In May 2023, the Writers Guild of America went on a months-long strike, delaying anticipated films, cancelling planned television series and leaving actors with not a lot to do.

Olivia Sinnott had just graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of fine arts degree. She had an agent, and a bit of experience, and was looking to start her acting career. The timing wasn’t ideal.

“It was really debilitating, especially because I was right out of school and I was ready to roll,” she said. “But when I was revisiting the New York theatre scene as an audience member and actor, I was reminded of why I always loved it. I was like, ‘Why not create something myself?’.”

By the time screenwriters reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers last September, Olivia was committed to her goal of producing When We Were Young and Unafraid, a play by the Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Treem.

She’s now $85 short of the $5,000 she set out to raise through a GoFundMe account started in May.

Four of the five roles have been cast for the show which will run in Brooklyn, New York this autumn. Part proceeds will benefit Safe Horizon, a leading non-profit that’s been helping victims of abuse and violent crime in the US for nearly 50 years.

To Olivia, it was an apt fit considering the subject of the play.

“The play unfolds in 1970, before the Violence Against Women Act,” its synopsis reads. “Agnes and her adoptive daughter Penny own a home for domestically abused women seeking to heal in a ‘home away from home’. A truthful retelling of the female experience, each character’s experience embodies the challenges of womanhood at different stages of life.”

It is Bermuda that gave the New York-based artist her start.

At the age of 5, she started taking ballet lessons with Somerset School of Dance. Three years later, she joined Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Bermuda’s production of Oliver, and discovered she had a “passion for acting”.

“I had the opportunity to work with all these really talented British performers; the British director had come from London to do the show.

“I loved the feeling of community that I felt getting to do a performance with all these really talented folks, and the excitement of performing in front of an audience. And I knew that this was what I wanted to do.”

Then at Warwick Academy, she loved that the school had “a great drama department” and was inspired by watching students such as Rowan Vickers, now on tour with Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.

At 14, having moved with her family to the US, Olivia enrolled in Walnut Hill School for the Arts, a boarding school in Massachusetts.

“It was just the best of both worlds because I could do my academics and I was really immersed in the arts. The teachers that I had there changed my life,” she said.

“I love the idea of becoming a character; becoming someone different from myself and being in that world for a limited amount of time was just so fun to me.”

Theatre studies at her “dream school”, the University of Michigan, allowed a range of classes such as screenwriting, clowning and stage combat.

An acting showcase in front of industry professionals introduced Olivia to her manager, Bob Glennon of Authentic Talent and Literary Management, an agency with offices in LA and New York.

The top-ranked University of Michigan is also where the actress “found a passion for producing”.

The opportunity came with Sam Steiner’s 2015 play, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons. The experience opened her up to the possibility of When We Were Young and Unafraid.

“I had read author Sarah Treem’s work before, and then I came across this play. I wanted to share the story because I think that the timing is most appropriate, especially following the Supreme Court's most recent overturning of Roe v Wade,” she said.

“I love that this play is an ensemble piece and it brings together a group of women from different backgrounds with different ideas of what it means to be a woman, and how they impact one another with their actions and their notions.

“It's powerful seeing them all together sharing the female experience and bringing strength to one another, during a time when women aren't really able to have a voice, and the theme of abuse, among other themes in the play, applies to all people and how this experience can occur at any time in one's life.”

Excited by the idea, Olivia reached out to friends and family for help with financing the show and had an “awesome” response from people here.

“Producing in New York is kind of its own beast. It's such a big city and it's a lot of work, but I’ve really enjoyed the connections that I've made with people so far. I love that aspect of acting and producing.”

Despite that, her focus remains on carving out a career on screen.

“My manager is definitely for acting in TV and film and that's what I've wanted to do my whole life but if producing opportunities happen alongside, I definitely want to take those opportunities as well,” she said.

“This producing idea came from the lack of auditions for so many people and just wanting to create something for myself and for other artists.

“There are so many female actors who are also producers. If you're able to wear many hats in this field, that's really important and also being able to understand all sides of the industry – how the cameraman works when you're on set, how a director is going to approach a project. Being able to understand all that is so important.”

• When We Were Young and Unafraid will show in Brooklyn, New York in November. Ticket information will follow once funds have been raised. To donate, visithttps://rb.gy/833wef. For more information, visitolivialuisasinnott.com