The Secret Life of Bees

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice.

For the Almeida: Ruined (Manhattan Theatre Club/ Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Obie Award for Best New American Play, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play).

Theatre includes: MJ: The Musical (Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical); Clyde’s (Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Best Play); Sweat (Broadway/ Donmar Warehouse/ West End, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play, Obie Award for Playwrighting, Susan Smith Blackburn prize, Olivier Award nomination for Best Play); The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company); Intimate Apparel (Theatre Royal Bath/ Park Theatre/ Roundabout Theatre Company, Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play, Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (Tricycle Theatre/ Playwrights Horizons/ Signature Theatre Company, Obie Award for Playwrighting).

 Her many awards include a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, a Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, a William Inge Theater Festival Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater Award and she was an Honoree at the inaugural Black Women on Broadway Award Ceremony.

Duncan was awarded the 2007 Tony Award for Best Orchestration and Best Original Score, and the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album for Spring Awakening.

For the Almeida: Spring Awakening; American Psycho (also Broadway).

Theatre includes: The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company); Alice By Heart (MCC Theater); The Nightingale (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center); The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Classic Stage Company); Nero (Another Golden Rome) (Powerhouse Theatre); Whisper House (The Old Globe, San Diego); Spring Awakening (Broadway/ West End/ Lyric Hammersmith).

Film includes: Great Expectations; The Saint; Teaching Mrs. Tingle; Three to Tango; What a Girl Wants; Transamerica; A Body Goes Down; A Home at the End of the World.

Sheik’s self-titled debut album, which was an enormous popular and critical success, introduced the hit singles “Barely Breathing” and “She Runs Away,” and spent more than 55 weeks on the Billboard 200. Other albums include Humming, Daylight, Phantom Moon, White Limousine, Whisper House, Legerdemain and Claptrap.

Theatre includes: Jelly’s Last Jam (Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score, Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Show Album, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics); Triumph of Love (Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics); Working (Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics, Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score); High Society (Broadway); What About Luv? (Audrey Wood Theatre, New York, Outer Critics Circle Award); Minsky’s (Center Theatre Group, L.A. Drama Critics Award); Stars of David (Philadelphia Theatre Company); A My Name Is Alice (The Village Gate).

Sue Monk Kidd’s first novel, The Secret Life of Bees spent more than two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list, was adapted into an award-winning movie, and has been translated into 40 languages as well as receiving numerous awards.

Books include: The Secret Life of Bees (Book Sense Book of the Year, nomination for the Orange Prize); The Mermaid Chair; The Invention of Wings (SIBA Book Award); The Book of Longings; Traveling with Pomegranates; The Dance of the Dissident Daughter.

Whitney White is an Obie Award and Lily Award-winning director, writer, and performer.

Theatre includes: Macbeth In Stride (American Repertory Theater, Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress); Soft (MCC Theater, NYT Critic’s Pick); On Sugarland (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Direction); Semblance (New York Theatre Workshop); The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater and Second Stage, NYT Critic’s Pick); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company/ Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/ American Repertory Theatre/ The Public Theater, NYT Critic’s Pick); An Iliad (Long Wharf); Canyon (LA Times Critic’s Choice and recipient of the CTG Block Party Grant, IAMA); Jump (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, PlayMakers Rep).

Television includes:

As a writer: I’m A Virgo

Other work includes: What’s Left Burns (Steppenwolf), Finish the Fight (The New York Times), The Cube (Audible).

Whitney is a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award, Jerome Fellowship, Susan Stroman Directing Award, and is part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative. She is also an Associate Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company and an Associate Artist at Roundabout Theatre Company.

For the Almeida: The Secret Life of Bees. 

Theatre includes: Love’s Labour’s Lost; Tartuffe (RSC); Starter For Ten (Bristol Old Vic); Shifters; August in England (Bush Theatre); Macbeth (Donmar Warehouse);  Best of Enemies (Young Vic/ West End); The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical (Storyhouse/ West End); Milma’s Tale (Kiln Theatre); Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester/ Young Vic); Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (West End); J’Ouvert (Theatre503/ West End); After Life; Hansard; Antony and Cleopatra; Twelfth Night (National Theatre); Nine Night (National Theatre/ West End); Equus (Theatre Royal Stratford East /West End);  Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe); Faustus (Headlong/ Lyric Hammersmith); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); Grey (Ovalhouse); King Hedley II (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Cougar; Dealing with Clair (Orange Tree Theatre); Winter; Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere; Beneatha’s Place (Young Vic);  Cuttin’It (Young Vic/ Royal Court); A Streetcar Named Desire (Nuffield Southampton Theatre/ Theatr Clwyd/ ETT); Rules for Living (Royal & Derngate, Northampton/ Rose Theatre, Kingston/ ETT); Apologia (English Theatre Frankfurt).  

