Behind the Curtains is a podcast spotlighting the off-stage, behind the curtains roles that are the backbone of theatre. How are writers, directors, sound designers, producers, production managers, movement directors and voice and dialect coaches weathering the storms of uncertainty? How did they get to where they are now? What pearls of wisdom do they have for their peers in the industry and those still looking to enter it? What’s race got to do with it? And how do we stay inspired and motivated through the thick and through the thin?

In this episode, hosts Siana & Christina chat to Cultural Producer Tobi Kyeremateng and Birmingham Rep’s Associate Director Madeleine Kludje about their career journeys, working in and outside of the London Bubble and the creative scene in Birmingham, as well as the importance of internships, creating with friends, and DIY-ing it.

Episodes released fortnightly.

Guests:

Tobi Kyeremateng (@tobikyere)

Madeleine Kludje (via @therepbirmingham)

Hosts & Producers:

Siana Bangura (@Sianaarrgh)

Christina Nicole (@Chrisynicole)

Technical Producer (@AL_Holder)

Artwork by @Imekulo

English Touring Theatre (@EnglishTouringTheatre / @ETTtweet )

Behind the Curtains – co-produced by writer, producer and theatremaker Siana Bangura alongside co-host, writer and theatre critic Christina Nicole, in partnership with English Touring Theatre – is a podcast spotlighting the off-stage, behind the curtains roles that are the backbone of theatre. How are writers, directors, sound designers, producers, production managers, movement directors and voice and dialect coaches weathering the storms of uncertainty? How did they get to where they are now? What pearls of wisdom do they have for their peers in the industry and those still looking to enter it? What’s race got to do with it? And how do we stay inspired and motivated through the thick and through the thin? Tune in for answers to all of these questions and more!

“Listen only to my voice. Listen to the sound it makes. Concentrate on the next word: NUMB”

It’s been a stressful time. You want to unwind. That’s understandable. You want to escape. You deserve it. To lose yourself… Dissolve.. Disintegrate… Break down. Don’t be scared. Just focus on the voice. The voice is the only thing you can hear. The voice is your whole world. Don’t be scared…

Amy Jephta’s Breathe – An Audio Journey is an audio experience unlike any you’ve encountered before. So sit back, relax, and let us take you down the dark alleyways of your mind.

Written by Amy Jephta

Read by Amber James

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains disturbing scenes and explicit descriptions of disordered sleep and sleep paralysis.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Amy Jephta’s previous theatre credits include This Liquid Earth: A Eulogy in Verse (Royal Court Theatre/Edinburgh Festival Fringe), All Who Pass, Shoes (Royal Court Theatre), Kristalvlakte (The Fugard Theatre), Flight Lessons(Jermyn Street Theatre/ Theatre503/Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Free Falling Bird (Bush Theatre).

Amber James’s theatre credits include Snowflake (Kiln Theatre), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (ETT), Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe & International tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Queen’s Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). For television, her work includes Doc Martin and Ransom.

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“This wasn’t the life Mr and Mrs Olanrewaju conjured up in their dreams. When they thought of Stratford, they pictured the Olympic Park, not a cramped flat in a rat-ridden tower block”

Rotimi is born to loving, if poor, parents. When they see an opportunity to provide him with all the things they never had, they take it – at which point things take a very dark turn indeed. Part horror, part satire, Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s Then I Heard a Black Man Cry is a terrifying new fairy tale for a disturbed age.

Written by Dipo Baruwa-Etti

Read by Paapa Essiedu

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains strong, offensive language including use of the n-word as well as violent imagery, gun violence, and references to multiple forms of trauma and abuse, including self abuse, racism and exploitation.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright, poet, and filmmaker.  Currently Channel 4 playwright on attachment at Almeida Theatre, his forthcoming play AN UNFINISHED MAN will premiere at The Yard Theatre, published by Faber & Faber. For screen, he is developing several TV projects and a short film as writer-director with BBC Drama and BFI.

