We Are Proud to Present…

Azusa is a lighting designer for theatre, dance, opera, concert, art exhibition, architecture, site-specific projects, experimental projects and also works as a freelance lighting designer for a range of companies and theatres. These include; Southbank Centre, Barbican Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Tate Modern, Gate Theatre, Laban, Crucible Theatre Sheffield, Ninagawa Company and Yamato Japanese Taiko Company.

Benjamin Walden is a freelance video designer and filmmaker living and working in London. As Video Designer, his credits include: Grounded (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh/ The Gate Theatre, London), Claudia O’Doherty: Pioneer (Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh/ Soho Theatre, London), The Big Idea: Piigs (Royal Court Theatre, London), Northern Souls (Manchester, Various locations), The Universal Machine (New Diorama Theatre, London), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Arts Ed. London), Mare Rider (Arcola Theatre, London), Jekyll & Hyde – The Musical (Union Theatre, London); as Assistant Video Designer: Roots (Donmar Warehouse, London), Crowning Glory (Theatre Royal Stratford East, London); as Video Technician: American Lulu (Bregenzer Festpielehaus, Austria/ King’s Theatre, Edinburgh/ Young Vic, London).

Diane Alison-Mitchell is a movement director and theatre choreographer. She is Head of Movement at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and co-founded and co-leads the Movement Directors’ Association (MDA).

Theatre include: Family Tree (Actors Touring Company); Blue/Orange (Royal & Derngate Northampton); Heart of Hammersmith (Lyric Hammersmith); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Criterion Theatre); When The Crows Visit, Wife, Holy Sh!t (Kiln Theatre); Shuck ‘n’ Jive (Soho Theatre); Our Lady of Kibeho (Royal & Derngate/Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Hoes (Hampstead Theatre); Snow White and the Happy Ever After Salon (Ovalhouse/Plymouth Theatre Royal); Never Vera Blue, Offside (Futures Theatre); The Island (Theatre Chipping Norton/Dukes Lancaster); Roundelay, Klippies (Southwark Playhouse); They Drink It In The Congo (Almeida Theatre), SOUL (Royal & Derngate/Hackney Empire), Othello, Julius Caesar (RSC), The Emperor Jones (LOST Theatre), How Nigeria Became: A story, and a spear that didn’t work (Unicorn Theatre), The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Nambia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 (Bush Theatre), The Island (Young Vic), Lola – The Life of Lola Montez (Trestle Theatre), The Relapse (Embassy Theatre).

As director, Diane co-directed Bones by Tanika Gupta at the Courtyard Theatre, Royal Central.

Donato lives and works in London as a musician and sound designer. Recent theatre sound design includes The Rest Will Be Familiar to You From Cinema (Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Germany) and Playing Cards 2: Hearts (Ex Machina – Co-design with JS Côté). He has toured extensively as the Sound Manager for Robert Lepage/Ex machina’s The Blue Dragon, and Playing Cards 2: Hearts. Donato’s music has been published on the Manchester/Berlin-based City Centre Offices label and on the Cardiff-based Serein label, and has been used in radio features, television programs, and theatre productions internationally. He trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama and at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Recent theatre credits: Julius Caesar (Platform Theatre), Faster Higher Stronger Straighter (Dominion Studio), Phaedra’s Love (RADA) & All’s Well That Ends Well (RADA).

‘Assistant credits include design assistant to Lorna Ritchie on Eugenie Grandet (Edinburgh Festival) & Peter Pan (RADA) and design assistant to Lucy Osborne on One Day When We Were Young, Lungs & The Sound of Heavy Rain (Paines Plough)

Florence graduated from RADA with distinction in 2013, having previously studied at Oxford University. As one of the individual winners of The Linbury Prize, Florence is designing Il Furioso all’isola di San Domingo for English Touring Opera.

Gbolahan Obisesan recently held the role of Genesis Fellow/Associate Director at the Young Vic Theatre. In 2018, Gbolahan’s adaptation of the Booker Prize-nominated novel The Fisherman will premiere at HOME, Manchester (New Perspectives Theatre). Previous directing credits include: 2017 Olivier-nominated Cuttin’ It (Young Vic, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Crucible, Royal Court, Yard Theatre); Off The Page, a short film for the Royal Court/Guardian’s microplays season; We are Proud to Present…, 66 Books (Bush Theatre); How Nigeria Became: A story, and a spear that didn’t work (Unicorn Theatre); SUS, The Web (Young Vic). Gbolahan was awarded the Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio as the recipient of the Bulldog Princep Director’s Bursary in 2008.