Film includes: The Marvels; Romeo and Juliet.   

Television includes: Ear for Eye; Anansi Boys. 

Shelley won the award for Best Choreographer at the inaugural Black British Theatre Awards in 2019 for her work on Equus. 

Soutra has been recognised with five Olivier Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations, including Best Set Design for Betrayal and Best Costume Design for Cyrano de Bergerac.

For the Almeida: The Tragedy of Macbeth; Reasons to be Pretty.

Theatre includes: A Doll’s House; The Seagull; Cyrano de Bergerac; Betrayal; Pinter at the Pinter; Richard III; The Homecoming; The Ruling Class; The Pride; The Hothouse; Macbeth (Jamie Lloyd Company); Running With Lions; Out West (Lyric Hammersmith); The Band’s Visit; Knives In Hens; Piaf (Donmar Warehouse); Evita; Into The Woods (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); & Juliet (WhatsOnStage Award for Best Set Design); From Here to Eternity; Strictly Ballroom (West End); My Brilliant Friend; Twelfth Night; Les Blancs (National Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre/ Lyttleton Films); Timon of Athens; Hecuba; The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes (RSC); Guys and Dolls (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); Apologia (Trafalgar Studios); Assassins; Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory); The Crucible; Jekyll and Hyde (The Old Vic).

Opera includes: Jack the Ripper (ENO); The Turn of the Screw (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Quartett (Royal Opera House); Carmen, Saul; Hansel and Gretel; Anna Bolena (Opera North).

Film includes: Romeo and Juliet.

Dance includes: Ruination (Royal Opera House).

Exhibitions includes: Re-imagining Musicals (V&A).

Qween Jean is a New York City based costume designer who has fully committed her voice to the advocacy of marginalised communities, emphasising Black Trans people.

Theatre includes: The Seagull; Black No More (The New Group, New York); Des Moines; Wedding Band (Theatre for a New Audience, New York); soft (MCC Theater); Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award for Costume Design); Hound Dog; Rags Parkland Sings The Songs For The Future (Ars Nova); On Sugarland; Semblance (New York Theatre Workshop); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater); Macbeth In Stride (American Repertory Theater); Siblings Play (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Good Grief (Vineyard Theatre).

Film includes: I Need Space.

Other work includes: The Fever (Audible).

For the Almeida: Tammy Faye; Albion; The Hunt; Ink (also West End/ Broadway); The Treatment; Medea; Children’s Children; Mrs Klein; Judgement Day; The Homecoming; Marianne Dreams; As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams; The Silent Twins; Dying for It; Tom & Viv; Love Counts; Romance; The Cricket Recovers; Macbeth; Man and Boy: Dada; The Embalmer.

Theatre includes: Medea; Frozen; The Night of the Iguana; Rosmersholm; Shakespeare in Love; The Goat; The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Photograph 51; Bend it Like Beckham: The Musical (West End); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Leopoldstadt; Company; Hamlet; Red (West End/ Broadway); The 47th (The Old Vic); Travesties; Hughie; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Evita; The Seafarer; Frost/Nixon (Broadway); Macbeth (Park Avenue Armory, New York); The Night Alive (Atlantic Theater Company); Julius Caesar (St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York).

Neil is the recipient of three Tony, two Olivier and two Drama Desk awards.

