THE READERS
Robert Awosusi (he/him)
Robert is a director / writer / dramaturg / theatremaker currently based in London, making art about people not listened to. He creates performance work (live and recorded) that explores socio-political issues, championing and uplifting marginalised voices and communities in meaningful and stimulating worlds; current personal focuses are around Blackness, capitalism and climate change. He’s really excited to give his time to writers to interrogate, play and untangle their work with them.
Work includes: hang (LAMDA), JASMINE. HOME. MOTHER (Young Vic), Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz (The Bunker); Our Tower (The Arcola); The Derek Smith Show (Mountview); phroot sahlad (Tour); The Lost (Young Vic)
Associate director: Radio Elusia Podcast (Boundless), WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE MAY BE [Artistic Associate](Barbican)
Assistant director: Constellations (Donmar/ Vaudeville) "Daddy" - A Melodrama (Almeida), Fairview (Young Vic), Let Kilburn Shake (Kiln), The Trial (Young Vic)
Other work: Made at Home: A Virtual Scratch (Tamasha), Coronaville Delivery Service
Robert has previous been Resident Director for the Almeida Theatre and a part of the RE: Assemble programme with Paines Plough. He served on the Advisory Board for Boundless Theatre, and on the Board Shadowing Programme run by Artistic Directors of the Future.
Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong (she/her)
Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong is an actress, singer and theatre-maker from Croydon, passionate about new writing in theatre and opera.
Cassi trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Music, having previously studied Music at the University of York. She is a dramaturg with Orange Tree Theatre’s Writers Collective, an Associate Artist of the National Youth Theatre, and a reader for the Bruntwood Prize. In 2018 Cassi made her West End debut as a performer in Caroline, or Change, she has since toured with the Phantom of the Opera and participated in workshops of new musicals at the Park Theatre, Actors Church, and National Theatre Studio. In 2020 Cassi co-founded Speaks of Rivers, a physical theatre company who use puppetry, spoken word and music to create original stories for young audiences. Her debut play Shuck ’n' Jive co-written with Simone Ibbett-Brown premiered at Soho Theatre in 2019, is published by Oberon Modern Plays, and is currently available to stream as part of Soho’s first on-demand film festival.
Cassiopeia’s portfolio of work encompasses writing, directing, devising, dramaturgy, performing, composing and workshop facilitation. She is currently working as director on TIME (Mountview Backstage Theatre Apr 2022) and Miss Gyrus (Camden People’s Theatre 5-7 May 2022); and as dramaturg on Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre May-Jul 2022). For further information please visit CassiopeiaBA.com
Cassiopeia is excited by the opportunity to connect with other writers and dramaturgs, and be part of an initiative that will open up more equitable and transparent routes into the creative industries.
Nathan Crossan-Smith (he/him)
Nathan is a director from Manchester working across theatre in new writing, devised work and classics, as well as in film, audio and immersive work. He is Co-Director for immersive theatre company Hydrocracker and a Trustee for Graeae.
Directing includes: Romeo and Juliet (Orange Tree), Richard II (LAMDA), Half Blue by Ava Wong Davies (Audible), Hurricane Protest Songs (Graeae).
Film includes: WHO CARES? (Hydrocracker, Royal & Derngate), Before the Flame Goes Out (Hydrocracker), Bloodyminded (as Second AD, Blast Theory, 14-18 NOW).
Nathan works extensively with young people and community groups including with National Theatre (as a Connections Mentor Director), National Theatre Wales, 20 Stories High, The Yard, Contact, The Gate, Donmar, Young Vic and Royal Court.
Nathan is a Deutsche Bank Award Winner, the Runner Up fort he 2021 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, the Runner Up for the 2017 JMK Award and a Finalist for the 2018 Genesis Award at the Young Vic. He trained on LAMDA’s postgraduate directing course and National Theatre’s Director’s Course.
Flo Dessau (she/her)
I’m from South London and am a crisp fanatic. I’ve been working as a dramaturg and director since I graduated from the University of Machester in 2017. I love writing in all its forms; poetry, lyrics, whatsapp group chats, TV and film, but theatre is my bread and butter.