Paapa Essiedu’s theatre credits include Pass Over (Kiln Theatre), The Convert (Young Vic), Pinter One (Harold Pinter Theatre), Hamlet, King Lear (RSC, Kennedy Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Ian Charleson and UK Theatre Award winner for Best Actor), Racing Demon (Theatre Royal Bath), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Mouse and his Child (RSC), You For Me For You (Royal Court Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), King Lear (National Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), and Dutchman (Orange Tree Theatre). For television, his work includes I May Destroy You, Gangs of London, Press, The Miniaturist, Black Earth Rising, Revolting, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kiri, Not Safe for Work and Utopia; and for film, Murder on the Orient Express and Women at the Well (Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2017).

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“He sits in the middle of her room, dizzy and weirded out. He stares at her. Neither of them knows what to do with the other. This goes on for a number of days until the man’s mother takes action. She decides to love him.”

This is a story about a dog. It is also a story about love, and abandonment, and hope. About anger, and bitterness, and whether the fish are coming back. About guilt and shame and pride. But mostly, it is a story about a dog.

Vivienne Franzmann’s beautiful and haunting The Man, the Man’s Mother, and the Dog is a return to classic fireside storytelling. Plug in and immerse yourself in the dark magic of this story of a dog’s life. Don’t worry. The dog lives.

Written by Vivienne Franzmann

Read by Amber James

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains violent imagery and some upsetting scenes.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Vivienne Franzmann’s  theatre credits include The IT (Connections, National Theatre), Bodies, Open Court, The Witness(Royal Court Theatre), The Snow Queen (Bristol Old Vic), The Most Horrific Theatre Uncut (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/UK tour), Pests, (Royal Court Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre), Sounds Like An Insult (UK tour), Scars (international tour) andMogadishu (Royal Exchange Theatre/Lyric Hammersmith).  

Amber James’s theatre credits include Snowflake (Kiln Theatre), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (ETT), Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe & International tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Queen’s Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). For television, her work includes Doc Martin and Ransom.

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“Don’t panic, it’s not real. Don’t move, it’s can’t hurt you. You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, it’s your dream, you can go anywhere.”

Vee suffers from sleep paralysis. No big deal right? Loads of people do. Except, nothing is quite as it seems – and with the barriers between worlds becoming more and more porous in these troubled times, things start creeping through that shouldn’t be here. Hungry things. Join Vee as she has a chat with her very own demon in Matilda Ibini’s comic yet terrifying Don’t Panic. Don’t Move. Don’t Stay.

Written by Matilda Ibini

Read by Paapa Essiedu

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains disturbing scenes and explicit descriptions of disordered sleep and sleep paralysis.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Matilda Ibini is a bionic playwright and screenwriter. Credits include: Unprecedented Series, Headlong/Century Films/BBC4. Little Miss Burden, Bunker Theatre. Choice and Control, Old Vic Theatre. Muscovado, UK tour.

Paapa Essiedu’s theatre credits include Pass Over (Kiln Theatre), The Convert (Young Vic), Pinter One (Harold Pinter Theatre), Hamlet, King Lear (RSC, Kennedy Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Ian Charleson and UK Theatre Award winner for Best Actor), Racing Demon (Theatre Royal Bath), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Mouse and his Child (RSC), You For Me For You (Royal Court Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), King Lear (National Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), and Dutchman (Orange Tree Theatre). For television, his work includes I May Destroy You, Gangs of London, Press, The Miniaturist, Black Earth Rising, Revolting, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kiri, Not Safe for Work and Utopia; and for film, Murder on the Orient Express and Women at the Well (Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2017).

Creative associate at English Touring Theatre, Jennifer Baskt is a director and dramaturg, she was previously new work associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and The Place of Shining Light(Theatre503). Her credits as an assistant director include Handbagged (Tricycle Theatre/59E59) and A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes(Tricycle Theatre).

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish (Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son (Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered(ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“You’ll never be a grown up if you can’t face the dark, it said. Be brave. Be brave”

When his marriage fails to survive the lockdown, a man moves into his Mother’s empty house. It’s too big for one person – a strange and unsettling place to isolate in. But something far stranger – and infinitely more terrifying – is about to occur. Anthony Neilson’s The Ground Floor takes you on a classic journey of poetry and terror: eerie, haunting, beautiful, and straight out of the uncanny valley.