Theatre includes: Hex; Pinocchio (National Theatre); A Christmas Carol (The Old Vic/ Broadway/ US tour); Woman in Mind (Chichester Festival Theatre); Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic/ West End/ Broadway/ Australia tour/ UK & Ireland tour); Wuthering Heights (UK tour); Bagdad Café; Faith Healer: In Camera; Three Kings: In Camera; Lungs: In Camera; Lungs; Present Laughter; The Caretaker; The Masterbuilder (The Old Vic); The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk; The Little Match Girl (Shakespeare’s Globe/ US tour/ Bristol Old Vic); Romantics Anonymous (Shakespeare’s Globe/ Bristol Old Vic/ UK tour/ US tour); Malory Towers (Bristol Old Vic/ UK tour); Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sheffield Theatres); Matilda The Musical (RSC/ West End/ Broadway/ US tour/ Asia tour/ UK tour); Wise Children (The Old Vic/ UK tour); The Birthday Party The Moderate Soprano; Brief Encounter (West End); Twelfth Night; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe); Groundhog Day (The Old Vic/ Broadway); The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic/ West End).

Simon is also Technical Director for Wise Children, an Associate Artist at The Old Vic, and a Fellow of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Theatre includes:

As Arranger/ Orchestrator: My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican, Olivier Award nomination for Best Original Score or Orchestrations); Good; The Drifters Girl; West End Men (West End); The Corn is Green (National Theatre); Wicked; Amélie the Musical (Stage Entertainment Germany); The Band Plays On; Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres); Committee… (Donmar Warehouse); King Pit (Sage Gateshead); Noises Off (Theatre Royal Bath).

As Musical Supervisor: Guys and Dolls; The Band Plays On (Sheffield Theatres); From Here to Eternity (US tour); A Christmas Carol (Broadway).

As Musical Director: The Drifters Girl; West End Men (West End); The Band Plays On; Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sheffield Theatres); A Christmas Carol; Mood Music; The Divide (The Old Vic).

Opera includes: Stjärnorna i baren gnistrar igen (Wermland Opera, Sweden).

Other work includes: Sali Mali (S4C); Paris Fashion Week.

 Will has performed in many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Big Band, Hamburg Symphoniker and Stockholm Sinfonietta.

Toby trained at Trinity College of Music and Royal Academy of Music (DipRAM). He is also an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. 

For the Almeida: The Secret Life of Bees. 

Theatre includes: 

As Musical Supervisor: Oliver! (Leeds Playhouse); Clueless: The Musical (as associate) (Churchill Theatre); Tina: The Musical (UK tour). 

As Musical Director:  Rock Follies (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Tina: The Tina Turner Musical; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (West End); Clueless: The Musical (Churchill Theatre); Oliver! (West End); Calendar Girls; Avenue Q (UK tour); Sunshine On Leith (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Wind in the Willows (West End/ UK tour); The Wizard of Oz (Sheffield Theatres); Little Shop of Horrors (Menier Chocolate Factory/ UK tour); The Braille Legacy (Charing Cross Theatre). 

As Associate Musical Director: Little Shop Of Horrors (West End). 

As Assistant Musical Director: Les Misérables (West End); This Is My Family (Sheffield Theatres); Mamma Mia! (International tour); Tracy Beaker Gets Real (UK tour). 

Other work includes: Cover conductor/ Keys 4 for Mamma Mia! (West End); A series of symphonic concerts with Joss Stone. 

Theatre includes: Kimberly Akimbo; Mean Girls (Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations); 1776; Fun Home (Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations, and Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Orchestrations); Diana: the Musical; The Prom; Tuck Everlasting; Shrek the Musical (Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations, and Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Orchestrations); Cats (Broadway); The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company); The Karate Kid (Stages, St. Louis); The Notebook (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); JOY the Musical (New Brunswick Performing Arts Center); Gun & Powder (Signature Theatre); Becoming Nancy (Alliance Theater, Atlanta); Soft Power (Public Theater, New York); The Fortress of Solitude (Public Theater, New York/ Dallas Theater Center).

For the Almeida as Additional Vocal Arrangements: American Psycho.

Theatre includes:

As Music Director, Vocal Arrangements & Additional Orchestrations: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (The New Group, New York).

As Musical Director & Vocal Arrangements: The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company); Alice by Heart (MCC Theater); Noir (Alley Theatre, Houston).

As Musical Director & Orchestrations: Lover Beloved (Alley Theatre, Houston).

As Musical Director: American Psycho (Broadway); Whisper House (The Old Globe, San Diego).

As Music Supervisor, Orchestrations & Vocal Arrangements: Because of Winn Dixie (Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam).