I am currently a reader at the Royal Court and the Bush. I also work with Southwark Playhouse, Theatre503 and the North Wall. I mainly work with early career or first-time writers, community groups and young writers. Part of my dramaturgical practice is to facilitate writing groups and support writers throughout their play development. I love to be in the room hearing scripts and writers talking about their work.
I am buzzing to work with FREE HAND. I am looking forward to collaborating with a new group of dramaturgs, reading - like writing - can be isolating, I like to share the experience along the way. FREE HAND is a necessary tool in this industry which is way too exclusive and expensive. It’s a joy to be part of this scheme and be a part of creating more access into theatre.
I am excited to get to know lots of new writers too. To me, being a dramaturg is special because you get to be a part of something while it is still being shaped and created. I admire when writers share their work while it is in process and am so grateful to be part of the journey.
Frey Kwa Hawking (he/him)
Frey is a dramaturg and theatre critic who's worked with and read scripts for theatres, companies and competitions such as the Young Vic, the Bush Theatre, The Upsetters, Exit Pursued by Panda, 45North and the Women's Prize for Playwriting. He does stuff with the Dramaturgs' Network with their early-career dramaturgs and anti-racism working groups. He loves being in rehearsal rooms and advising on scripts, and is most experienced with new writing - particularly queer shit. He loves theatre which scares him and shakes his certainties, formally as well as in terms of ideas.
He occasionally writes things under duress, so he's very sympathetic to how difficult the creative process can be for writers. He is trans and white and Malaysian-Chinese, and from the West Country. Sensitive and rigorous dramaturgical support should be available to everybody in order for good theatre to be made, so he's very proud to be one of these free hands.
Anna Himali Howard (she/her)
Anna is a director, theatremaker and dramaturg. Her work has been staged at theatres including the Bush Theatre, the Gate Theatre, the Orange Tree and Birmingham REP. She trained on the Birmingham REP Foundry, as the Paines Plough Trainee Director, on the NT Studio Directors’ Programme and the Royal Opera House Directors’ Course. She was a Creative Associate at the Gate Theatre and is currently an Associate Artist at Brixton House. Her work with international companies includes directing for BE Festival, New Nordics, and the Royal Court International Playwrights Residency. She is interested in new writing, co-creation and working across genres to uproot classic texts.
Anna’s work as a Director includes KABUL GOES POP by Waleed Akhtar (upcoming, Brixton House), I STAND FOR WHAT I STAND ON (Strike A Light), INSIDE (Orange Tree Theatre), I WANNA BE YOURS by Zia Ahmed (Paines Plough/Bush Theatre), YOURS SINCERELY by Will Jackson (Birmingham REP), A SMALL PLACE by Jamaica Kincaid and Season Butler (Gate Theatre), ALBATROSS by Isley Lynn for NEW (RWCMD/Paines Plough/Gate Theatre).
As a theatremaker work includes JANE ANGER (Yard Theatre Live Drafts), MAHABHARAT/A by Anna Himali Howard and Zarina Muhammad (Camden People's Theatre), THE BEANFIELD by Breach Theatre (New Diorama, National tour 2016).
Anna was Associate Director on FLEABAG by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Drywrite/Soho Theatre international tour), Staff Director on SMALL ISLAND (National Theatre) and Assistant Director on OTHELLO at Shakespeare’s Globe. She is a visiting tutor on MA Dramaturgy at Birkbeck. Anna was formerly Senior Reader at the Royal Court and is a reader for theatres and awards including the Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre and the Bruntwood Prize.
Rafaella Marcus (she/they)
Rafaella Marcus is a director, writer and dramaturg from South London. In 2021, she was awarded an MGCFutures bursary to establish a new free script reading scheme, supplying essential feedback to writers otherwise unable to access it.
