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Hyphen Artist Collective celebrates hyphenated artists who have more than one skill set or passion or culture. In an industry that often pushes us to choose or be categorised as one career or identity over another, we encourage and applaud those artists from all over who work all over the industry. Are you a polycultural performer/writer/carpenter? BRAVA! Are you a migrant singer/stage manager/designer? BRAVO! We are not one, but many.
Hyphen Artist Collective is thrilled to be collaborating with MENA Arts UK and Theatro Technis @26 Crowndale to run in-person & online sessions for writers called SHOW UP & WRITE as featured in THE STAGE and BROADWAY WORLD UK.
A series of sessions where writers attend in-person or Zoom/online sessions and simply write for three hours and then come together for one hour to connect and discuss all things writing. Often our busy schedules distract us from finding time to commit to writing what we want to write. SHOW UP & WRITE gives us the chance to commit and stick to that commitment.
Writing can be a lonely pursuit; this opportunity gives us a chance to write in a community.
IN PERSON: Attend a 3-hour free-writing session at Theatro Technis (26 Crowndale Rd, NW1 1TT). Then come together for an additional hour to discuss all things writing: challenges & successes. We are capping the in-person sessions to 12 writers based on the space provided.
ZOOM: Check in at the top of the session with a wave at 1pm. Microphones off for the 3-hour writing period, but we encourage you to keep your camera on to stay on task. Then stay after for the hour discussion. Zoom sessions will be capped at 15 writers.
COST: No cost! Free to join!
WHEN: Sunday, January 21st & 28th** AND
Sunday, February 4th & 25th AND
Sunday, March 3rd & 17th.
**Please note January 28th will be 11am to 3pm
1pm to 4pm: Writing - 4pm to 5pm: Community session/discussion
Discussions will be facilitated by MENA Arts UK Steering Group & Hyphen Artist Collective members.
HOW TO APPLY: We welcome writers with a “hyphenated” artist skill set or cultural background OR MENA+/SWANA writers to apply. We encourage Global Majority, Migrant and/or Underrepresented hyphenated artists to apply. Writers of all levels and experience are welcome. Please email HyphenArtistCollective@gmail.com sharing a bit about yourself with your contact information and whether you wish to attend in-person or Zoom sessions. We’d love to hear about what you’re working on.
YOUNESS BOUZINAB (Member) is a Moroccan, Greek and Belgian performer, theatre-maker and dramaturg with an interest in Internationalism and Multilingualism. After studying Art History, Archaeology and Assyriology, Youness trained on the BA (Hons) Acting, Collaborative and Devised Theatre course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he worked with Complicite (Maktub, Pleasance Theatre).
Since graduating, he has worked on varied projects, as dramaturg (Night Just Before The Forrests by Bernard-Marie Koltès, dir. Sinéad Rushe), and embedded critic (Where I Call Home by Marc-Antoine Cyr, dir. Trine Garrett), and as a performing on shows such as Pirates of Salé (Justin Martin, National Theatre Studio), Fatherland (Frantic Assembly, Lyric Hammersmith), What They Forgot To Tell Us (And Other Stories) (Sarah Davey-Hull and Marianne Badrichani, BOLD Elephant) and The Wetsuitman (Trine Garrett, Foreign Affairs, Rose Lipman Building).
He’s a member of Migrants in Theatre’s Steering Committee and part of Equity’s Non-UK Born Artists (NUKBA) Network’s Casting Working Group.
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY (Member) Born in the UK and trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Christopher Buckley is an award winning actor and writer. Having performed across the UK and in Europe, he focuses on making his writing for stage, screen and audio as relevant and recognizable for everyone. Side hustles include exam stewarding for HMO English tests, gardening and medical/corporate roleplay.
LUKE de BELDER (Member) is a British-American Actor, Singer, and Artist currently residing in Northern Ireland. Since graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama he has performed in plays across the UK and Ireland as well as short films and audiobooks. His first feature film, 'Murder Ballads', on which he has also been working behind the scenes as both a member of the art department and as an executive producer, is currently in post-production and aiming to hit the festival circuit in late-2023/early-2024.
As an artist, Luke works with both digital and traditional media with a keen interest in life drawing and character art. He has also designed logos and promotional materials for theatre groups alongside developing his own artistic style. He has recently been involved in creating animations for film and this is an area he hopes to explore further.
He is currently particularly busy as he has added another hyphen to his role: Actor-Artist-Full Time Dad.
LANNA JOFFREY (Founder & Member) Lanna is an Iranian awarding-winning and critically acclaimed actor, spoken word performer and writer who has worked and studied extensively in the UK and US. She has enjoyed performing in theatre, film, audio projects and her spoken word, which has been published in print and online. Her verbatim docudrama, Valiant has toured throughout the UK/US (Edinburgh Fringe, New York Fringe, WOW Festival, JW3, InterAct Theatre & Women & War Festival) and was published recently by NoPassport Press. She is member of The Factory (London), Barefoot Theatre Company (New York City) and Steering Committee/Membership Lead of MENA Arts UK. She has performed in UK theatres such as Shakespeare’s Globe, Gate Theatre, Tron, Traverse, Cervantes Theatre, Park Theatre, Pitlochry Festival, The Albany, Willow Globe, Hoxton Hall, Perth, Lemon Tree, Byre and Derby Theatre and US Theatres such as Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Old Globe, A.C.T., Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, Lyric Stage, Epic Theatre, The Kitchen, The Flea, CSF, Northern Stage, Urban Stages and Denver Center. AWARDS: NYFringe (Valiant), IRNE (Nine Parts of Desire) and Ovation Award (1001). TRAINING: MA Acting (Distinction): Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, BFA Acting: Syracuse University.
MADELEINE MABY (Member) Madeleine is an American dual national actor/audiobook narrator/producer/collaborator. She got a BFA in Drama from NYU and then produced and acted with her company The Ateh Theater Group, who specialized in stage adaptations of female writers. She performed regionally on stage in Ohio, New Hampshire, New York, and Florida, before relocating to London. Since getting here she's done a number of on camera projects including commercials, short films, VR educational films, and Zoom plays during lockdown. She is also an award winning narrator and last year passed her 300th book recorded.
AMELIA SCIANDRA (Member) is a multi-hyphenate in more ways than one. Firstly, cross-culturally: she's an American based in London, trained at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Artistically, she is an actor-director-educator-coach-producer-writer. She balances creative endeavours with consulting in the corporate sphere and working as the Events and Partnerships Manager for Young Film Academy.
CHARLÈNE SEGERAL (Member) Charlène is a French actor and theatre maker based in London. After an early stage and screen career in France and Belgium she came to the UK to train on the Royal Central's BA Acting, Collaborative and Devised Theatre course.
In the UK she has worked with John Wright, Nancy Meckler, Sinead Rushe and associates of Complicite, Frantic Assembly, Swallowsfeet Collective and Blind Summit.
She is a strong improviser and deviser with a background in physical theatre and contemporary dance.
She is due to appear in the leading role of Nima in upcoming Landa Pictures sci-fi feature film, 'A Universe Apart'.
Alongside her performing work, Charlène is a skilled portrait and stage photographer and regularly collaborates with visual artists on various projects.
CATHERINE TOMELTY (Member) is a northern Irish, London based actress. Theatre credits include, The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother, The Crucible and ‘A short Play about Sex and Death’, Film and Televsion includes Watermelon, Game of Thrones and Suffragette, Catherine has recently directed her first short film, which she also wrote and produced.