Work for theatre - showreel and recent examples
Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light
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Elsa doesn’t know why she’s never quite fit in. Perhaps it’s just the way she’s made?
She’s quirky, kind, clever and funny, but school was always a nightmare, and romance was a mystery, until now…
When Elsa meets Carmen the real journey begins: to find out who she is, and why there’s an octopus living inside her head.
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Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light is a beautiful exploration of one woman’s journey of self-discovery, and a celebration of the joy and freedom that comes when we live as we truly are.
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Designed with the access needs of neurodiverse audiences in mind, audiences have the choice of experiencing a relaxed version of the sound design over the PA or using headphones to be either fully immersed in Elsa's world (including moments of sensory overload) on the blue channel, being immersed with the higher frequency sounds kept to a low level on the red channel or our headphone relaxed performance (mainly the actors voices) on the green channel.
Written by Allison Davies, directed by Karon Traynor, designed by Verity Quinn, Lit by Simon Cole who has also designed projection. Featuring Hannah Genesius, Yemisi Oyinloye and Zoe Lambert, Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light is showing at Fringe Theatre of the Year (The Stage Awards) Alphabetti.
Not only a story of neuro-divergence and self-acceptance but also one of love.
The Guardian (4 out of 5 stars)
Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light offers a moving insight into the deep and daily challenges faced by those living their way through a world which isn’t set up for them. Thankfully for the Alphabetti audience, the creative team have made sure this play can be right for everyone.
An optional set of headphones offers the chance to choose your preferred level of immersion in Roma Yagnik’s soundscape, while the performance itself was relaxed in both manner and lighting.
Cultured North East
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You enabled the audience to feel sensory overload it was really well done.
Audience member
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The White Card
The UK and European premiere of Claudia Rankine’s first published play, The White Card poses the question: can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? Written in 2019 during an increasingly racially divided America and before the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests rippled across the globe, a wealthy, privileged white couple invite a talented Black artist to dinner. Tensions run high and a heated debate uncovers some uncomfortable truths that can’t be ignored about white privilege, cultural appropriation and representation.
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This co-production between Northern Stage, HOME Manchester, Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham rep and Soho Theatre was directed by Natalie Ibu, Designed by Debbie Duru and lit by Rajiv Pattani. The sound design ranged from optimistic pomposity on chamber ensemble and subtly distorted jazz classics moving around the space to glassy textures representing a dinner party fracturing as we watched, a string reimagining of a contemporary classic to Rachel Nanonjo's choreography and finally emotive piano score specially composed for the second act.
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4 star reviews followed in The Times, The Guardian and the Observer
Tense and timely, The White Card points fingers, but also points the way to positive change
The Guardian
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A raw example of theatre that was still making me think long after I had left the theatre.
The British Theatre Guide
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Sugar is an intimate piece of theatre made for screen devised with women who are homeless, on probation or in prison.  Presented by Open Clasp in partnership with Meerkat Films, in association with Live Theatre and supported by The Space
Beautiful Thing - Site Specific Dance Theatre from Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2018. Directed by Bradley Hemmings and Robby Graham
Rattle Snake - Open Clasp Theatre Company Dir. Charlotte Bennett
Open Clasp and Live Theatre in association with York Theatre Royal presents:
A story with no ending; a chance meeting with one man changes the lives of two women forever. Now they both live trying to predict the unpredictable. Rattle Snake is an epic tale, based on real life stories of women who have faced and survived coercive controlling domestic abuse.
A sharp, moving and unflinching new play. Coinciding with the change in UK law in 2015 making coercive control in relationships a crime, Rattle Snake was originally commissioned by Durham University and Durham Constabulary and funded by Durham PCC and the AHRC and is used in the training of frontline police officers.
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Following a successful national tour Rattle Snake will tour again in 2018
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"Subtle, sensitive and deeply moving
British Theatre Guide
"A powerful play shining a light on domestic abuse"
Chronicle Live
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" This insidious, often less noticeable form of domestic violence is brought under the harsh dining-room light in Catrina McHugh's compelling play"
York Press
Canary - Fun in the Oven
Image: Chris Bishop
Meet the Canaries, a motley crew of munitions workers doing their bit for the war effort. An air raid on their shell shop sends them on a cordite-fuelled journey through euphoric emancipation, forbidden friendships and anarchic dreams. A grotesque and subversive comedy based on the real life testimonies from
Britain's unsung war heroes.
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Creating music and sound design drawing on the sounds of the time (and the great war), machinery and more contemporary elements was a joy for this brilliant piece of physical theatre.
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Brought to you by Fun in the Oven in partnership with Teatro Envilo
Written and performed by Robyn Hambrook, Alys North and Katie Tranter
Directed by Andrea Jiménez and Noemi Rodríguez
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Canary's first performances went down a storm around the North of England in 2017 and a national tour is coming in 2018! To find out more visit www.funintheoventheatre.com
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"My favourite theatre experience of the year"
Matthew Crow - Independent on Sunday
"Beautiful, hilarious, and impeccable physical comedy"
Northern Stage Audience member
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"Rarely seen perspective of a world defining time
The Whitham Audience member
Leaving - Curious Monkey
​Leaving home for the first time is a step into the dark.
A whole new life.
If you’re leaving the care system, the reality hits even harder.
