About

Ffion Aynsley - Co-Artistic Director
Ffion Aynsley is a singer, song-writer and community musician. She has recently moved back to the UK from Northern Spain where she founded and co-founded a number of different music ensembles including Ffidrigo - Asturian-Welsh Folk Duo (lead vocals, piano); Three Little Birds - vocal harmony trio (vocals, piano/percussion, arrangements); Viajeros del Swing - Trad Jazz, swing (lead vocals, piano); and Deda Lera - a solo project in which she explores traditional Welsh Folk song, combined with electronic music.

During her time in Spain Ffion also worked as an actor and singer for 3 years with educational theatre company Moving On. She toured around primary and secondary schools throughout Spain performing musical, interactive English-language productions. Following the tour Ffion continued working with Moving On delivering music and theatre-based workshops in primary school settings. Simultaneously, she worked with the Spanish youth organisation Abierto Hasta el Amanecer (Open until Dawn), on their social inclusion project, delivering voice and percussion workshops to young people with learning disabilities aged 13-30.

Last year Ffion composed the music and co-wrote the script for Somewhere in La Mancha, a bilingual, interactive theatre piece with live music, based on the works of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare on the anniversary of the death of the two writers.

Before moving to Spain Ffion gained a Bachelors degree in French and Spanish from University College London that led to her interest in theatre and performance that is multi-cultural and transnational. She spent six months in Buenos Aires, Argentina, working at Teatro Colonial and also worked on a Community Project in Quilmes planning and delivering workshops that explored notions of intercultural exchange through sound and movement. On returning to London she worked as Project Manager for London-based Theatre of the Oppressed organisation, Cardboard Citizens on their 2010 Hostels Tour. She was responsible for the delivery of the tour to hostels, day centres and prisons across London.

Following this Ffion joined LOTOS Collective for their production of Trial of the Mariner, in which she was part of the devising process, community outreach work and performed in the final production. As well being a way of engaging the local community in a creative process, this immersive theatre project explored the theme of plastic waste in the pacific gyre and the consequences of over-consumption.

Ffion´s passion for music and performance as a tool for personal empowerment and social engagement has led her to return to London to undertake Music Therapy training at Roehampton University. She is simultaneously working as a Community Musician in end-of-life care at St.Christopher´s hospice in South London and performing in various musical projects in venues across London.

Rosie Okae - Co-Artistic Director
Rosie Okae is a theatre practitioner who studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, achieving an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice (specialising in performance). She has recently developed her practice as a director by training on a range of directing courses at the City Lit and with Told By An Idiot theatre company.

Following her MA, she worked as a co-deviser on various projects, including Hourly Daily and Dear Mrs Minnow, two mask theatre plays shown at the White Bear Theatre; and Cameo by Zephyr in Zanussi Dance, a dance theatre piece choreographed and directed by Helen Plewis which toured to several venues, such as the Hackney Empire, The Place, Chelsea Theatre and South Hill Park. She has also performed in dance installations, namely Raise the Roof choreographed by Nevin Aladag at the Hayward Gallery and Walking Piece a site-specific, interactive promenade piece at Siobhan Davies studios, choreographed by Matthias Sperling. Other roles have included playing Mariam in The Tragedy of Mariam at RADA Wolfson Studio and working as an actor puppeteer in a touring production of Red Riding Hood & the Wolves.

Rosie has been performing and making music as a singer songwriter in recent years, including collaborating with Justin Paton to create her debut album We Know When to Shout, released by Mottomotto Records.

She is also an experienced primary teacher, having obtained a PGCE in Early Years and Primary Education at London Metropolitan University, and has taught in schools in north & east London for almost 10 years. Her belief in education as a means of societal change has coalesced with her work as a performer and led her to roles in theatre-in-education plays, including The Gingerbread House by Immediate Theatre which highlighted the issue of childhood obesity, touring to schools in east London. She previously worked for Waltham Forest Mencap teaching drama for adults with learning disabilities by focusing on improvisation as a means of harnessing the creativity and imagination of each participant. She also assisted a drama therapist on a WF Mencap project exploring the shared experiences and memories of a group of adults who formerly lived in the Leytonstone House residential home for people with learning disabilities. The process was documented, culminating in a book and photographic exhibition at the Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow in which the group shared the project with the wider local community.