Jason has toured and recorded as keyboard player for Rufus Wainwright, Antony and the Johnsons, Duncan Sheik, Suzanne Vega, Aimee Mann, Renaissance and Camel and leads his own progressive rock project, I and Thou.

Theatre includes:

As Music Copyist: Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Leeds Playhouse/ National tour); Hex; Dick Whittington (National Theatre); Identical (Nottingham Playhouse); The Magician’s Elephant (RSC); Pinnochio; Oklahoma! (Chichester Festival Theatre); Company (West End).

For the Almeida: The Secret Life of Bees; Tammy Faye; Spring Awakening. 

Theatre includes: My Neighbour Totoro (RSC/ Barbican); Matilda the Musical (RSC/ West End/ UK tour); Oklahoma; Come From Away; 42nd Street; Queen Anne; Dr Semmelweis; From Here to Eternity (West End); My Fair Lady; South Pacific; Anything Goes; Jerry Springer: The Opera; Caroline, or Change; The History Boys; War Horse (National Theatre); Girl from the North Country (West End/ The Old Vic/ UK tour); Groundhog Day; Sylvia; A Christmas Carol; Future Conditional; The Lorax; The Divide (The Old Vic); Miss Saigon; She Loves Me; Guys and Dolls; White Christmas (Sheffield Theatres); NHS the Musical (Theatre Royal Plymouth); Identical (Nottingham Playhouse/ The Lowry, Manchester); The Wizard of Oz (Leeds Playhouse); The King and I (UK tour/ Ireland tour); Bernadette Peters (UK tour); Jackie The Musical (UK tour); Play Without Words (Sadler’s Wells/ UK tour). 

Film includes: Robin Hood. 

David was Music Manager at the National Theatre from 2000 to 2010, and Music Manager at RSC from 2010 to 2011. David has managed various projects with the National Symphony Orchestra and booked musicians for the 2014 and 2015 AMFAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala at the Cannes Film Festival. 

For the Almeida: “Daddy” A Melodrama; The Tragedy of Macbeth; Shipwreck; Against; Boy; The Twilight Zone (also West End).

Theatre includes: Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sheffield Theatres/ National Theatre); Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre); Sylvia; Jitney (The Old Vic); Beginning (National Theatre/ West End); The Watsons (Chichester Festival Theatre/ Menier Chocolate Factory/ West End); Running Wild (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Color Purple (Curve Theatre, Leicester/ Birmingham Hippodrome/ UK tour); Allelujah! (Bridge Theatre); Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre); Half God of Rainfall (Kiln Theatre); The Convert; Twelfth Night; Yellowman; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Once in a Lifetime (Young Vic).

Film includes: Tommie’s; My Jerome; I Am Mary; The Track; Sink; Femme (as crowd supervisor).

Television includes: Dreaming Whilst Black; Everyone Else Burns; Stath Lets Flats; Riches.

Charlotte Sutton CDG is an Artistic Associate of the Young Vic, the Associate Casting Director for Elliott & Harper Productions, and Casting Associate for Chichester Festival Theatre.

Theatre includes: Guys & Dolls (Bridge Theatre); The Unfriend (Chichester Festival Theatre/ West End); Cock; Company (West End); Best of Enemies; Death of a Salesman (Young Vic/ West End); Further than the Furthest Thing; Fairview; The Convert; Wild East; Winter; Trade; Dutchman (Young Vic); Our Generation (National Theatre/ Chichester Festival Theatre); South Pacific (Sadler’s Wells/ Chichester Festival Theatre/ UK tour); Local Hero; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads; Doubt; The Long Song; Crave; Oklahoma!; The Deep Blue Sea; The Watsons; Cock; Flowers for Mrs Harris; The Meeting; Me and My Girl; random/generations; Quiz; The Norman Conquests; The Stepmother; Fiddler on the Roof; Sweet Bird of Youth; Caroline, or Change; Strife; Mack and Mabel (Chichester Festival Theatre); Nell Gwynn (ETT/ Shakespeare’s Globe); My Brilliant Friend (Rose Theatre Kingston/ National Theatre); The Pitchfork Disney, Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall); Annie Get Your Gun; Lady Chatterley’s Lover; Waiting for Godot; Queen Coal (Sheffield Theatres); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); wonder.land; The Light Princess; Emil and the Detectives; The Elephantom (National Theatre).