Their work as a director and dramaturg focuses on new writing and bringing to the stage marginalised voices. Recent directing credits include: BLUBBER (R&D), Richard II (RADA), Stop Kiss (Above The Stag), I Have a Mouth and I Will Scream (VAULT Festival – 2018 People’s Choice Award winner), Bury the Dead (Finborough), Alley. Pearls. Gunshot. (The Yard), Spooky Action at a Distance (Bunker Theatre), Crave (Bunker Theatre), The Wild Party (The Hope Theatre), The Window/Blank Pages (The Hope Theatre), Sonya and Andrey (Sheffield Theatres), and Laughing Boy (site specific, Bethnal Green).
Work as Associate Director includes: Blithe Spirit (Harold Pinter Theatre), Fury (Guildhall), The Cause (Jermyn Street Theatre). Work as Assistant Director includes: Emilia (Vaudeville Theatre), Pericles (Shakespeare’s Globe), Romeo and Juliet, The Wind in the Willows (Chester Performs), Boeing Boeing, Afterplay, Love Your Soldiers, The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield Theatres), and The Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre).
Writing includes The Gift, The You Play: small acts, The You Play Volume II: The Haunted Woman (45North), Human Voices Wake Us (Big Finish Torchwood Monthly Range) and episodes for new podcasts Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later, and Trice Forgotten (Rusty Quill). Her debut stage play SAP (Atticist/Ellie Keel Productions) will premiere later in 2022.Rafaella trained on the Birkbeck Theatre Directing MFA. They were the Runner Up of the JMK Award 2021.
Rafaella says: “I am extremely excited and grateful to be able to establish FREE HAND with the help of MGCFutures and 45North, which I hope will go some way towards bridging the gap between writers seeking to develop their work and essential creative support. As a writer, I know the importance of having experienced, thoughtful eyes on your script, especially when just starting out. The last two years have been extremely damaging to the emergence of new voices in theatre, as well as the careers of writers already producing work. In a time when it is easy to feel isolated and at sea in an often overwhelming industry, I hope that FREE HAND will offer some much-needed clarity and support to anyone trying to create new and vital work for the stage.”
Lauren Mooney (she/her)
Lauren Mooney is a writer, producer and dramaturg. Since 2015 she has co-run Kandinsky Theatre Company, working as a dramaturg and contributing writer on their critically acclaimed devised work. Credits with the company include Still Ill, Trap Street, Dinomania, The Winston Machine (all New Diorama Theatre, where Kandinsky is an associate company), There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Royal Exchange Theatre) and their forthcoming show SHTF, premiering at Schauspielhaus Wien in February 2022. Kandinsky's work has won OffWestEnd Awards, Peter Brook Awards and received critical acclaim (★★★★★ 'No one else makes theatre like this' Time Out on Dinomania, 2019).
Other credits include in-development projects with Kelly Jones and Joe Sellman-Leava, work as a dramaturg and mentor with students at LAMDA, and freelance script editing and writing audio credits with Big Finish. She’s written about arts and culture for Exeunt, The Stage and The Guardian, and worked for two years as Literary Producer at Clean Break, where she co-edited their monologue collection Rebel Voices (Methuen, 2019). She is a graduate of the Royal Court Playwriting course and Creative Writing (Prose) MA at University of East Anglia, where she held the David Higham scholarship.
Annie Siddons (she/her)
Annie’s practice spans writing for TV, stage and prose, performance - in her own work and others’ - and dramaturgy. Her three most recent shows as writer/performer are Dennis of Penge, How (not) to Live in Suburbia, and Raymondo. Her family show Rapunzel was first done by Kneehigh and has since been remounted 6 times. The show she co-wrote with Edith Tankus, Wild Country, about exile, little Englandism, motherhood and losing yourself, recently played at Camden People’s Theatre.She’s currently collaborating on a TV show with comedian Jack Barry, writing and dramaturging on Choosh! with Russian clown Julia Masli, collaborating with Dance company Make Amplify on their new show Now is Not the Time to be Gentle, co-writing on The Mess for the Unicorn, and writing for Bunny, whilst trying to dream up solo show no.4. She works as part of the development team at the Queer House and regularly mentors and dramaturgs for solo artists.