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18.09.2026

Cast & Creatives for Application 39

Read all the biographies for the cast & creatives of Application 39…

CAST

Nadia Dawber, LAMMA
Nadia was born in Nazareth and is of Palestinian, British and German heritage.
Theatre includes: full Edinburgh Fringe 2026 run of Majenin: A Palestinian Love Story. Other recent theatre credits include Antigone, Valhalla, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It.
Film & TV includes: Underground winner of Best First-Time Feature at Boden International Film Festival; PYRE; Nadia will play Aaliyah in upcoming short film My Love, Jenin, currently in pre-production supported by award-winning Philistine Films (Palestine), BLEAT Post-Production (UK) and FEST (Portugal).

James El-Saharwy, RAYYAN
James trained at Rose Bruford College.
Theatre includes:  Around the World in 80 Days (The Barn Theatre) Border Control (The Vaults) The Response (The Seagull Theatre/Soho Theatre),  I Have two Names (Richmix), Cry Havoc (Park Theatre), Camouflage (Amnesty International) The Fifth Column (Southwark Playhouse), Scattered (Theatr Clwyd/Good Chance Theatre, Calais), The Cutting of the Cloth (Southwark Playhouse), Walaa (The New Diorama/ St Martin in the Fields),
Film & TV includes: Jesus Crown of Thorns, (Nutopia), Don’t go in the Garden, (Shout Loud Productions), Cuttlefish, (Flavourworks), Ghanimah (Media Worx), EastEnders(BBC), Doctors (BBC), Tyrant Season 3 (FX), Headcleaner (Studio Hansa), Evidence of Existence (Filmmaker at Large)

Sama Rantisi, SELMA
Sama is a Palestinian actress, writer, and theatre-maker based in London. Her work focuses on political theatre and storytelling that explores identity and resistance.
Theatre includes: Tomorrow Will Be a Palestinian Day (Theatre 503); Welcome to Gaza (by Peter Oswald, Terminal 1 at Glastonbury Festival); Wipe These Tears (BÉZNĂ Theatre).
She is also the creator and lead artist of QUA (Strength), an Arts Council England and Bertha Artivism Award-funded project inspired by the writings of her late father, Palestinian journalist Samir Rantisi.
Alongside her artistic practice, Sama recently completed an MA in Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London, where her research focused on language, identity, and representation in Palestine.

Ghantus Wael, PRESIDENT
Born in Sakhnin, Galilee, Ghantus is a trained Contemporary and Latin dancer, now based in London. He trained at the Drama Academy, Ramallah, and Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen (BA Acting and Performing Arts, 2016), followed by Drama Road, Diploma Studies (Rasha Shurbatji).
Theatre includes: The Siege (The Freedom Theatre, dir. Nabil Al-Raee & Zoe Lafferty, touring to Skirball Theatre, New York); The Wedding by Stanisław Wyspiański (Gardzienice Theatre, dir. Wlodzimierz Staniewski); The Golden Fish (Al-Kasaba Theatre, dir. George Ibrahim); Much Ado About Nothing (Al-Kasaba Theatre, dir. Taoufik El Ayeb); Rumpelstiltskin (Al-Kasaba Theatre, dir. George Ibrahim); and The Seagull/Jonathan Livingston (dir. Nilou Safinya & Faisal Abu Alhayjaa The Freedom Theatre).
Film & TV includes: Salma w Sari (dir. Pietro Bellorini); Nima w Fadel (Ma’an TV, dir. Rifat Adi); and The Crossing (Odeh Films, dir. Ameen Nayfeh).

 

Ahmed Masoud, WRITER
Ahmed Masoud is the author of the acclaimed novels Vanished – The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda and Come What May. Ahmed is a writer, poet and director who grew up in Palestine and moved to the UK in 2002.
Theatre and radio includes: Application 39 (Stage production 2025); The Florist of Rafah (2024); Passports, Jinn, Mo Salah and Other Complicated Things (2023);  Application 39 (WDR Radio, Germany 2018);  Camouflage (London 2017); The Shroud Maker (London 2015 – still touring); Walaa, Loyalty (London 2014, funded by the Arts Council England); Escape from Gaza (BBC Radio 4 2011).
Ahmed is the founder of Al Zaytouna Dance Theatre (2005 – 2013) where he wrote and directed many productions with subsequent tours in the UK and Europe, including Unto the Breach (London and Vienna 2012); Between the Fleeting Words (London, Zurich, Freiburg, Ljubljana, Madrid 2010 – 2012); Ila Haif (London, Freiburg 2008-2010); Hassad (London 2007-2008).
After finishing his PhD research, Ahmed published many journals and articles including a chapter in the Britain and Muslim World: A Historical Perspective (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011). Most recently, Ahmed launched his new artistic initiative called PalArt Collective. For more information, please see www.ahmedmasoud.co.uk