Theatre includes: Trouble In Butetown (Donmar Warehouse); Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical; Fences (West End); King Hedley II; Kingston 14  (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Convert (Young Vic); Five Guys Named Moe (Festival Square Theatre, Edinburgh); Hamlet (Watford Palace Theatre); Josephine and I (Bush Theatre); Sweet Little Things (Eclipse); Three Sisters (Birmingham Rep); Romeo in the City (Theatre Centre); Blest Be the Tie (Royal Court/ Talawa Theatre Company); Blues for Mr. Charlie (Tricycle Theatre/ Talawa Theatre Company); Gems of the Ocean (Tricycle Theatre); Mother Courage (Nottingham Playhouse).

Film includes: Three Little Birds; The Long Song; Yardie; Jonah; I Am Slave.

Radio includes: Passing by Nella Larsen; Testimony and The Last Seed.

Kate has been an Equity Registered Fight Director since 2001, directing fights for theatre, TV and film. She has worked for many of the UK’s major theatres including the National Theatre, Royal Court, RSC, Donmar Warehouse, Shakespeare’s Globe and in the West End. She is also a qualified boxing coach, coaches at Rathbone Amateur Boxing Club and is a development coach on the England Boxing Performance Pathway.

For the Almeida: The Secret Life of Bees; The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Theatre includes: As You Like It; The Windsors: Endgame; Cyrano de Bergerec; Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (West End); Antigone; Carousel; Jesus Christ Superstar; Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Guys & Dolls; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge Theatre); Private Lives; Sweat; Constellations (Donmar Warehouse/ West End); The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre/ West End); The Father and the Assassin; The Effect; Small Island; Much Ado About Nothing; Frankenstein; One Man, Two Guvnors; War Horse (National Theatre); Rock Follies; Assassins; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Chichester Festival Theatre).

Film includes: My Policeman; Death of England; Romeo and Juliet; Pond Life; Making Noises Quietly.

Television includes: Coronation Street; Hollyoaks; Emmerdale; Kisses & Bumflicks; Coronation Street Live.

Theatre includes:

As Movement & Intimacy Director: Kerry Jackson (National Theatre).

As Movement Director: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (UK tour); Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic/ West End/ Broadway/ US tour); Murder on the Orient Express (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hamlet (Young Vic); The Light in the Piazza (Southbank Centre/ Los Angeles Music Center/ Lyric Opera of Chicago); Macbeth; The House of Bernarda Alba (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester); Local Hero (Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh); The Last Ship (Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto/ US tour); Calendar Girls (UK tour); Miss Littlewood (RSC); Sleeping Beauty (Theatr Clwyd); The Divide (The Old Vic); No’s Knife (The Old Vic/Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Ugly Lies The Bone (National Theatre); The Effect; Playing for Time; Twelfth Night; This Is My Family (Sheffield Theatres); Multitudes; The House That Will Not Stand (Tricycle Theatre); Aladdin; Kes (CAST); Refugee Boy; Wind in the Willows (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

As Choreographer: Billy Elliot (Curve Theatre, Leicester); The Last Ship (Northern Stage); The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatr Clwyd); The Snow Maiden (Opera North); Barnbow Canaries (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe/ US tour); The Jacobin (Buxton Arts Festival); Love Your Soldiers (Sheffield Theatres).

Theatre includes: Shirley Valentine; Back To The Future: The Musical; Sondheim’s Old Friends; The Drifters Girl; Frozen; Jerusalem; To Kill A Mockingbird; Come From Away; Dear Evan Hansen; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; 42^nd Street; Hamilton; Half A Sixpence; I Can’t Sing!; Viva Forever; Bend It Like Beckham; Young Marx; Rosmersholm; The Night Of The Iguana; Walden; My Name Is Lucy Barton; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Birthday Party; Apologia; Young Chekhov; Hamlet; Macbeth; Gary Barlow A Different Stage (West End); The Phantom of the Opera; Jersey Boys; Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; Dreamgirls; Kinky Boots; Bedknobs & Broomsticks; Top Hat; The Commitments; Calendar Girls the Musical (West End/ UK tour); Mrs Doubtfire (Opera House Manchester); Into The Woods (Theatre Royal Bath); The Taxidermist’s Daughter; Crazy For You (Chichester Festival Theatre); Mary Poppins (Her Majesty’s Theatre, Australia); & Juliet (Regent Theatre Melbourne/ Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto); A Doll’s House, Part II; The Band’s Visit (Donmar Warehouse); Mamma Mia! The Party (The O2); Groundhog Day; Art (The Old Vic).

