Introducing Graeae’s Ensemble Artists

We are thrilled to welcome our Ensemble Artists to Graeae. We asked each of them to say a little bit about themselves and why they wanted to be part of the Ensemble.

I am Jamal Ajala. I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and left Nigeria for England with my family when I was seven for a better life. When I was 16 I joined Deafinitely Youth Theatre and I have been part of Deafinitely Theatre Hub since I was 18. The Project Manager at Deafinitely Theatre encouraged me to apply to National Youth Theatre. I auditioned and later had an email from NYT that I was accepted! I have decided to pursue my acting career and I hope to get a place at drama school next year.

My name is Kellan Frankland. I have wanted to be an actor since I was 4 years old when I saw a carnival style float promoting a local production of Oliver. The energy and the absolute joy surrounding everyone performing was captivating and I realised that I didn’t want to do anything else. I love creating characters and find out what makes a character tick as well as the adrenalin of being on stage.

I am also interested in writing and politics, which is linked in with my love of acting. I really wanted to become part of Graeae’s Ensemble so that I could have the opportunity to gain a wider variety of skills in order to be an actor.

Hello, my name is Poppy Hammond. I first met Graeae through the Orpheus Centre and I did work experience with Graeae two years ago. One of my tutors at Orpheus e-mailed me about the Ensemble programme and I auditioned in September.

I love being on the stage and I have always thought about taking it further. I am really looking forward to doing more training in movement and Shakespeare and I can’t wait for the performances.

My name is Joshua King and I have always wanted to be an actor. When I was a child, I used to watch a lot of films and that is where I first found my interest in acting. Although many pathways are blocked for disabled artists, I was accepted on the Ensemble programme. I am an artist within a cast of other Ensemble artists in this programme and am privileged enough to be taught by some of the most experience tutors in the field.

I will learn the skills that I need to become a successful actor and work with some very talented cast members. My hopes from the programme are to improve my acting skills and take in as much knowledge as I can. I also hope that one day I can make my contribution to the arts – I have always tried to push the boundaries of what I can do as a disabled person and will continue to do so, and now too with the help of Graeae.

Hi, my name is Vanessa and if people were to describe my acting they would say, intense funny and silencing. I am registered blind but I never allow it to hold me back. I do not think of myself as a blind actress but merely an actress who happens to be blind. I have done a variety of projects including working with the Youth Theatre in Liverpool Collective Encounters and this has allowed me to be skilled in my acting. I have a good ear for different accents and this improves my acting as it means that if I have to play a role involving different accents I can learn them more quickly.

I am Dave; I am a poet and am in training to be a theatre maker. I feel that everybody should have a right to communicate and share their ideas, thoughts and feelings. I have been involved with theatre from the age of 11 with a youth company called ‘The Remix’ with Diverse City. I performed at the Olympic Opening Ceremony for the Weymouth sailing events in 2012.

I call myself the Shouting Mute. I am non-verbal and I use an eye gaze computer system to speak. I am a wheelchair user most of the time but I use a walking frame for sport and drama.

I applied to be part of Ensemble with Graeae because I want to expand my knowledge about the performing arts and I want to write plays; so I can make my own wonderful worlds in the future.

Ensemble is supported by City Bridge Trust.