Léa des Garets (she/they) : Writer and performer

Léa des Garets is a queer migrant theatre-maker from Bordeaux, France. 

After an English degree at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and two years lecturing French at Cambridge University, Léa started a career in the performing arts in the UK with Night Train Theatre Company. She was one of the 10 mentees selected for Projekt Europa’s Empower mentorship programme, which supports and champions migrant theatre talent in the UK. 

Her work aims to give more visibility to hidden voices from the past and the present, focussing particularly on international voices and the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Now based in London, Léa works as an actor on stage, screen and as a voice artist between France and the UK.

Rute Costa (she/her) : Director

Rute is a Portuguese-born, London-based director and theatre-maker.

At the university of Cambridge, she directed, wrote and performed extensively alongside her studies, pushing to bring experimental work to the often very traditional student theatres. Her first full-length play, 'exile' (Corpus Playroom, 2016), which she wrote and directed, was offered a fully-funded transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe 2017, after a sold-out run and five-star reviews. During her training at Central (MFA Advanced Theatre Practice), Rute was mentored by Sasha Milavic-Davies, taught by SITI Company's Anne Bogart and Odin Teatret (Denmark). Rute combined environmental activism with performance in 'ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE?' (Camden People's Theatre, 2019). She co-founded Popsie Theatre, and their show 'Not a Girl Not Yet a Woman' (CPT, 2021 and 2022) interrogates Britney Spears and bodily autonomy. Rute was selected for the Stonecrabs Directors in Practice Programme 2022, directing 'I am the wind' (by Jon Fosse, adapted into English by Simon Stephens), which will be part of the Omnibus Theatre 2023 programme.

Rute's directorial practice is inseparable from her experiences as an immigrant, and it merges literature, movement and activism.

Laila Alj (she/her): Performer

Laila is an actor and producer. Born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, she studied theatre at Northwestern University and also has an MA in Screen Acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Laila lives in London and works across theatre, film, tv, stand-up comedy and radio. Recent credits include All's Well That Ends Well (RSC), Hakawatis (Globe), Landscapers (Sky/HBO) and FBI International (CBS). She is also a steering group member of MENA Arts UK, a UK based arts organisation championing the work of MENA+ (Middle East, North Africa and surrounding areas) creatives in the UK.

Durassie Kiangangu (he/him): Performer

Durassie is a London based, bi-lingual Physical performer and actor, originally from Sweden.

His work ranges from voice overs to film and stage. The love of movement and physical performance has taken him to The Royal Opera House, The Royal Albert Hall and performing around Europe. Being a trained Northern Soul dancer he had the opportunity to be part of the BAFTA-nominated film "Northern Soul" directed by Elaine Constantine. As well, through Northern Soul and dance he had the opportunity to work in fashion, where in 2018 he Choreographed the opening and closing segment of Ben Sherman's fashion Show for London Men's fashion week at Somerset House.

In 2021 he was part the cast of "Dream" a live Motion Capture lead performance, produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company. 

Jamie Lu (she/her): Sound Designer

Jamie is a London based theatre practitioner who works across disciplines as a scenographer, total performance designer and sound designer. Coming from a sound and music background, Jamie worked as a sound designer and technician in both the UK and China for many theatre productions on different scales, including the largest theatres across China and some most famous theatre venues in the UK. Jamie has previously obtained an MA in Sound Arts from UAL and an MFA Scenography degree at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Jamie's design often involves multiple elements with substantial dramaturgical meanings and has its own narrative functions.

Co-founded Irrelevant Theatre in 2015, Jamie is an ensemble member and the company's designer.

Marie Colahan (she/her): Lighting Designer

Marie Colahan is a London based lighting designer she splits her time between both theatre and film. Recent lighting design work includes: Drum written by Jacob Roberts-Mensah and Fiji presented by clay party and conflicted theatre. 

As well as design, Marie has also worked as associate designer, technician and programmer. She spent the last year working as Technical manager at Omnibus Theatre in London and is currently assisting in the lighting department for a Disney TV series.

Sam Dash (he/him) : Producer

Sam is an actor/writer/producer working in New York City and London. He produced the short film, SWIMMING, which recently premiered at Oscar-qualifying festival Out on Film and screened at Oslo Fusion Festival and Hollyshorts among others. In London, Sam has worked as production coordinator with The Machine on their short, No Caller, currently being submitted to festivals. This past summer Sam produced the show Ghislaine/Gabler for the Edinburgh Fringe with positive reviews in The Guardian, Scotsman and The Stage followed by a limited run in London at The Playground Theatre.  With Day 19 Films, Sam is currently in development on a feature film he is co-writing. Acting work includes appearances in Quanitico (ABC), The Finest (ABC), Various short films as well as new plays by Suzan-Lori Parks (The Public Theatre), Korde A. Tuttle (New York Theatre Workshop), Daniel K. Isaac (Ma-Yi and Page 73) and Adam Bock (NYU Graduate Acting). Sam holds an MFA from NYU, Tisch.