Television includes: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas; The Great British Menu.

Other work includes: The Shard Christmas Tree.

Jackie was Deputy Head of Costume at the Royal Court for 12 years under Dominic Cooke and Ian Rickson.

For the Almeida: A Streetcar Named Desire; The Clinic; Little Revolution.

Theatre includes: Posh; Jumpy; Clybourne Park (West End); The Low Road; Sucker Punch; Chicken Soup with Barley; The Pride (Royal Court); The Girlfriend Experience (Royal Court/ Young Vic); The Tempest; Hamlet; Romeo & Juliet; The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe); Jerusalem; Amélie the Musical; Lady Windermere’s Fan; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; A Christmas Carol (West End); Faustus; That Damned Woman (Headlong tour); Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (UK tour/ West End); Dusty the Musical (UK tour); The Two Noble Kinsmen; Salome; The Duchess of Malfi; Troilus & Cressida; As You Like It; King John (RSC); The Jungle (Young Vic); Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Sheffield Theatres/ West End); Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The Hairy Ape; High Society; The Crucible (The Old Vic); The Father (Theatre Royal Bath/ Kiln Theatre/ West End); Di and Viv and Rose (Hampstead Theatre/ West End); East is East (Trafalgar Studios/ UK tour).

Suzanne has worked for Madame Tussauds on exhibitions in London and internationally, including Hong Kong, Singapore and New York. She has also worked extensively with the National Theatre supervising over 25 shows, including NT Live productions, national and international tours. She has also taught at Christine Blundell Makeup Academy, Wimbledon College of Art and the National Theatre education department.

For the Almeida: Tammy Faye; The Chairs.

Theatre includes: Mandela (Young Vic); Much Ado About Nothing; Trouble in Mind; When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other; One Man, Two Guvnors (also West End/ International tour); The Father and the Assassin; Home; The Pillowman; Phaedra; Master Harold and the Boys; An Octoroon; Amadeus; Saint George and the Dragon; Common; Ugly Lies the Bone; Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State; The Flick; wonder.land; The James Plays; The Elephantom; Men Should Weep; Never So Good; The Hour; Women of Troy; The Hothouse; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre); Bach & Sons (Bridge Theatre).

As Co-Wigs Hair and Makeup Designer: Jitney (The Old Vic).

Other work includes: Photo shoots for the National Theatre, British and American Vogue.

Mumba Dodwell (she/her) is a London-based director, actor and facilitator. She trained as an actor at Arts University Bournemouth and began her directing training on the ‘Intro to Directing’ course at the Young Vic. She was the 2019/20 recipient of the National Youth Theatre’s Bryan Forbes Bursary to train alongside the Rep Company.

For the Almeida: “Daddy” A Melodrama.

 Theatre Includes:

 As Director: Boy/Girl/Boy/Girl (National Youth Theatre); Intimate Apparel (Guildhall School of Music and Drama); The Ancestors (National Youth Theatre/ English Heritage); Great Expectations (National Youth Theatre, Offie Award nomination for Plays: Director); Tales from the Garden (The John Thaw Studio Theatre); Black Ice (Theatre503); Addict (Cockpit Theatre); Black Boys Don’t Cry (Theatre Royal Stratford East).

As Associate/Assistant Director: Othello (National Theatre); Rockets and Blue Lights (Royal Exchange Theatre/ Lockdown Festival/ BBC Radio 3 & 4/ National Theatre); Othello (National Youth Theatre/ Royal & Derngate/ Bolsover Castle); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Frankenstein (National Youth Theatre); The Court Must Have a Queen (Hampton Court Palace).

Ebony is the Associate Artistic Director of The McOnie Company.

Theatre includes:

As Assistant Director and Associate Choreographer: The Wild Party (The Other Palace); Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith).

As Associate Choreographer: Carousel; On The Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); This House (National Theatre/ Chichester Festival Theatre); Jekyll & Hyde; The Lorax (The Old Vic); Tommy; Spring Awakening (English Theatre, Frankfurt); Soho Cinders (West End).

