As you scroll you will discover my work in
Creative Producing, Workshop Facilitation, Learning and Development, Young People's Programmes, Community Practice and Artistic Residencies and Project Co-Ordination
Creative Producer
for 360 community film projects
SEEN ENFIELD (2023) is a 360 film project celebrating and elevating community stories through digitally immersive, theatrical performance. 5 films were created on the theme of 'being seen' in collaboration with 5 local artist/creative groups. They were shared in headsets, at pop ups across Enfield - in libraries, arts centres and heritage sites. With my interest in lived experience storytelling and my collaborator, Rich Rusk's, theatre/film hybrid background - we were keen to explore the possibilities of the use of VR in community spaces.
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BARROW FUTURE DREAMS (2024) is an intergenerational digital storytelling project, presenting a series of immersive 360 experiences that reflect on dreams of the future and what that means to people of a range of lived experiences and ages across Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The films were created through collaboration with local creative places, people, community groups and organisation. Across the space of 8 months - we visited Barrow and led workshops, carried out research, held 1-1 creative sessions and tested the possibility of the use of the 360 technology in effectively capturing and portraying the magic of the local people and environment. Perspectives and ideas were gathered and then curated and refined into the 7 films. The final stage was a week of sharings at free pop ups in the local library and arts centre - with VR headsets, exhibition of artwork made in workshops, 360 photography and a bespoke ‘Barrow Future Dreams’ Tarot Card deck to explore. Commissioned by BarrowFull, ACE Funded Creative People and Places.
You can learn more about these project via a dedicated web page here
Creative Associate at Chickenshed
Young Company Team 2015-2019
My role within the creative leadership team for the Chickenshed Young Company spanned 4 years. I was a director, a writer, a dramaturg and overall creative support on several productions - from small scale studio pieces with a cast of 20 to large-scale gig theatre with a cast of 200. Chickenshed's inclusive ensemble theatre practice was a huge part of my further training/up-skilling beyond University.
During this time I was also the Young Company administrator - where I responsible for communications with stakeholders and parents around schedules, subscriptions, creative opportunities and performance licensing etc.
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Programme Development and Lead Facilitator
Diversity and Inclusion Training 2018-2023
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A focus on Diversity and Inclusion is threaded through all my creative projects. Having been involved with Chickenshed for much of my career, a theatre company pioneering inclusion, it became a natural and vital aspect of my worldview.
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In this role of running the D&I training at Chickenshed working with teams and orgs across sectors; arts, charity, heritage and corporate. I supported a diverse team with a range of lived experiences and learning needs to develop their own facilitation practice as Lived Experience Experts in this field. I designed the learning experience and resources that accompanied our workshops. I also supported the re-branding and developed marketing assets for the programme. I was a key contact for clients, which involved initial meetings and included post training relationships. ​
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You can listen to me in conversation with LionHeart alongside Head of HR of Derwent London and Arun Batra OBE talking about D&I in the workplace on this podcast episode
Client List included
Visual Art Workshop Facilitator
I run visual art workshops across a wide range of community programmes, educational spaces, holiday offers and festivals. I offer a mixed media experience - encouraging playfulness and experimentation- as well focusing on wellbeing and creative health for participants.
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Artist in Residence - 'Our Place on Earth' with Wonderseekers
This project at Winchester Science Centre was all about facilitating and supporting a Young Design Panel (age 8-14) in their creative development journey- combining their scientific learning and research with artistic expression. Delivered in collaboration with science specialists and exhibition designers, in the areas of Sound of Biodiversity, Soil, Local Species, Dark Skies and Food Production around the South Downs National Park area. The visual artwork created will inform a new exhibition at the centre - with young people's voice at the heart of the process.
Artist in Residence
SPINE FESTIVAL 2021 and 2023
I worked SPINE FESTIVAL, with Apples and Snakes, as theatre/visual arts practitioner. On both occassions I was partnered with a poet to devise and deliver workshops around the themes of empathy and kindness with children aged 5-7 and 8-10 year olds.
These were delivered in schools and libraries, and the workshops were built around a story frame-work that took the young people into imaginative worlds that enabled them to connect more effectively with the subject matter. A mix of movement, drama-based work, poetry writing and drawing was used as forms of creative expression. I really enjoyed the work in libraries and collaborating with the staff in management and on the ground - recognising these spaces as key cultural hubs for the community. This project took place in Lewisham, Southwark, Ealing and Hammersmith.
Youth Theatre Leader
National Youth Theatre
Southwark Playhouse Young Company
Tramshed
As an Associate Artist for NYT my work has included mentoring 2 sets of emerging practitioners through the Inclusion Collective. We worked in partner SEN schools to develop workshopped performance material - exploring movement, simple story-telling techniques, games/play based creativity and sensory worlds. I delivered alongside the mentees, as well as supporting their own planning. The key to this work was considering the needs of individuals, creating adaptable content and offering an empowering space for young people with disabilities to express themselves fully. The image below titled 'Dreamland' is a tribute to one of the students.
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I have also run 2 intake courses for new members. In 2021 this took the form of a three week intensive with an ensemble of 18-21 year olds exploring a range of theatrical disciplines and devising processes - culminating in a final performance sharing. In 2022 I ran a part time course across 10 weekends for 18-25 year olds.
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I was the co-director of Southwark Playhouse Young Company (14-18yrs) between 2019-2022. I developed process focused work, skills workshops, informal sharings and a devised production with the young people, maintaining creative opportunities and engagement throughout the Covid Lockdowns.
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In 2019 I directed a community production of 'Girls Like That' for Tramshed, Woolwich with a cast of local teenage girls. The project included reflective workshops to explore the challenging themes of the play, using art and creative writing, alongside the rehearsal process
Collaborative Artwork for MaHomeMe Project
Compass Collective and Kingston University
Through a series of workshops I co-created and designed a large artwork around the 'feeling of home'. I worked with young refugee and asylum seekers to produce pieces of art representing the themes, drawing from notes and mind maps created earlier in the project.
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I then curated their mini artworks alongside a graphic recording and also produced a series of artworks that brought to life notes made about relationships with mobile phones, and their role in keeping people connected to the world around them.
Trail Design for Royal Shakespeare Company
I designed the paper trail for a 'Discover Shakespeare' activity taking place around the RSC building in Stratford-Upon-Avon. The public can explore the space to find 6 imagination stations that spark ideas and share insights on Shakespeare's world and plays. There is also an activity space where young people can design their own craft playful prop.
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