Masculinity: Toxic or misunderstood?

Maddy Costa writes about theatre, performance and live art, publishing her work with Exeunt, in blogs, as fanzines, and also on two platforms she co-runs with Mary Paterson and Diana Damian Martin, Something Other and The Department of Feminist Conversations, inter-related projects that think politically about performance and performatively about politics. The theatre-makers with whom she has worked – as critical friend, dramaturg, documenter or archivist – include Chris Goode & Company, Fuel, In Between Time, Harry Giles, Sheila Ghelani, Unfolding Theatre, Rhiannon Armstrong, The Place, and Selina Thompson. She also co-hosts a pop-up theatre club - like a book group, but for performance - across London.

As writer, for the Almeida: The Writer; Oil.

Theatre includes: Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC); Merlin (The Royal and Derngate, Northampton/ Nuffield Theatre, Southampton); Boys (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton / Headlong Theatre / HighTide Festival Theatre); Decade (Headlong Theatre / St. Catherine's Dock); The Authorised Kate Bane (Traverse Theatre); Precious Little Talent (Trafalgar Studios / Tantrums Productions); Hot Mess (Arcola Tent / Tantrums Productions); Eight (Trafalgar Studios / PS122, New York / Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh).

Film includes: Hold On Me.

Radio includes: Rightfully Mine; Riot Girls.

Ella was the Pearson Writer in residence at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in 2011. She is the recipient of the 2013 Catherine Johnson Award.

Sule is a stage, screen and voice actor based in London and has previously appeared in the Almeida productions They Drink it in the Congo directed by Michael Longhurst and Mary Stuart by Robert Icke. He has recently completed an Antipodean tour of the sell-out National Theatre/West Yorkshire Playhouse/Fuel Theatre production of Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles, directed by Bijan Sheibani.

Jamie is an actor, playwright, activist and volunteer workshop facilitator for the Great Men Project which aims to challenge stereotypes of masculinity and to engage men and boys in the movement towards gender equality https://www.great-men.org.