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Led by Director and Researcher Anna-Helena McLean, Moon Fool has been hosting international theatre and music exchange since 2004, creating and touring original work and offering unique performer-training opportunities focused on professional actors and conservatoire acting students. The company produce music driven theatre shows for international touring as well as events, training and education for broadly diverse audiences. Moon Fool have been supported by Arts Council England, British Council, MacArthur Foundation, Shakespeare Week/Warwickshire Consortium, Diazoma and Local Education Authorities funding as well as in partnership with South Hill Park, Trestle Touring, Amy Mueller, Helena Richardson. Anna-Helena is currently working with producer Eleni Kyriacou to premiere INANNA in 2021.
"Moon Fool in an international company with passion and talent that has fused together a unique theatrical practice that is proven groundbreaking and world class." Dexter Bullard, Head of Graduate Acting, The School of Art Institute of Chicago "McLean's training is truly participatory and establishes bridges between indigenous musical forms and urban audiences and, in a lineage practically centred around male trainers (Grotowski, Staniewski, Bral), McLean's committed work proposes a ground-breaking alternative." Dr. Konstantinos Thomaidis, University of Exeter |
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ANNA-HELENA MCLEAN |
lead artist and director |
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BA Hons Music & Drama, Royal Holloway Uni of London (2000). Principal of Gardzienice in Poland 2000-2007. Performances include Metamorphoses & Electra. Leader of international music & theatre exchange work worldwide since 2004. As composer & ensemble coach, productions include Yerma, with Kathryn Hunter; Arquiem, Periplum (RNT); Nothing Left To Lose, Company Collisions (LIMF); Glasgow Girls (NTS); It's a Wonderful Life, Theatre Ad Infinitum (Bush); Bangarang (Dundee Rep). Founding principal of Awake Projects, Awake Love Orchestra and Awake Youth. Guest director at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since 2004 as well as NSD, Delhi; DePaul Uni, Chicago; Volda College, Norway; Edinburgh College. Lecturer in extended voice and performance, Uni of Winchester. As a director, productions include The Lear; Richard III, Aegis Productions; Romeo and Juliet; STORM for Libraries and Mme Butterfly (IJ Productions). As actor-producer/musician-composer, productions include ill Met by Moonlight, Trestle; Titania - A Solo Cabaret; How To Be Immortal, Penny Dreadful Productions. As a musician productions include King Charles III by Mike Bartlett West End and Broadway (Sonia Friedman Productions). Currently touring The Wig Show with Tract and Touch, lecturing in Song and Shakespeare at Rose Bruford College while pursuing a PhD at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. More about Anna-Helena here Theatre Mix.
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ELENI KYRIACOU |
creative producer |
Born and educated in London, she graduated from Central Saint Martins in Theatre Design for performance in 2005 and started her career specialising in costume and set design working for companies such as the BBC, C4,Bruce Nauman at the Tate Turbine Hall and Kyle X tour, as well as across the UK festival circuit including Shunt Lounge and Lost Vagueness at Glastonbury. Most notably on Punch Drunks Firebird Ball before her move into production on their next show, Faust a National Theatre Production.
After completing an MA at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Creative Producing, she went on to focus her practice in immersive and experiential work going on to programme, produce and tour for a range of clients and projects from intimate settings to large-scale productions, usually site responsive and in non-traditional settings. Some of which include; Punch Drunk productions at UK Festivals and London Productions, a two-week arts festival in Spitalfield's Market and Circus Space. Various projects at the Roundhouse, an immersive job interview for Virgin, Buster Dreams at Beckett International festival, The Curiosity Cabaret at The Old Operating Theatre and a range of outdoor projects for Art Reach.
Most recently she was the outdoor/offsite producer and programmer for Birmingham International Dance Festival 2018 and most recently creative producer for This Is an Island? a Sky Arts and DanceXchange supported project with creative direction from award winning choreographer Gary Clarke, which toured to the Barbican and Sage Gateshead and featured on the Sky Arts, Art 50 TV series.