Written by Anthony Neilson

Read by Paapa Essiedu

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains scenes some people may find disturbing

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Anthony Neilson is also a director. His previous theatre credits include The Menu, The Tell-Tale Heart (National Theatre), The Prudes, Unreachable, Narrative, Get Santa!, Relocated, The Lying Kind (Royal Court Theatre), Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Realism (The Edinburgh Lyceum), The Haunting of Hill House (Liverpool Playhouse), God In Ruins (Soho Theatre), The Wonderful World of Dissocia (The Edinburgh Lyceum/ Theatre Royal Plymouth/Royal Court Theatre/UK tour), Stitching (Traverse Theatre/ Bush Theatre). Most recently, he directed two episodes of the TV series I HATE SUZIE, starring Billie Piper, which will air on Sky in late August.

Paapa Essiedu’s theatre credits include Pass Over (Kiln Theatre), The Convert (Young Vic), Pinter One (Harold Pinter Theatre), Hamlet, King Lear (RSC, Kennedy Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – Ian Charleson and UK Theatre Award winner for Best Actor), Racing Demon (Theatre Royal Bath), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Mouse and his Child (RSC), You For Me For You (Royal Court Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), King Lear (National Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), and Dutchman (Orange Tree Theatre). For television, his work includes I May Destroy You, Gangs of London, Press, The Miniaturist, Black Earth Rising, Revolting, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kiri, Not Safe for Work and Utopia; and for film, Murder on the Orient Express and Women at the Well (Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2017).

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“The story begins The Day The World Stood Still. Do you remember that day? The day time stopped”

Maggie is a magpie of a person – she loves pretty her some pretty thangs. She loves admiring pretty thangs, collecting pretty thangs… When lockdown begins, Maggie decides to buy a sewing machine, determined to surround herself with beautiful clothes, made by her very own hand. She and the machine start a perfect relationship together. But pretty soon, the machine begins consuming more than just fabric… A rollercoaster of a piece – fall down the rabbit hole with Alissa Anne Jeun Yi’s darkly comic folk tale for a new age.

Written by AJ Yi

Read by Amber James

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – this audio drama contains references to mental health, descriptions of blood and strong language.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

AJ Yi is a writer-performer whose work has been performed everywhere from The Yard Theatre, the Bush Theatre and at various UK festivals. In 2018 their debut show Love Songs (developed through the Soho Theatre) was shortlisted for the Tony Craze and two Edinburgh awards. AJ’s short radio play Avocado Fried Rice aired on BBC Radio 3 earlier this year. After an attachment with BBC Writersroom Drama Room 2020, AJ is developing new work for audio, film and TV; whilst continuing to work on their next drag, comedy and performance art show.

Amber James’s theatre credits include Snowflake (Kiln Theatre), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (ETT), Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe & International tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Queen’s Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). For television, her work includes Doc Martin and Ransom.

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim’s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.

“The government had been looking for an angle, they said. These things would become symbols of hope. Ninety of them. From Plymouth to Carlisle.”

This is not a heartwarming story about a sweet old lady. This is not a story about heroes, and martyrs, and knights of the realm. This is a story about the true meaning of dedication. A sharp satire bursting with dark humour cutting insight – Tim Crouch’s Milky Drinks is an unsettling story for unsettling times.

Written by Tim Crouch

Read by Amber James

Directed by Jennifer Bakst

Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim

CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains some upsetting scenes and deals with COVID-19 and death of the elderly.

Search for F**ked Up Bedtime Stories on Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts!)

Tim Crouch is a writer, director and performer. He is currently under commission to National Theatre Connections. The critically acclaimed series, DON’T FORGET THE DRIVER, that Tim co-wrote with Toby Jones, was broadcast on BBC2 last year. Most recent credits include TOTAL IMMEDIATE COLLECTIVE IMMINENT TERRESTRIAL SALVATION for the National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Court Theatre, and I, CINNA (THE POET), written and directed for the RSC’s World Shakespeare Festival in 2012 and subsequently performed by Tim at the Unicorn Theatre, London in 2020.

Amber James’s theatre credits include Snowflake (Kiln Theatre), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (ETT), Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe & International tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Queen’s Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). For television, her work includes Doc Martin and Ransom.

Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)

Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.