As Choreographic Supervisor: The Wizard of Oz (Curve Theatre, Leicester).

As Performer: Singin’ in the Rain (Chichester Festival Theatre/ West End); 42^nd Street (Curve Theatre, Leicester); Shoes; Shall We Dance (Sadler’s Wells); Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory/ West End); Be Mine (The McOnie Company/ Jackson’s Place); L’Heure Espagnole (Royal Opera House); On The Town (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris); Sinatra; Chicago; My One and Only; Romeo and Juliet (West End); West Side Story (Bregenz Festival); Beauty and the Beast (RSC); On Your Toes (Japan tour); The Car Man; Dorian Gray; Nutcracker; Edward Scissorhands (New Adventures).

Film includes: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Theatre includes:

As Musical Director: The Band’s Visit (Donmar Warehouse); How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying; Anyone Can Whistle (Southwark Playhouse); A Chorus Line (ArtsEd); Urinetown; Broken Wings (Royal Academy of Music); Songs For A New World (Drayton Arms Theatre); Hall of Mirrors (Network Theatre); From Here To Eternity (Bloomsbury Theatre); Ordinary Days (Camden People’s Theatre); Rent (RADA Studios).

As Associate/ Assistant Musical Director: Six (West End); The Band’s Visit (Donmar Warehouse); Rumi (London Coliseum); Tell ‘Em Things They Don’t Know: Sondheim at 90 (Royal Academy of Music); Paperboy (British Youth Musical Theatre/ Lyric Theatre, Belfast).

Natalie trained at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with an MA in Music Direction, and also has a Masters degree in Physics from University College London.

Theatre includes:

As Costume Supervisor & Buyer: Hex (National Theatre).

As Costume Supervisor: Friendsical (UK tour).

As Assistant Costume Supervisor & Buyer: Bat Out of Hell (UK tour); The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage (Bridge Theatre).

As Assistant Costume Supervisor: Six; Cinderella; Magic Goes Wrong (West End); 101 Dalmatians (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Bedknobs & Broomsticks (UK tour).

As Set & Costume Designer: Rob. Steal. Swindle. (Mountview).

Born in London and brought up in Ipswich, Hastings and Glasgow, it was during college that Chris discovered his connection with clay as a medium for his art. Specialising in ceramics, Chris graduated from The Glasgow School of Art.

The contrast of his African heritage and European upbringing lead to Chris’s warm, contemporary style, combining African forms and culture with modern techniques. In 1985, Chris moved to Zimbabwe where he was influenced by methods of colloquial stone sculpture; he learned processes of carving serpentines and verdites and translated these new forms and techniques to his ceramic work.

Returning to London and exhibiting sculptures, Chris set up his own studio in 1988. His ceramics are inspired by life, harmony, rhythm and dance and influenced by the people around him; their spirit and heartbeat are captured in his meditative process as he documents hidden aspects of today’s black culture.

Exhibitions include: TwoTemple Place, Body Clay Vessel; IceHouse; Queen’s Park; RHS Chelsea Flower Show; Artefact; Posk Gallery; Cornerstones, 198 Gallery; Gallery 54; Obala, Black Art Gallery; Grange Museum (London); The Commonwealth Institute; Leicester City Art Gallery (Leicester); Kings Lynn Arts Centre (Norfolk); Torrance Gallery (Edinburgh); Blythswood Gallery (Glasgow).

Wabriya is a qualified dramatherapist (Roehampton University), actress (The Oxford School of Drama), creative facilitator and Reiki practitioner. She combines her experience to support creatives alongside the rehearsal and performance period.    

For the Almeida: Alma Mater; Romeo and Juliet; The Secret Life of Bees. 

Theatre includes: Shifters; August In England (Bush Theatre); Samuel Takes A Break (The Yard); Beautiful Thing; Tambo & Bones (Theatre Royal Stratford East); A Strange Loop (Barbican); Cowbois; Falkland Sound; The Empress; Julius Caesar (RSC); School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet (International tour); Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Complicité); For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy (New Diorama Theatre/ Royal Court/ West End); Blue (ENO); Further than the Furthest Thing (Young Vic); Family Tree (Actors Touring Company); Bootycandy (Gate Theatre); Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre); Hamilton; Moulin Rouge (West End).