Participation
Participation Projects Producers
Natalia is one of our in-house specialists, and has worked within the arts for the past 10 years with a focus on community participation. She is a local actor, writer, director and education specialist.
Beginning her journey at New College Nottingham, she has worked with Inspire Academy, The Television Workshop, Sheep Soup Theatre Company and has recently had her writing published. Natalia specializes in Youth Theatre and Developing Access into the Arts.
Tia is a facilitator and theatre maker specialising in making work with young people and people with additional needs. Having fun and developing skills whilst building confidence are priorities to Tia and her work. She is passionate about introducing young people playful techniques like Commedia dell’arte, improvisation and clowning, and forming ensembles to creatively tell a story.
Sarah is one of our in-house specialists and is a theatre practitioner who works in community and educational settings.
She has performed in the Story Explorers tour for early years and runs in-house Young Companies for the Playhouse. She also examines for LAMDA and teaches Contemporary Dance. Sarah has a particular interest in physical theatre/movement direction, and is a former Head of Drama, works for exams boards and has directed many large scale productions.
Freelance Team
Zoe is a freelance Theatre Practitioner, Director, Acting Coach and Qualified Teacher. Zoe graduated from the Birmingham School of Acting with a BA Hons in Acting and went on to work as an actor for several years before gaining her PGCE in Secondary Drama Teaching.
As a former RSC Associate Schools Teacher, Zoe is fiercely passionate about bringing theatre to new and young audiences through collaborative and diverse work.
Zoe is currently a Lead Creative practitioner for the young company at Curve Theatre. She also develops and runs theatre workshops in a wide range of educational settings.
Jazzmine is a designer who thrives in creative environments and working with people from all walks of life. Her interests and experiences are within: Design, Styling, Costume and Props. These experiences involve both the hands on manufacturing process as well as managing and working as part of a team.
Chloe is proudly born and raised in Nottingham and studied at Nottingham College. She started her Playhouse journey with a bursary place on Summer School and has a love and passion for giving young people the opportunity to be themselves and for their voices to be heard and respected. Her work is centred on building up children from every walk of life through play and simply having fun.
Manya is a Theatre and Arts Practitioner, who over the past 20 years has been devising and delivering theatre and performing arts projects with a diverse range of groups and communities across the region. Working with theatres and in a range of settings she interrogates inclusive models of engagement and performance making in community settings. She create intimate experiences using storytelling, movement and cross-disciplinary practice to stimulate imaginations and senses in different ways. She uses stories to create immersive environments, where young people are enveloped in a new imaginative world and feel safe to take creative risks, play and explore.
Sara Bodinar is a professional screenwriter. She has worked with film studios and TV production companies all over the world, is a script editor to Amazon best-selling authors, commissioned playwright, and a former Nottingham Post columnist. She delivers writing workshops all over the country.
Olwen Davies is a theatre maker, performer, programmer, producer, lecturer, youth theatre leader and artist. She has a Masters degree in Drama studies from De Montfort University and over the past decade Olwen has toured across the UK with her theatre company LaPelle’s Factory. Olwen has collaborated with multiple creatives and venues as a solo practitioner. She is a founding member of The Party Somewhere Else collective, where she focuses on programming, event management and coordination. Since 2014 has worked as an associate lecturer in multiple Higher Education Institutions including the Universities of Lincoln, Worcester, Derby and De Montfort University. Olwen works closely with UK New Artists as their Producer for Live works: Leicester 2022 and a mentor of their Future Producers project.
Olwen strongly believes in the creation and sharing of art and in supporting and growing creative talent. She facilitates projects and supports artists of all ages to develop their performance practice and actualise their work. She is passionate about building a thriving arts and cultural ecology, providing opportunities to all, showcasing excellence and facilitating growth.
Hugh Dichmont is a Nottingham-based writer. He has had plays performed throughout the UK, including at Nottingham Playhouse, Curve (Leicester), Theatre 503 and The Vaults (both London). As an educator he has over a decade of experience in delivering creative workshops to learners of all ages and abilities.
