Bureau's S.O.S. development scheme where she began adapting The Dark Things for screen. Ursula has also directed extensively for the theatre and recently directed her first short film entitled The Woods which is currently in post production.