After completing an MA at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Creative Producing, she went on to focus her practice in immersive and experiential work going on to programme, produce and tour for a range of clients and projects from intimate settings to large-scale productions, usually site responsive and in non-traditional settings. Some of which include; Punch Drunk productions at UK Festivals and London Productions, a two-week arts festival in Spitalfield's Market and Circus Space. Various projects at the Roundhouse, an immersive job interview for Virgin, Buster Dreams at Beckett International festival, The Curiosity Cabaret at The Old Operating Theatre and a range of outdoor projects for Art Reach.
Most recently she was the outdoor/offsite producer and programmer for Birmingham International Dance Festival 2018 and most recently creative producer for This Is an Island? a Sky Arts and DanceXchange supported project with creative direction from award winning choreographer Gary Clarke, which toured to the Barbican and Sage Gateshead and featured on the Sky Arts, Art 50 TV series.
Laura Hopwood |
assistant director & actor/researcher |
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Laura Hopwood is a British-Australian theatre maker and performer. Her work is site-specific, interactive and physical. In Australia she was one half of award-winning Toyi-Toyi Theatre, a political and satirical dance-theatre duo. Their work was programmed at The Blue Room Theatre, CIA Studios and the Proximity Festival, and they worked with tactical media art group pvi collective and the Sydney based documentary theatre company version 1.0. After moving to London she has continued making socially engaged work, with companies such as Lincoln-based Zest Theatre, Action for Refugees in Lewisham and the Greenwich Maritime Museum. Most recently she has been working with international collective Cut Moose, performing at the Imaginarius Festival in Portugal, the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art and the Tête à Tête Opera Festival in London and the Contemporary Centre for the Arts in Glasgow. |
EMILY JANE GRANT |
ENSEMBLE PLAYER, ACT YOUTH LEADER |
Bilingual performer and workshop leader. Trained at ENSATT in France and with ACT. Companies include: Theatre Sans Frontières. Director of Join the Dots theatre company, London. Leads ACT workshops in both UK & India and performed lead devising actress in RnD work on Romeo & Juliet and Richard III with Moon Fool. Emily is now Company Manager of Moon Fool LTD and leads the ACT Youth work as well as being core ACT Ensemble member since 2016.
GEorge Bellamy |
ENSEMBLE PLAYER, ACT YOUTH LEADER |
Photo by Karol Jarek
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Graduate of European Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford and trainee with Moon Fool and Actor Chorus Text (ACT) since 2009. George is currently the Chorus Leader in STORM and has understudied the roles of Caliban and Prospero. George is producing leader of Moon Fool’s ACT Youth, which was commissioned to bring Shakespeare to deprived youth in the West Kent region in 2013 (West Kent Extra funding) and the Warwickshire Libraries and Schools in 2014 (Warwick County Council Funding).
George has experience as co-founder of THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT theatre based in London and as associate artist with SMOKING APPLES, a puppetry company also based in London (nominated for a Peter Brook award for their show CELL). Currently developing 'In Our Hands' for UK touring in 2015. |
ANIRUDH NAIR |
ENSEMBLE PLAYER |
Photo by Pau Ros
BA Hons History, St. Stephens College, Uni of Delhi. MA in Theatre Practice at the Uni of Exeter, with Professor Phillip Zarrilli. Theatre practitioner based in New Delhi. Founded WIDE AISLE PRODUCTIONS (WAP) in 2005. Directed Meet Will for schools and Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Currently touring schools with a new production of As You Like It
Core member of the ACT team further to first meeting Moon Fool’s Director at the British Grotowski Project in Kent in 2007. Anirudh produced and assisted two ACT workshop tours with Anna-Helena across three parts of India in association with National School of Drama (Delhi) and the British Council 2010. As an actor in Moon Fool he has played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The Working Party Berlin and is currently developing the role of Ariel in STORM.
Core member of the ACT team further to first meeting Moon Fool’s Director at the British Grotowski Project in Kent in 2007. Anirudh produced and assisted two ACT workshop tours with Anna-Helena across three parts of India in association with National School of Drama (Delhi) and the British Council 2010. As an actor in Moon Fool he has played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The Working Party Berlin and is currently developing the role of Ariel in STORM.
Chris-gerard heyward |
ENSEMBLE PLAYER |
Photo by Pau Ros
CALARTS graduate. Founding member of the Poor Dog Group, an LA based theatre company.
