Category: Uncategorized

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Abi Zakarian is an award-winning British-Armenian playwright based in London.

Her plays include: PERFECT MYTH ALLEGORY produced by Jermyn Street Theatre for their ‘15 Heroines’ series, TATHA WAKES UP FROM A VERY LONG SLEEP produced by Pitlochry Festival Theatre for their Shades of Tay season, CLAPPED produced by Damsel Productions for their site specific Damsel Outdoors season, I AM KARYAN OPHIDIAN produced by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for the Sam Wanamaker Theatre; ENOUGH, produced by Small Truth Theatre for the Kensington Karavan Festival and also recently adapted for audio as part of the Digital Caravan trio of plays which won an OffWestEnd OnComm award; FABRIC, produced by Damsel Productions for SOHO THEATRE and a London Community tour; I HAVE A MOUTH AND I WILL SCREAM produced by Joyous Gard for VAULT Festival where it won the festival’s 2018 People’s Choice Award; THE BEST PIES IN LONDON, produced by Rift Theatre for their immersive Shakespeare in Shoreditch festival; THIS IS NOT AN EXIT, produced by the RSC for The Other Place and transferred to the Royal Court.

Abi was awarded an MGCFutures bursary in 2018 and is also the recipient of a Peggy Ramsay Foundation grant.

What The Thames Told Me is performed by Isaura Barbe-Brown. Audio description voiced by Carla Langley. 

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Born and raised in the Royal Docks, Anne grew up believing that it wasn’t possible for working class kids like her to make a career in the arts. As a young woman, she found a welcome at Theatre Venture, based in the Tom Allen Centre in Stratford where she put her heart into the community theatre they produced. Without formal training or connections in the arts she instead chose a career in the public sector, in social housing. At 52, Anne enrolled in university for the first time and went on to receive a First-Class Honours Degree in Creative Writing.

Now, she is particularly interested in writing stories about women. The activities of the docks she grew up in are usually entirely illustrated by pictures of men operating cranes and unloading boats. Anne is most interested in telling the overlooked stories of the army of women behind them, keeping their homes, bearing their children, and often working outside the home too. The mothers, aunts, sisters and wives who kept the world running so the men could be part of history.

Walking The Manor is performed by Linda Broughton. Audio description voiced by Carla Langley. 

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James is a writer, and an enabler and facilitator of writing. As a writer he has collaborated in prisons, women’s refuges and with vulnerable young people – often making radio plays and podcasts. This work has contributed to two Young People Now Awards and several Koestler awards including Gold at the Southbank in 2019.

He has worked with the National Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Old Vic, in the West End, The Marlowe and regionally. He is the recipient of the Lilian Baylis Award for Theatrical Excellence, the Ideastap Innovator’s Award and was the runner up in the Barbican Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2019. He recently joined the pool of writers on BBC daytime drama ‘Doctors’, is a trustee of Arts at The Old Fire Station – Oxford, and an Associate Artist at the egg, Theatre Royal Bath.

He Comes To The River To Breathe is performed by John Last, Maanuv Thiara and Jamie Zubairi. Audio description voiced by Carla Langley. 

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Tshelane Reid is a young writer, creative and corporate research professional.

Born and raised in Newham to parents of Afro-Caribbean heritage, she spent her entire childhood in and around the Royal Docks Area. With a background in fashion, having studied the subject in university, she used her time in education as an opportunity to explore creative writing through magazine publication.

In her work she particularly enjoys investigating themes surrounding intersectional feminism, the struggles of marginalised communities and injustice in modern Britain. She frequently explores the social and environmental impact of corporate decisions on society.

Tshelane is currently working on a podcast hosted alongside other black women that focuses on the unique challenges faced by queer black people.

Evolution is performed by Isaura Barbe-Brown. Audio description voiced by Carla Langley. 

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Asif Shakoor is an independent researcher. He grew up in Manor Park and studied at the University of East London. His grandfather, Mahomed Gama, enlisted in the Mercantile Marine during the Great War and arrived at the Royal Victoria Dock in 1917 Asif wrote about his search for his grandfather’s war medal in Britain at War (January 2018).

He has presented research at national conferences and local events. He has worked on a project to digitise Cooks Certificates for Indian seamen at the National Maritime Museum. Asif has preserved the history of the local area through setting up an independent collection of images and set up the South Asian Contribution to Great Britain project.

The Mystery of the Missing Medals is performed by Maanuv Thiara. Audio description voiced by Carla Langley.