The Devil & Stepashka - Creative Team & Cast
Writer www.bookerplays.co.uk
Claire Booker is a playwright and poet with particular interest in social and ethical questions. Her plays have been performed in Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, America and the UK, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A number of her monologues have been published by Morgan's Eye Press. She has two unfinished full-length plays waiting on the conveyor belt: ‘The Devil wore Red Braces’ is a comedy set in Thatcher’s Britain, and ‘Red Harvest’ – a drama set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in which a young cadre confronts her old master. Claire is also currently working on her first poetry collection. She has guested at spoken word events in London, Manchester, Maidenhead and Guildford and her poems have appeared in leading literary magazines such as Poetry News, The Rialto, Orbis, New Welsh Review and Magma.
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Director
Leigh-Anne Abela trained in Acting & Contemporary Theatre at East 15 Acting School & Performance Arts at Trinity College London. Leigh-Anne's recent theatrical credits, as a director, deviser and as a performer, include the French play, starring Juliette Binoche, 'Mademoiselle Julie,'which was performed at the Barbican Theatre, Sibling Production's 'Short Cuts' at The Hen & Chicken's Theatre Bar, and National Youth Theatre's 'Playing Up: Double Bill' at the Unicorn Theatre. Leigh-Anne is also involved in a number of self-devised contemporary performances and performance-based initiatives around Europe. She was invited to perform in Berlin in the EU Festivities commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Treaty. She is also an Ambassador for the Barbican Centre in London.
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Production Designer www.christopherkeech.co.uk
Christopher Keech is a London based Cross Platform Artist. His work fuses together a wide range of techniques and past experiences. Having graduated from The University of Huddersfield in 2011 with a BA (Hons) Degree in Technical Theatre, Christopher then went onto complete a MA by Research Degree, through practical and theoretical research into the application of Kinetic Screens (projection onto moving resources). Although his background is within a technical based arts environment, his interest and passion lays within design and visual arts. Christopher intends to further develop his practice and experience through taking on more exciting projects in the years to come.
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Technical Operator www.victorinepontillon.weebly.com
Franco-American Victorine Pontillon has divided her life between the two countries, and is now settled in London, Having completed her MA in Acting (International) at East 15 Acting School. When not acting or directing, she can usually be found stage-managing, or working as part of the construction or run crews.
Music Composer.......................................... Simon Vella
Stage Manager............................................... Peter Rickards |
The Cast
Zhenya www.paulchristianrogers.weebly.com
In 2007 Paul Christian Rogers completed his BA with Drama and Performance Studies and in 2012, he moved to London to complete the MA in Acting from East 15 Acting School. During his training, his credits involved roles such as Laertes in Hamlet, Slim in Cowboy Mouth and Lopakhin in The Cherry Orchard. This culminated in the showcase at the Criterion, with Paul’s scene being well received by critics saying he has 'the comic timing under control and squeezes every ounce of humour from the situation.' (The Stage) His first role out of drama school was in Carl Heap's adaptation of a 'Pilgrims Progress' at The Yard Theatre, playing many eccentric characters, with the production receiving Time Out's 'pick of the month'. Paul also appeared in Immersion Theatre's 'Dorothy in Oz' (Waterloo East Theatre) a dark retelling of the classic tale, with Paul featuring as the re-imagined Tinman, a pierced biker suffering from anger issues. Most recently Paul appeared in Lazarus Theatre's 'The Merchant of Venice' (Brockley Jack Theatre) as the merchant Antonio, and in Kings Fool's original Irish drama 'Sitting Up For Michael' (White Bear Theatre). When Paul isn't treading the boards or in front of a camera, he is a keen writer and deviser, with several screenplays written.
Boris
Dimitri Shaw graduated from Drama Centre London in 2009. Recent theatre credits include Jean in 'The Days of the Commune' by Bertolt Brecht (The White Bear Theatre), Leo in 'An Insomniac's Guide to Ambulances' by Rachel Creeger (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Philinte in 'The Misanthrope' by Moliere (South Hill Park Theatre) and Henri Gouget in Grand Guignol by Francis Kobayashi (The Space).
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Stepashka / Dasha www.tessahart.com
Tessa Hart is a theatre activist who holds an MFA in Acting (International) from East 15 Acting School (2011) and a BA in Theatre Studies from the Free University of Berlin (2009). She has completed further performing arts work and training in Bali, London, Berlin, Brussels and Moscow and is fluent, as well as having worked, in English, German and French. In the past three years Tessa has worked as an actress, director and producer at fringe venues across London, including The Southwark Playhouse, The Park Theatre, The Space, The Hen & Chickens Theatre, The Old Red Lion Theatre, The New Diorama Theatre, The Tristan Bates Theatre, The Soho Theatre and The Bread & Roses, as well as at the Brighton and Camden Fringe. As an actress she has also appeared in independent feature films, short films, TV-series and various other screen projects.
Lisa
Lydia Lane is a London based actress originally from Athens, Greece. She moved to London in 2009 to do her MA in Acting at East 15 and since graduating she has been working professionally in theatre, film and voice overs. In the last year she has also been actively involved with the acclaimed Short Cuts Festival starting at the Tristan Bates and then moving to the Hen and Chickens. Theatre credits include: Nothing: A Tale of Two Zeros (Old Red Lion), Under The Skin (Tristan Bates/Hen and Chickens), Agamemnon (Courtyard Theatre), Cleopatra (Globe Theatre), Brecht's Jewish Wife, T. Williams' Willie in This property is Condemned, Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Marlene in Top Girls, Midsummer's Night Dream (LAMDA), Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth, and Miss Martin in The Bald Soprano. Film roles include the leads for the short film 'Alive' and for the documentary 'Happiness'.
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