Almiro Andrade is a Brazilian-born Black Queer Latinx actor, director, playwright, dramaturg, educationist and theatre translator and currently Lecturer in Contemporary Acting and Early Career Researcher at the University of the Arts London (UAL).

Their work includes the R&D project for the first English translation of Namibia, Não! by Aldri Anunciação; dramaturg and assistant director to Franko Figueiredo for The Trial – from Jorge Amado’s 800-page novel Tieta; a gender-bending adaptation of The Blind One and The Mad One by Cláudia Barral (IntiPress) produced by Foreign Affairs Theatre; translation of Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues:Selected Plays (Bloomsbury/Oberon); dramaturgy and translation of Royal Court’s production of Black Horses Are Massive by Barbara Esmenia Rae.

Armando Nascimento Rosa is professor in the Theatre Department of Lisbon’s Faculty of Dramatic Arts and Cinema and one of the most successful Portuguese playwrights to emerge in the 21st century. Author of thirty original dramatic works, including two opera libretti, he has had productions or staged readings of his plays in Madrid, London, New York, Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Barcelona, Milan, Chicago, Houston and Ithaca. He is the author of 21 books of original plays and essays on drama and is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards.
A collection of his plays “Arte de ser outro. Peças de teatro reunidas” will be published by Ponto de Fuga during 2024.

Susannah Finzi has written for the stage since 2014 with premieres of Blind Eye in Teatro Estrela Lisbon and Theatre503 London, as well as Baring All, Grand Tour and Reunited at Gloucester, Kingston and Woking festivals. Her play A Reputation is translated into Portuguese by Armando Nascimento Rosa for performance in Lisbon later this year at the Aljube Museum.

Besides Departure, Susannah has translated a number of Armando Nascimento Rosa’s other works for the stage including The Real Mother of Marilyn Monroe (Houston, Texas and Cervantes Theatre London and published by IntiPress, Fernando and his Grandmother (Omnibus Theatre, London and Bangalore, India in 2023). She is one of three translators of Nelson Rodrigues:Selected Plays (Oberon Books 2019).

Mariana Aristizábal Pardo is a Latinx theatremaker with vast experience with improv, devising, new writing, translated work, and clowning and has presented work both nationally and internationally.

She is co-director of the award-winning company MarianaMalena Theatre, a channel to amplify female and Latinx stories in the UK and has been leading a project for social integration of the Latinx community in South London through theatre-making.

As a director, her credits include Headscase (The Space), The Girl Who was Cyrano (Omnibus Theatre), Chiladian Rapsody (Oxford Playhouse), and Bingo Hall (British Library) and as assistant director Cinderella (Chipping Norton), Flakland Sound (RSC), A Fight Against (Royal Court Theatre), Sanguine Night (RADA Festival), and Thebes Land (Arcola Theatre).

Carlos Pina is a theatre-maker who started his training in Spain at 15. Soon after he performed as a storyteller and puppet master with different companies which he has continued to date and combines with directing and facilitating. 

His degree in Art History helped him realize the importance of light, composition, and color in theatre, and he developed this knowledge by specializing in Lighting Design during his studies of Directing and Dramaturgy.

He trained with master directors including Eugenio Barba, Alex Rigola, Ana Zamora… and teachers such as Vicente Fuentes or Norman Taylor.

He has lived in London for three years, during which time he has directed plays such as Fuenteovejuna, and designed lighting plans for Drama Schools and professional companies.

Hardy Gru  is a scenographer, director and visual artist. Mostly working with new writing, devised and experimental theatre as well as site-specific and immersive performances where the lines between art and theatre are blurred to create happenings that can scar and heal simultaneously, performances that can stay with audiences long after they have witnessed them.

Recent productions include: “Empty Water” (Regents Canal, London Design Festival), “Arcadia” (Stanley Arts, London), “Luxury for All” (Vaults, London),  “Hayfever” (Arcola Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe), “The Dumb Man” (Cockpit Theatre), “The Rubber Merchants” (The Old Red Lion), “Outside In” (The Vaults and UK tour).

Héctor Manchego  is a Venezuelan interdisciplinary artist working in theatre, performance, and visual arts delving into themes such as the Latin American diaspora, systemic oppression, and the experiences of the LGBTQI+ community. His work has been showcased in Venezuela and the UK and he has recently participated in notable programs and events, including No Borders—a political theatre initiative—and the SISTER x RC Writers Group at The Royal Court Theatre.

Additionally, his work has been featured at Camden People’s Theatre, Streatham Space Project, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Rich Mix, and the Migration Matters Festival. Currently, he is collaborating with the Italian theatre company Fabulamundi to develop a series of short films that showcase the work of playwrights around Europe.

Julia Testa is a dance and visual artist, performer, photographer & movement teacher based in London for the last decade. From her background in project management, stage management and having studied and worked in Marketing, Julia collaborates with many artists including musicians, visual artists and theatre makers as a collaborator and maker, and as producing their own projects. Julia worked for the Platinum Queen’s Pageant managing 250 people, as well theatre shows in festivals such as Edinburgh Fringe. 

Julia teaches at The Place regularly. Her artistic practice is based on relationships and experiencing “the present” in photography, movement, installation and performance that she started exploring in her MFA Creative Practice in Trinity Laban.