Cressida Brown, DIRECTOR
Cress was resident director at the National Theatre Studio from 2007 – 2008. She has directed classical work nationally and internationally  – including for the Globe, RSC and British Council – but new writing is her passion. Since 2006 she has commissioned, developed and directed premieres with over 50 emerging and established playwrights.
Theatre includes: Ed Edward’s The Political History of Smack and Crack (Paines Plough’s Roundabout); Amphibians (by Steve Waters inspired from interviews with former Olympic swimmers and staged in the hidden pool under the Bridewell Theatre stage); UK premiere of Obie Award winner Chris Chen’s Caught.
Most recently she directed political comedian Mark Thomas in England & Son by Ed Edwards which won 6 Awards including Scotsman’s Fringe First and the Adelaide Festival Fringe Award; and Cutting the Tightrope at the Arcola which were 14 short plays about censorship of Palestine, which transferred to Edinburgh International Festival. Cutting the Tightrope included the play The Florist of Rafah by Ahmed Masoud.
Cress is a proud member of the White Kite Collective and Parents for Palestine.

Charlotte Espinar, SET & COSTUME DESIGNER
Charlotte studied Theatre Design at the Motley Theatre Design School in 2011, and has an undergraduate degree in Classics from King’s College, Cambridge.
Theatre includes: Piece of Me (Camden People’s Theatre); Cinderella (Theatre Royal Stratford East); First Touch (Nottingham Playhouse); Electric Rosary (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); Civilisation (Shoreditch Town Hall/Arnolfini, Bristol/Munchner Volkstheater, Munich/ Horizon Showcase/New Diorama/HOME/Staatsschauspiel Dresden); Error Error Error (Marlowe Theatre/RSC); Heart of Hammersmith (Lyric Hammersmith); Let Loose (ENB/The Unicorn); Grimm Tales (Online, The Unicorn); The Highs and Lows of Owning Your Own Home (ACUD, Berlin); Lands (Bush Studio); Kingdom Come (RSC); Adler & Gibb (Summerhall, Edinburgh/The Unicorn/The Lowry/Kirk Douglas Theatre, LA); It is Easy to be Dead – Olivier Award nomination (Finborough Theatre/Trafalgar Studios);  All or Nothing, The Musical (West End/UK National Tour/Waterloo Vaults)

Imogen Clarke, LIGHTING DESIGNER
Imogen Clarke is a Lighting Designer working across Dance, Theatre and Opera.
In 2024 she was chosen to be the Design Lumière by the ALPD, a scheme designed to develop an emerging Lighting Designer’s craft, where she spent four months assisting at Glyndebourne Opera House and another four months working freelance across multiple projects.
Theatre includes: Man or Bear (Ed Fringe + UK tour); Laura Misch Lithic (Barbican Center); Chess (Royal Academy of Music); Pelléas et Mélisande (Snape Maltings); INTOTO dance (UK tour); Breakin’ Convention Festival (Sadler’s Wells Theatre); Christmas Concert and Messiah Concert (Glyndebourne).

Ed Lewis, SOUND DESIGNER
Edward studied at Oxford University and trained as a composer and sound designer at the Bournemouth Media School.
Theatre includes: The Box of Delights (Royal Shakespeare Company); Inside No.9, A View From The Bridge, Killer Joe, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, The Best Man (West End); The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, Force Majeure (Donmar Warehouse); Only An Octave Apart, The Box of Delights, A Christmas Carol, The Child In The Snow (Wilton’s Music Hall); Notes From A Small Island, Othello, Visitors (Watermill); Broken Glass (Watford Palace); Darker Shores, Amongst Friends, Platinum, Ignorance, On The Rocks, Alligators (Hampstead)

Sami El-Enany, COMPOSER
Sami El-Enany is a composer, musician and artist, fraying the edges of modern classical, electronica and found sound. His work spans score composition, multi-channel installation, sound design, record production, and game design. His score for the feature film Walking With Shadows was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award, and his tone poem Creation of the Birds has received accolades from Grand Prix Nova, BBC Radio Awards and Phonurgia Nova. Permeating his practice is a stronger current — the sonics of solidarity, and sound as resonance for union.