MARIA ABERG

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Maria is an award-winning director, performance maker and writer. She was born and raised in the south of Sweden and started her career at the Royal Court Theatre, working as an Assistant Director on several shows before making her debut with F. X. Kroetz’s STALLERHOF at the Southwark Playhouse in 2006. Since then, Maria has directed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Exchange, Donmar Warehouse and Theatre Royal Bath, amongst others, and internationally she has worked at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Malmö Stadsteater and at the Staatstheater Mainz. She was a judge for the 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and served on the board of Pentabus Theatre between 2015 and 2019. Maria has been an Associate Artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company since 2017. Read more about Maria’s work here.

Contact Maria by emailing maria@projekteuropa.org

ANNA OGGERO

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Originally from Italy, Anna is a London-based theatre producer, teacher, and performer. After graduating in Performing Arts from the Accademia dello Spettacolo in Turin and getting a Bachelor’s and Master’s combined degree from Law University of Turin, Anna moved to London in 2017 to study at Goldsmiths University where she graduated with distinction from the MA in Musical Theatre Production. In addition to her work at PROJEKT EUROPA, Anna is also working as an independent producer with Opera Co-Pro Ltd, the JEWish Cabaret and Trinacria Theatre Company. She has also held positions at Proud Haddock Productions Ltd and Finchley Children’s Music Group. Anna is a teacher of Drama and Music at Sial.school; Head of Singing at Almost Famous Performing Arts and drama teacher for Little Voices SWL.

Contact Anna by emailing anna@projekteuropa.org

  • Rudzani Moleya

    Rudzani is a South African born, London-based interdisciplinary artist. She uses movement, voice and acting to tell stories and make connections and uses her experience with interpersonal therapy and movement as the foundation of her practice. Rudzani has taught dance workshops to children and over 60's for N'da dance company and taught performing arts workshops to young adults as well as working as a dramaturg and an assistant drama teacher.

  • Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi

    Yasmeen is a queer Iraqi/Syrian/Assyrian performer and story-maker who works across theatre, film, and audio exploring themes of migration, displacement, and social justice using the body as the birthplace of stories. She has collaborated with artists and ensembles in the UK and internationally including WHEN FARAH CRIES by Syrian playwright Mudhar Al-Hajj (Schaubude, Berlin), the satire WELCOME TO THE UK (Bunker Theatre; The Cockpit; Home, Manchester) and the Royal Shakespeare Company's A MUSEUM IN BAGHDAD.

  • Agnieszka Blonska

    Agnieszka is a Polish theatre director. She has worked in Britain, Poland and across Europe for the last 17 years both as an independent artist and in collaboration with theatre companies and venues such as Wildworks, Powszechny Theatre, Soho Theatre and Theatre Bristol. In her practice Agnieszka uses a variety of forms including participatory and performative theatre exploring the boundaries of traditional drama and play. Agnieszka is an Associate Artist at Hall For Cornwall, Truro and works as a senior lecturer at Falmouth University.

  • Tom Tegento

    Born in Gonder, Ethiopia, Tom is an expert-artist, mentor, trainer and arts researcher based in Kent with an MA in Physical Theatre and Movement studies from the University of Kent. In his practice, Tom uses mostly cultural / contemporary and traditional dances, music, theatre, comedy, creative writing and co-creative workshop training methods. Tom has worked as a session artist at Playground program with KCC, as an assistant at Moving Memory dance theatre company for the elderly, as lead artist on the ‘Body as Data’ project, and as a Creative Kent Advisory Mentor at KCC.

  • Gustavo Dias-Vallejo

    Gustavo is a theatre artist working in the intersection of theatre, performance and creative projects with communities. Initially trained as an anthropologist in Brazil, he started his career in the performing arts collaborating with a street theatre company in Argentina. He relocated to the UK in 2017, where has been collaborating across different contexts: fringe/experimental theatre, professional industry, community environments and educational institutions.

  • Dorota Wozniak

    Dorota is originally from Poland and now based in Canterbury. She is a member of L'Arche Kent Community where for years she animated and supported creative activities. She loves art and painting, patchwork making and other craft to express emotions. Dorota joined PROJEKT ENCOUNTER in 2022 and performed in LET YOUR HANDS SING IN THE SILENCE in 2023.

  • Andreea Tudose

    Andreea is an actor and theatre maker. Originally from Romania, she trained as an actor in France, Colombia, and Estonia. Her practice centres around the notion of diaspora. She is investigating how artistic training could better serve artists who speak more than one language or have more than one heritage. She writes and translates, and over the last few years has become interested in making multilingual work that aims to destabilise the dominance of the English language.

  • Yael Shavit

    Yael is a dramaturg and director with over twenty years experience collaborating on new work across disciplines both nationally and internationally and curating and facilitating artist development opportunities for creatives at all stages of their journey. She was born in Israel, grew up in London and is now based in Birmingham. Yael is a recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award and was recently Programme Director of MA Collaborative Theatre Making at Rose Bruford developing new work with a cohort of international theatre makers.