Tim Evans (Murphy) is a theatre director, actor, teacher and facilitator. He is Artistic Director at Infinite Egg Theatre, Associate Director at The Television Workshop and co-founder and tutor at The Actors’ Workshop. He has a BSc in Mathematics with Astronomy and much of his work is threaded with related themes.
Erin studied Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University and now works as a freelance Theatre Designer and Artist. Her varied experience working on large scale community projects, scenic painting, puppet making, workshops facilitating, and designing for various touring shows has enabled her to adapt her craft to take into educational settings.
Helen is a drama facilitator and writer with 20 years’ experience working with children and young people. Her ethos is one of play, encouragement, and collaborative creation. Having run her own children’s drama company for 10 years, she is now working as a freelance artist, and loving being able to share her skills and experience with a wider community audience.
Sophie is a freelance Actor, Workshop Facilitator and Producer based in Nottingham. Having gained a First-Class degree in Physical Theatre from East 15 Acting School, Sophie went on to establish Ditto, an award-winning family theatre company that combines storytelling, puppetry and movement to inspire and engage 8-11 year olds. Sophie is Co-Artistic Director and Producer of Ditto Theatre Company and has co-devised, written and performed in five shows, touring to a range of venues, schools, festivals and community settings, both nationally and internationally. Sophie has performed with companies such as Tangled Feet, Next Door Dance and Blowfish Theatre. She has also facilitated Drama and Dance workshops both in person and online for a range of schools, colleges, libraries and venues, most notably Derby Theatre, Greenwich Theatre and The National Theatre of Scotland. Sophie is also a Workshop Leader for Flying High Expressive Arts CIC, based in Arnold, Nottingham.
Ty’rone (tuh-rone) Haughton is a Jamaican born Spoken Word artist, who after coming to Nottingham as a looked after child, began a career in poetry. He has performed internationally and facilitated projects for various arts organisations such as Coventry City of Culture, Birmingham Rep and Writing East Midlands.
At 6 years old Tom saw his first piece of live theatre when his primary school took his class to watch the Nottingham Playhouse Pantomime. His mind was instantly opened to the magic of storytelling and theatrical possibility, and he started to understand the importance of art and escapism.
Tom went on to train at drama school, graduating from Arts Educational School London in 2018 with a 1st Class BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre.
Since graduating Tom has performed in The Comedy About a Bank Robbery (UK Tour & West End), A Little Princess (West End), The Olivier Awards (Royal Albert Hall), Ferris & Milnes Christmas Cracker (West End), Comic Relief (BBC), BLONDE (RADA), Cinderella & Beauty and The Beast (Nottingham Playhouse).
Tom is thrilled to be a part of Nottingham Playhouse’ participation freelance team, and is hoping to pass on some of his passion to the next generation.
Toms’ pronouns are he/him/his.
Lisa is a freelance theatre practitioner, qualified drama teacher, Visual Stress Consultant and holds a first class honours degree in Theatre Arts with Education. Lisa managed the Plus One programme at Derby Theatre, works with Nonsuch on various creative projects, is Youth Director for Creatio Arts and leads the Arts Award programme at Bilborough College.
Omar is a director, facilitator and writer based in the Midlands with a focus on collaborative, experimental processes. Through film, theatre, and digital mediums, his work engages communities and enables conversations around topics including: death, identity, and spirituality.
An alumnus of Birmingham REP’s Foundry scheme & Tamasha’s Directors Programme, he is currently an Associate Artist at Derby Theatre, where he runs the Years 4-6 Youth Theatre.
Trained at Bretton Hall and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Amy began her career working as an agent before moving into casting, working primarily for The Bill and MIT (Murder Investigation Team). Now living in Nottingham, Amy is a practitioner, lecturer and director who works at Nottingham College. Having run the BTEC Extended Diploma in Acting for the past few years, Amy is now Course Leader for the BA in Performing Arts and the ALRA Foundation Course. In addition to this Amy is also a director for Flying High Expressive Arts.
