Ridley studied painting at St Martin’s School of Art so it’s hardly surprising the visual aspect of theatre has always been of great importance to him. His plays contain some of the most iconic images in contemporary theatre: the eating of a live cockroach by a blond, red-jacketed teenager (Cosmo from The Pitchfork Disney), a hunky psychotic with a quiff holding a large carving knife (Cougar from The Fastest Clock in the Universe), a girl dressed in gold and smoking a cigar (Rio from Ghost From a Perfect Place) and, most controversially, a child dressed as Elvis about to be killed with a gleaming meat hook (from Mercury Fur).

Ridley is one of the few writers who has created such a distinctive theatrical world it only takes a few moments stage time to recognise his unique voice. But where did this all start? How was it that Ridley’s first play, The Pitchfork Disney (now generally regarded as the play that kick started the ‘in-yer-face’, writing revolution in the 90’s) arrived fully formed, shrieking and singing, at the Bush theatre in 1991?

The reason for this is that, strictly speaking, The Pitchfork Disney wasn’t Ridley’s first theatrical work. Ridley had been exploring theatre for years as part of his Fine Art course at St Martin’s. His work had always crossed the boundaries between painting, performance art, photography and drama. Indeed, the long monologues that were to become such a defining aspect of his first stage play started life as Live Art exhibitions performed by Ridley himself.  For each of these monologues Ridley would develop a different character. Each of them would have a very distinctive look and way of speaking. To help Ridley develop these characters he would, quite simply, get his friends to dress up and then take photographs. And, although this process has been greatly refined and developed over the years, it still plays a major part in Ridley’s process as a writer.

Ridley says, “The photographs I take tend to fall into lots of different categories now. There are images to help develop new characters - often as useful for the person being photographed as well as me - and then, of course, there are portraits of people as they really are, often in the middle of some intense emotion or action. And then there are images that are part of…well, just part of my work as a visual artist. Sort of painting with the camera. It’s hard to describe any clearer than that. And all these different types of photographs can come out of one session with someone. Although to call it ‘a session’ makes it sound far more grand and organised than it  is. Nothing is ever really planned. There might be a few clothes and props but after that…it’s just play really. That element of ‘play’ is vital for me. Play is the spark that ignites the creative fuse. We play, we muck about, like children, and out of this…’Hey! Look what we made! Boom!’ It’s the best feeling in the world.”

This exhibition - the first time these works have ever been shown publicly - contain examples from all the above mentioned categories. They provide, not just a valuable insight into Ridley’s working methods, but a thrilling and rewarding visual experience in their own right.