Jackie Sibblies Drury is a Brooklyn-based playwright. Her play We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 had its world premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and its New York premiere at Soho Rep in Fall 2012. Jackie’s work has been featured at PRELUDE’11, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Victory Gardens 2010 Ignition Festival, American Theater Company’s 10 x 10 Festival, and The Magic Theatre’s Virgin Play Festival. Jackie received a 2012-13 Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists. She was a member of the 2011-12 Soho Rep Writer/Director lab, a 2010-12 New York Theater Workshop Emerging Artist of Color Fellow, and member of The Civilians’ R&D Group. She was the dramaturg and contributing writer for Zero Cost House, a collaboration between Pig Iron Theatre Company and Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada.

Jackie is a NYTW Usual Suspect and a MacDowell Colony fellow and is on committees to organize classes for Pataphysics Playwriting Workshops and The Public School New York. She is a graduate of Brown’s MFA playwriting program, where she received the David Wickham Prize in Playwriting. Her play Social Creatures was commissioned by Trinity Repertory Theater Company in Providence RI and premiered there in March 2013. Jackie is the inaugural recipient of the 2012-14 Jerome New York Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center.

Jackie Sibblies Drury is a Brooklyn-based playwright. Her play We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 had its world premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and its New York premiere at Soho Rep in Fall 2012. Jackie’s work has been featured at PRELUDE’11, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Victory Gardens 2010 Ignition Festival, American Theater Company’s 10 x 10 Festival, and The Magic Theatre’s Virgin Play Festival. Jackie received a 2012-13 Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists. She was a member of the 2011-12 Soho Rep Writer/Director lab, a 2010-12 New York Theater Workshop Emerging Artist of Color Fellow, and member of The Civilians’ R&D Group. She was the dramaturg and contributing writer for Zero Cost House, a collaboration between Pig Iron Theatre Company and Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada.

Jackie is a NYTW Usual Suspect and a MacDowell Colony fellow and is on committees to organize classes for Pataphysics Playwriting Workshops and The Public School New York. She is a graduate of Brown’s MFA playwriting program, where she received the David Wickham Prize in Playwriting. Her play Social Creatures was commissioned by Trinity Repertory Theater Company in Providence RI and premiered there in March 2013. Jackie is the inaugural recipient of the 2012-14 Jerome New York Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center.

Lisa has dedicated 15 years to the craft of Production Design, learning, doing and teaching.

Theatre includes: Nut (The Shed @ National Theatre), Truth & Reconciliation (Royal Court Theatre).

Film includes: Second Coming (Hillbilly TV & Film4/BFI), Still Life (Uberto Pasolini / Redwave Films).

TV includes: What Remains (Coky Giedroyc / BBC 1 Drama), Holy Flying Circus, BAFTA nominated, (Owen Harris / Hillbilly Films / BBC 4), Random, BAFTA Best Single Drama 2011), This is England 86, Best TV Drama, South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2010 (Shane Meadows, Tom Harper / Warp Films / C4) New Town, Scottish BAFTA for Best TV Drama 2009, (Annie Griffin / BBC One/Pirate Productions).

Roy Alexander Weise is the 19th annual winner of the James Menzies-Kitchin Award and directed his critically-acclaimed, sell-out production of The Mountaintop by Katori Hall at the Young Vic. Theatre credits include: Nine Night (National Theatre, Trafalgar Studios), Br’er Cotton (Theatre 503), Heretic Voices (Arcola Theatre); Jekyll and Hyde (National Youth Theatre); Dead Don’t Floss (National Theatre); The Ugly One (Park Theatre, Buckland Theatre Company); The Dark (Fuel & Ovalhouse); Zero For The Young Dudes (Young & Talented in association with NT Connections); The Mountaintop (Young Vic); Primetime (Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre); and Stone Face (Finborough Theatre). Assistant Director credits include: Hangmen (Royal Court and West End); X, Escaped Alone,You For Me For You, Primetime 2015,Violence and Son,Who Cares, Liberian Girl (Royal Court); Albion,We Are Proud To Present…(Bush Theatre); and The Serpent’s Tooth (Talawa/Almeida Theatre). For Television, Roy was Trainee Director on Invisible (Red Room/Ballet Boys/Channel 4). Roy has previously worked at the Royal Court as the Trainee Director, at the Bush Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith as the BBC Theatre Fellow and at The Red Room as Associate Artist. Roy is now Associate Director at the Harts Theatre Company and Lead Acting Tutor at Young & Talented School of Stage & Screen.

Sola Akingbola is percussionist and band member of Jamiroquai, the UK’s multi-million album selling Acid-Jazz Funk band.

Sola’s theatre credits include Death and the King’s Horseman (National Theatre), and Feast (Young Vic) where he featured as a singer, performer and co-arranger.

Sola is currently working towards a new live project, Critical Mass, a funky roots project with a hard, futuristic edge, combining layered percussion with grooves drawn from the Yoruba language. In April 2014 the first single and video entitled Generation Vex will be launched, exploring the philosophical depths of Nigerian, Yoruba culture, with a 21st century British twist.’