Sarah Manton specialises as a designer/maker of handcrafted papercuts (scherenschnitte) from her studio practice, Curious Nottingham, based at Sneinton Market in the heart of Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. With a life long passion for making, Sarah is a force for creative good, enthusing others to experiment in a wide range of paper and textile arts and crafts.
Jo is a freelance dance/theatre practitioner and qualified teacher, who works both in the community and educational settings. After a successful career helping hundreds of young people reach their creative potential as a former head of Performing Arts, Jo is relishing the opportunity of working creatively with our Nottingham Playhouse participation groups. She loves to work collaboratively on performance projects with other practitioners, but the core of her work is centered on developing the creativity of her participants.
Dawn began her career as a Youth Theatre Director and Coordinator for Lincoln based company Zest Theatre in 2012. She then worked for the Lincolnshire One Venues Network as a Project Worker for the Young People’s Programme, bringing young people and arts venues together on creative projects across the county. Dawn is also the Co-Artistic Director of Egg Box Theatre and makes interactive and immersive Theatre for Young Audience aged 2 – 5 years.
Simon is a Theatre Practitioner with over 20 years’ experience specialising in Theatre for Young Audiences. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Lincoln. Simon is delighted to join the Participation team and is looking forward to an exciting year ahead with Nottingham Playhouse.
Rebecca is an actor and creative producer. She has a longstanding working relationship with Nottingham Playhouse as an actor and workshop leader/facilitator, which began with White Peacock (2010), a multi-sensory play for young adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities. She most recently appeared on the Nottingham Playhouse main stage in Pride and Prejudice (2017) and Kindertransport (2018). She is also a member of The Party Somewhere Else, a collective committed to showcasing work where women and non-binary creatives have at least 50% of the creative agency.
Kate trained at Rose Buford College and works professionally as an Actor on stage and screen, Lecturer, Creative Mentor and Workshop Facilitator. She loves incorporating movement and physicality with language, to build confidence, communication, characterisation and to help build bridges where spoken language may be a barrier. Performing with and for the community is at her core and she strongly believes having the freedom to play is an essential part of creative learning!
Annabelle trained as an actor at LIPA and has performed in theatres across the country and internationally. Alongside this, she is a teacher and facilitator working with schools and drama groups in the East Midlands and further afield. She is passionate about inspiring the younger generation to get creative and build confidence through play and performance. She is also a self-proclaimed Shakespeare nerd and enjoys encouraging people to connect with classical texts and characters.
Rob is a youth theatre leader and director who specialises in amplifying young people’s voices and stories. Born and raised in Nottinghamshire he truly values the empowerment community arts offers. That doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun along the way – games and play hold an essential role in his work.
Christina is a theatre maker and facilitator from Greece. She studied at Iasmos Drama School under a scholarship, and in 2018 graduated from Nottingham College with a BA hons in Theatre Arts. As a maker her work is focused on devising contemporary performances, incorporating digital media to extend the reach of communication and visualisation. As a facilitator she aims to unleash the participants’ sense of honest and spontaneous play, and to inspire young people to be creative and find confidence through the arts.
Sharon White is a Freelance Director/Theatre Maker. She has directed a wide range of work including contemporary, classical, stylised and musical theatre. She is also a versatile practitioner with considerable experience leading musical theatre and drama workshops. She works to bring about a unified vision and to lead others carefully through the process of theatre making.
Lauren Nicole Whitter is a theatre maker, physical theatre artist, poet and clown creating work on important issues, delivering clown and physical workshops and also teaching drama. Lauren received a 1st Class Degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University and has become more passionate about the arts ever since. You might find her at an open mic night performing, in the theatre or wearing a bright red nose!