Artists

Oxford Playhouse works year-round with artists, both locally and nationally, and aims to create a programme of opportunities that promote the sharing and development and practice, as well as a positive network of theatre makers and creatives.

Artist Success Stories

The Playhouse prides itself on working year-round with artists, regionally and nationally. Here's just a few of our artists we have been proud to support and work alongside during their time on our attachment schemes.

Rhianna Ilube - Playhouse Playmaker

As well as being a part of the programming team for BFI Flare, and writing a pilot TV episode as part of the Sky Table Read programme, Rhianna was selected as one of this year’s Soho Six, developing a new play that will be produced by Broccoli Arts. Rhianna has also written and directed 1884 with Coney theatre company, performed at Shoreditch Town Hall and as part of the Talawa First Festival, exploring the colonial legacies of the 1884 Berlin Conference.

www.rhiannailube.com | @rhianna_ilube

JC Niala - Evolve

In January 2023 JC’s mixed-media installation produced by Tamasha, Life In a Goldfish Bowl premiered at Liverpool Everyman, and will be touring this autumn. In May 2023, JC’s award-winning play Out of Bounds was part of a pop-up festival of plays from around the world at the Arcola Theatre.

www.jcniala.com | @jcniala

Carolyn Lloyd Davies - Playhouse Playmaker

Carolyn’s latest play, Can't See for Looking, will preview at The Old Fire Station from 28 to 30 September and then transfers to The Cockpit in London on 18 October (Anti-Modern Slavery Day) for a two-week run. The play will also be published by Aurora Metro in September.

www.livingthedrama.co.uk | @livingthedrama1

Smoking Apples - Evolve

Smoking Apples premiered Kinder last year, and it has since won 3 awards in this year's Offies and Etties, with shows at The Old Fire Station on 12 and 13 September. Additionally, their Spectrum Youth Theatre, for neurodivergent teenagers, is running three week-long residencies this year in London, Didcot and Canterbury.

smokingapplestheatre.com | @smokingapplesth

Natalia Knowlton Vásquez - Playhouse Playmaker

Natalia is currently in the process of producing the premiere of her latest play, Brit-ish Rhapsody (developed at OP as part of Playhouse Playmaker 2020). She would love to connect with other Latin American or migrant theatre makers within our network. Natalia also has a developed practice as a freelance arts marketer, working with artists and theatre companies.

www.nataliaknowlton.com | @NataliaKnowlton

Gayathiri Kamalakanthan - Playhouse Playmaker

Gayathiri has joined Purple Moon Drama’s project platform, as an attached artist. They are creating a lyrical theatre piece about the colonial history of tea exploring how we might divest from Big Tea industry and how we make change feel irresistible on and off stage. It's based off the play they wrote on the Playmaker scheme.

www.gayathiri.co.uk | @unembarrassable

Georgie Bailey - Playhouse Playmaker

Georgie recently won the Adopt a Playwright Award 2023 which will support him in writing a brand-new large-scale play by April 2024. He’s also developing a choose-your-own-adventure adaptation of the George and The Dragon story. Alongside this, he’s been filming theatre shows, creating trailers and taking production photography with his companyChewBoy Productions.

@georgiebaileey

Tom Ryalls - Playhouse Playmaker

Since doing Playmaker, Tom’s now with Divergent Talent Group. The script he wrote on the Playmaker scheme is also now going into development for theatre and being read for TV. Tom went on attachment to The Royal Court and spent 9 months researching the history of disabled dramaturgy. From this, he’s going to co-create a new living archive of writing by/about disabled artists. He’s also working on a new show called "Sharon", which started life in a Royal Court Writer's group.

@boyandpen

Justice in Motion - Evolve

Current shows:RESISDANCE. A spontaneous project with Ukrainian Refugee Women, to mark the one year anniversary of the war starting. This has started with a flashmob at Oxford train station on that day, and has since grown into a film version of the flashmob, as well as an audio and portrait exhibition. CODE is available for booking in 2024! This is a piece about County Lines and knife crime, told through a thrilling mix of parkour, trials bikes, physical theatre and live rap music.

www.justiceinmotion.co.uk | @JusticeMotion

Ben Grant - MCS Resident Director

Having just concluded his time as an associate artist with Rifco Theatre Company, Ben is currently a Creative Associate with Jermyn Street Theatre. He is working on the development of a new show, Boy In Da Korma; a one act, multidisciplinary solo show exploring music, mixed racial identity and cultural appropriation. The show will debut at the JST Footprints Festival in January 2024.

@BGrant94

Jahmar Bennett - Playhouse Playmaker

The play Jahmar wrote on the Playhouse Playmaker scheme, The Lost Generation, received Arts Council funding for further development. Due to the Covid lockdown it couldn't be in person, so he produced an online version. His sustainable fashion brand, Poetry House, featured at London Fashion Week in 2022.

Carla Grauls (Playhouse Playmaker)

Carla Grauls won the Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize in 2022 with her play Harvest. She is currently developing Harvest into a film adaptation with Atalante Films.