Alfredo Almeida was born on the island of São Miguel (Azores) and studied in 2010 at JBjazz with Ricardo Barriga, Pedro Pinto, Pedro Madaleno, Luís Cunha, Joel Silva and Paula Oliveira. In 2018 he completed his degree in Classical Guitar at ESART – Escola Superior de Castelo Branco with Prof Miguel Carvalhinho, and took part in masterclasses with Enno Voorhorst, Fernando Riscado Cordas, Adriano Del Sal, Aniello Disiderio, Fábio Zanon, Yamandu Costa and Graham Devine. In 2024, he completed his master’s degree in music teaching – instrument variant – and did an internship at the Nossa Senhora do Cabo Music School with Prof Carlos Gutkin. He is a member of the Alba Project, together with Bruno Almeida (tenor) and Luís Coelho (Portuguese guitar).

Craig Talbot is a classically trained British actor who graduated from The BA Acting course at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He grew up in Peterborough, but is now based in London. As well as working in theatre, he produces his own films that have played at festivals around the world, including the BAFTA qualifying Bolton Film Festival. With the goal of becoming one of the greatest stars of cinema, who’s movies uplift and empower the black and Caribbean diaspora around the world. Theatre credits include Witness for the Prosecution, Dorian Gray, Skin in the game, and Priceless.

Fernanda Mandagará is a Latinx actress and cabaret artist. She trained at East15 Drama School and UFRGS (Brazil). She also did a residency at Globe Theatre, a Directing Residence at StoneCrabs Company; Cabaret & Drag Lab at Soho Theatre; Queerlesque; Cabaret Radical and The Art of Drag School at RVT. Her stage credits as actress and performer include Desire (Brixton House, New Ideas CASA Festival), Invisible Museum (VAULT Festival 2020), Tropicalia Island (Arcola Theatre, Ventnor Fringe, VAULT Festival), Where We Began (CPT, HighTide Festival and national tour), Taylor Mac A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (Barbican), Brazil Diversity (Theatre 503), I Walk in your Words (RichMix, Omnibus Theatre), Turmoil (Cervantes Theatre, Wandsworth Festival, Courtyard Theatre), For Elise (Embassy of Brazil in London), among others. As her drag, Lola Del Fuego, Fernanda Mandagará has presented cabaret acts in several venues in London, including Royal Vauxhall Tavern, VAULT Festival and Bethnal Working Men’s Club.

Juan Echenique is a Spanish actor-writer based in London. He’s the taller half of the Horatio Productions team, responsible for creating and organising the Science Fiction Theatre Festival of London and the Making Films guerilla film festival. Through six editions of the latter, he has helped curate and co-produce over 50 short films. He has also written and starred in a dozen short films and two feature films with the company. Relevant credits as an actor include The White Princess (STARZ TV, US), In The Beginning Was The End (Dreamthinkspeak), Red Button (Horatio Productions) and ReGen (Horatio Productions).

Amilcar Franco is a London-based multilingual Latin American actor, born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He also holds a French citizenship by naturalisation. He transitioned from the corporate sector into acting when he found his passion for storytelling. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and can be seen in the feature Teleport and Bezos, both on Amazon Prime. He is also writing a play about the Mirabal Sisters from his country of birth.’

Juliana Pflaumer is a Brazilian-born actress who trained at Drama Studio London. She has acted in contemporary plays, mainly new writing and devised pieces including “Invisible Museum” and “Invisibles” at The Vaults (part of the Vaults Festival). She wrote and performed her debut play “He’s Not Dead Yet” at the Tristan Bates theatre in 2020.

She has also expanded her career in Voice Over having worked for clients such as Gordon’s Gin, MAC Cosmetics and PS5 and since 2022 she’s been the voice of Dua Lipa on the singer’s podcast “Dua Lipa: At Your Service”.

Kyara Mensie is an actress, performance artist and presenter from Brazil. Kyara holds a BA in Acting from UFBA (Brazil) and an MA in Performance Making from Goldsmiths. She performed in several short films, theatre, site-specific, immersive and physical theatre productions. Kyara co-founded CACTUS Performance Art Collective with a Palestinian choreographer and between 2012-2016 they created and performed authorial work across Europe and the Middle East. Her credits include the award-winning short film ‘Wings’ and the video clip ‘Pagan’ by Infinita Productions; ‘Cabaret Corsair’ by Stone Crabs Theatre; the plays ‘SENSORED’, ‘4.48 Psychosis’, ‘The Seagull’ and the TV show ‘Na Carona’. Kyara created the solo piece ‘Big Snake Zigzagging in Me’ which she performed at The Koppel Project in 2021.

Rachel Toogood is a freelance producer and translator. She has worked for several internationally renowned organisations such as the Royal Court Theatre, Southbank Centre, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the British Council. She is currently working with Modern Culture producing the Viva Portugal and Flip Through Flanders projects, alongside producing a theatre translation project in schools with Performing International Plays and an arts and mental health project with the Matthew Barley Arts Foundation. Rachel is part of the Out of the Wings collective.

Rachel works as a translator alongside her producing work. Her most recent publications are the plays The Glass Ceiling: Anne & Sylvia, and Shopping Centre Paradise, both by Laura Rubio Galletero.

Lavan is a British Sri-Lankan Actor, Writer, Poet and Theatre Maker based in South London. Trained at All In Actors, Lavan has had work on at places including The Southwark Playhouse, The Cockpit, Camden People’s Theatre, Theatre Peckham, The Pleasance, Theatre503, and Matchstick Piehouse.

Find him on Instagram at @lavan.actor: https://www.instagram.com/lavan.actor

Lucien Parsons is an 18 year old, London-born aspiring editor and filmmaker. His social media work on Reputation and Departure is his first professional experience in the theatrical and filmic world. He is currently planning a short film with a small team of young filmmakers.