Darren is a composer and lyricist living in Maidstone in Kent. He has been writing musical theatre professionally for nearly 15 years. His musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (“The music makes you feel the thrumming nature of being” The Telegraph) will open in London's West End in Autumn 2024. Amongst his many other shows are the critically acclaimed musicals The Wicker Husband (“An extraordinarily original, beautiful and bewitching musical” WhatsOnStage), The Day of the Living (“Heart breaking laments… violent, pitch-black lyrics” The Times) and The Coup Coup Club (“A musically rousing evening” The Guardian).

Darren’s musical theatre writing has received numerous awards including the Off West End Award for Best Musical, the MTI Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award, the PRS Open Composers Award and the Musical Theatre Executive Trust Award. Along with Rhys Jennings, his work has been selected to the NAMT Festival of New Musicals in New York, and The MTI Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award. Four of Darren’s musical theatre projects have been featured in the UK’s premiere musical theatre festival BEAM. He has been a finalist for The Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre, The Perfect Pitch Award, The Old Vic 12 and The KSF Artist of Choice. He has been a three time finalist for the Cameron Mackintosh Composer in Residence Award and a three time finalist for The Stiles & Drewe Best New Song, winning runner up in 2015.

Darren's association with Farnham Maltings began in 2020 when he received the Farnham Maltings Our Towns Award for his community musical theatre project Ordinary People which celebrates the lives of the residents of Maidstone, Kent. The project has continued to grow and he is now developing a new version of the show focussing on the community of Farnham.

He is a co-founder of children’s theatre company Paper Balloon, creating original musical theatre for children, including The Boy and the Mermaid and The Grumpiest Boy in the World which continues to receive productions across Australia and throughout the USA. He is a passionate advocate for new musical theatre writing in the UK and is the founder of New UK Musicals, a community providing competitions, opportunities and a website which allows writers of new musical theatre to sell their songs to their fans.

He has been a member of Mercury Musical Developments since 2014 and takes part in the MMD Advanced Writers Lab. He honed his craft at the BML (Book, Music and Lyrics) weekly workshops in London.