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Leaving is a play by Paddy Campbell (Wet House) brought to you by Curious Monkey. It tells the real stories of care leavers and their experiences at the pivotal moment when they leave care. It also gives a voice to those working within the system, from staff in children’s homes to MPs and policy makers.
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Using the young people’s own words, an ensemble of actors and an award-winning creative team test the boundaries of verbatim theatre to bring these real voices to the stage - their joys and their struggles.
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Utilising binaural sound, Leaving creates an immediate, immersive experience with the potential to change the way audience think about young people in care.
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Leaving toured the UK in February and March 2017 to sell out audiences and critical acclaim and was a truly brilliant project to work with. We workshopped with young people in the looked after system, those transitioning out and adults who have been through the system who then also went on to shadow members of the creative team and steer the whole creative process. Writer Paddy and director Amy also spoke to professionals working in the systems the play focuses on.
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In terms of sound, this play had a lot going on - actors all had audio scripts through headphones on stage, edited together from interviews with real people which they then repeated using a method called recorded delivery, making them the conduit for the audience hearing real voices as opposed to putting their artistic interpretation onto what is being said. In addition to this, audience members had their own headphones which were used for 3 sections which used binaural sound to immerse them in the experiences and mindsets of young people in care and the play also had a musical score. So just a bit to do then! It has been a hugely rewarding process and we hope to tour Leaving again in the future to reach even more audiences. Here's what some press and bloggers had to say:
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"Very moving. The stories, simply told, illustrate and illuminate what is good in the care system and where it fails its users and those who work in it ... there was a feeling of such authenticity in the delivery that made for compelling listening... subtle atmosphere-reinforcing soundtrack"
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"unique view of care-home teens stepping into adulthood"
The Guardian
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"a clever political and human piece of theatre with a real potential to make a significant difference"
Narc Magazine
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"Effective verbatim theatre"
The Stage
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"While the performance is already incredibly authentic, the sound brings the audience closer still, allowing us to enter not only the environments that the young people find themselves in, but also their minds."
Key Change - Open Clasp Theatre Company, Dir. Laura Lindow (2015-17)
Winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, and critically acclaimed month long run off broadway
"Exquisite... singing with an everyday poetry as if the devising process
had unlocked a waterfall of creativity."
Lyn Gardner, the Guardian (4 stars)
“a tale told with kinetic honesty and tightly controlled tenderness.”
The Scotsman (4 stars)
“a remarkable production… a rare and surprisingly funny piece of theatre…Key Change deserves the plaudits that will come its way.”
The Observer (4 stars)
New York reviews:
"A moving, intimate and superbly acted drama about women’s lives"
New York Times (Critics Pick)
"a work of poetic symmetry with wisps of song, music and movement spun into a dramatic event"
Blog Critics (Culture and Society)
"With its strong writing, masterful presentation and intense performances, Key Change is an excellent work of social consciousness theater."
Theatre Scene
"In bringing characters and lives that are locked up, Key Change liberates a taboo and takes us towards a much needed change, modulating abuse into empowerment. A must-see play."
Theasy.com
"a well-crafted, sensitively directed and impressively performed piece of theater"
Stagebuddy.com
And as for the score...
"A haunting sensory accompaniment to the narrative" Theatre Scene
Devised by women from HMPYOI Low Newton and originally toured to male prisons, Key Change is a raw and illuminating portrayal of women in prison. It was a privilege to provide music for this gritty and emotive piece of theatre.
Key Change was filmed in 2017 and streamed worldwide on 25th November to mark the UN campaign International Day to End Violence Against Women & Girls and running for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. Key Change was filmed in partnership with The Space, a digital commissioning agency supported by the BBC and Arts Council to share with a global audience.
Find out more about Key Change and Open Clasp at www.openclasp.org.uk
The Space Between Us - Open Clasp Theatre Company, Dir. Charlotte Bennett (2013)
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The North East of England is in the grip of a storm on a biblical scale. Blown from four corners of the earth, four women seek sanctuary, security and refuge. Informed by Women all over the North East with experience of being "other" in the UK, The Space Between Us is a fast paced dramatic narrative that invites audiences into a world that is full of conflict, love and hope. Music included in showreel playing at the foot of the page.
The Red Shoes - Straight on till morning Theatre Company, Dir. MaryClare O'Neill (2013)
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This compelling retelling of the classic fairy tale in Camden, London brought together stories of 2 young women with illicit attachments to red shoes, one during the London riots and the other 100 years earlier. A beautiful soundtrack with a dark and mysterious edge incorporating a classical style with more contemporary elements was the brief for this project (excerpt halfway through showreel below).
"Roma Yagnik's Shawshank-like music is eerie and effective"
One Stop Arts
​"Roma Yagnik’s music reinforces the tone of the play, adding a dark and mystical quality that reminds us that fairy tales do not always come with a happy ending."
What's Peen Seen
Taming of the Shrew - Sprite Productions, Dir. Charlotte Bennett (2012)
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This was Shakespeare with a difference - promenade theatre in the beautiful grounds of Ripley castle, Yorkshire with a setting of post war Britain with swing dance (performed by the fabulous Berkley Square Swing Band), duwopping and songs - excerpts included in the showreel at the foot of the page.