Worked with ACT for the first time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2006. As an actor he has played Romeo in Ulysses Teater's Romeo i Julia '68 when he also founded and led the band LISN, Love Revolution tour 2008. Currently a private acting coach on a new FOX TV pilot.
For Moon Fool he played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet in 2012 and is developing the role of Caliban for STORM while taking part and assisting ACT workshops in NYC, CA, Sweden and UK.
Worked with ACT for the first time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2006. As an actor he has played Romeo in Ulysses Teater's Romeo i Julia '68 when he also founded and led the band LISN, Love Revolution tour 2008. Currently a private acting coach on a new FOX TV pilot.
For Moon Fool he played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet in 2012 and is developing the role of Caliban for STORM while taking part and assisting ACT workshops in NYC, CA, Sweden and UK.
DEMetris zavros |
COLLABORATOR |
Demetris comes from Cyprus where he lived until the age of 20. He lived in Louisiana (US) for six years where he studied Music composition at Louisiana State University - with LSU Boyd Professor of Composition Dinos Constantinides and Stephen David Beck (Electroacoustic Composition) – as well as Mass Communication.
He then moved to Bristol and completed an MA in the Composition of Music for Film, TV and Theatre (with composer Martin Kiszko). On completion, he moved back to Cyprus where he worked as a teacher in Primary and Secondary Education as well as started to collaborate with some theatre and dance groups.
In 2005 he moved to Leeds where he started working towards a PhD, and since then he has worked extensively with many artists in theatre, dance and music (including Takis Tzamargias, Lea Maleni, Hanan Snir, George Rodosthenous, Elena Christodoulidou, Riccardo Meneghini, Alex Panayi, Christina Argyri and others). He completed his PhD in 2009 and continues to see himself as both an academic and a practitioner.
He then moved to Bristol and completed an MA in the Composition of Music for Film, TV and Theatre (with composer Martin Kiszko). On completion, he moved back to Cyprus where he worked as a teacher in Primary and Secondary Education as well as started to collaborate with some theatre and dance groups.
In 2005 he moved to Leeds where he started working towards a PhD, and since then he has worked extensively with many artists in theatre, dance and music (including Takis Tzamargias, Lea Maleni, Hanan Snir, George Rodosthenous, Elena Christodoulidou, Riccardo Meneghini, Alex Panayi, Christina Argyri and others). He completed his PhD in 2009 and continues to see himself as both an academic and a practitioner.
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Ben Spatz
Collaborator Ben Spatz is a Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Huddersfield (UK). He holds a PhD in Theatre from The Graduate Center, CUNY, and has been a member of the Performance as Research working groups of both IFTR and ASTR. As founder and artistic director of Urban Research Theater since 2004, Ben’s work has been seen at venues across New York City as well as in Poland and Spain. |
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collaborators
Oscar Zito, Robert Schein-Bogdanov, Andrea Foa, Sid Sawant
Pamela Prather, Konstantinos Thomaidis and Flavia Bertram
Pamela Prather, Konstantinos Thomaidis and Flavia Bertram
act trainees
Jessica Bockler, Rosie Jones, Hraban Luyat, Laila Mnii, Kat Shaw, Noah Silver
LINKS - FRIENDS AND COLLABORATORS
The work we do is possible due to the teaching, influence, effort, collaboration, support and care of so many incredible, kind and talented people, too many to thank one by one. Every step of the way is made with gratitude. Thank you for being part of our international theatre family.
Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices | Trestle Arts Base | Video feet Creative Media | Day and Night | ACT Youth | Studio 180 | The Quadrangle Trust | Helena Richardson PRM | Paddy Molloy | CreationBox LONDON | Pau Ros Photography | PhysicalFEST | Gallery 223 | Theatre Mix | foolsFURY | Walkabout Theatre | The Beekeepers | The Arshinagar Project | Wide Aisle Productions | Jujus Bar & Stage
Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices | Trestle Arts Base | Video feet Creative Media | Day and Night | ACT Youth | Studio 180 | The Quadrangle Trust | Helena Richardson PRM | Paddy Molloy | CreationBox LONDON | Pau Ros Photography | PhysicalFEST | Gallery 223 | Theatre Mix | foolsFURY | Walkabout Theatre | The Beekeepers | The Arshinagar Project | Wide Aisle Productions | Jujus Bar & Stage