  • Aneesha Srinivasan

    Aneesha is a writer, director and researcher from Pune, India. She co-curated ARE WE THERE YET?, a festival of international art at the CLF Art Cafe in 2019. She is Resident Director at the Royal Court Theatre, where she most recently was assistant director on Bluets (2023). Aneesha has conducted workshops on coloniality and identity with the Young Vic Theatre, CSSD, Guildhall, Mountview and Part of the Main Theatre. She was on the curatorial panel for Guildhall's DISRUPT festival in 2021.


AILIN CONANT

Ailin Conant is a Japanese-American theatre director. She is Artistic Director of New Earth, a board member of Stage Directors UK, a delegate member of Artistic Directors of the Future, and a core member of Migrants in Theatre. In 2011, Ailin founded UK-based touring company Theatre Témoin and ran the company until 2023. As Artistic Director of Témoin she has produced work in Rwanda, Israel, Kashmir, Lebanon, France, and the USA, and as a freelance director she has worked for organisations including The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court, The Bush Theatre, Kansas City Rep (USA), and Ayyam Al-Masrah (Gaza). She has worked extensively with vulnerable adults and young people in contexts of conflict and is a twice-recipient of the Wellcome Trust People Award for projects exploring trauma, addiction, and mental health. 

LILLI GEISSENDORFER

Lilli is an arts consultant, facilitator and Director of Theatre Green Book. Most recently she was Deputy Director of the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), where she introduced the first four State of the Nations research reports and oversaw its strategic growth at Newcastle University and the RSA. Previously, she was Director of Jerwood Arts, where she channelled £10 million of funding to over 1000 early-career artists, makers, curators and producers across the UK and designed and delivered the influential inclusive career and culture change programme Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries. 

As a producer, Lilli co-founded HighTide in 2007, and has made shows for theatres including Arcola, Bush and Almeida, where she transferred numerous productions to the West End and beyond including Ghosts, Charles III, 1984, Chimerica, Ink and Mary Stuart. She has also worked at Arts Council England, and think tanks Demos and The Young Foundation. She has been a Clore Emerging Leader, and a Salzburg Global Seminar Next Generation Cultural Fellow. She is currently Co-Chair of Fuel Theatre, an Advisor to the national movement What Next? for culture, a mentor with Arts Emergency and Speakers for Schools, and really wants to start a podcast to go where Front Row can’t.

LUCIAN MSAMATI

Lucian Msamati is an award winning, BAFTA nominated actor, writer and director. Raised and educated in Zimbabwe by Tanzanian parents, he is a founding member of the acclaimed Over the Edge theatre company based in Harare. After leaving the University of Zimbabwe in 1997, alongside performing and touring with Over the Edge, he worked as a freelance copywriter, voiceover artist and radio broadcaster. He relocated to the UK in 2002. He served as Artistic Director of British-African theatre company tiata fahodzi from 2010 to 2014. He is an Associate Artist of the RSC and Rose Theatre and is a current board member of the Donmar Warehouse. His theatre credits include Waiting for Godot (West End), Romeo & Juliet, 'Master Harold'...and the boys, Amadeus, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Amen Corner, The Comedy of Errors, Death and the King's Horseman, The Overwhelming (all NT); Othello and Pericles (RSC); Little Revolution, Ruined and I.D (Almeida) and Clybourne Park (Royal Court). His TV credits include ​​Gangs of London, Luther, Game of Thrones, Taboo, Black Earth Rising, His Dark Materials and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

NANCY MEDINA

Nancy Medina was born in New York via the Dominican Republic and is the Artistic Director of the Bristol Old Vic. Prior to joining BOV, Nancy was joint Artistic Director of the Bristol School of Acting and a freelance director. As a director, recent credits include Trouble in Mind (National Theatre), Two Trains Running (Royal & Derngate/ETT), Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre), Yellowman (Young Vic), The Darkest Part of the Night (Kiln Theatre). Awards include the 2020/2021 Peter Hall Bursary (National Theatre), the 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award (Royal & Derngate/English Touring Theatre), Genesis Future Director Award (Young Vic), and the Emerging Director’s Prize (Tobacco Factory Theatres).

ROXANA SILBERT

We are open to expressions of interest from individuals who are keen to join our board of trustees.

If this is you, please email us on hello@projekteuropa.org

Roxana Silbert was born in Buenos Aires and moved to England with her Russian father and Italian mother when she was six. She studied English at Cambridge before training as a director at the London Drama Studio, Ealing. She was Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre (2012-2019); Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company; Artistic Director of Paines Plough (2005-2009); Literary Director at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (2001-2004); and Associate Director of the Royal Court (1998-2000). During her tenure at Birmingham Rep she attracted world class theatre makers to the city and put artistic quality, diversity and access firmly at the heart of one of the UK’s leading producing theatres. Roxana also initiated the theatre’s artist development and adult engagement programmes, which significantly enhanced the diversity of the theatre’s artistic pool. Roxana was Artistic Director at Hampstead Theatre until 2023.