Photo by Pies Allardyce

Javaad Alipoor (he/him) is a British-Iranian, writer, performer, and Artistic Director of The Javaad Alipoor Company. He wrote, co-directed, and performed in The Believers Are But Brothers as an international touring show, and wrote and performed in the TV adaptation for BBC Four. Its follow-up, Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls, co-created with Kirsty Housley, written for the stage and for its digital world tour, which included a run at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, won his second Fringe First Award. Together with Chris Thorpe he wrote and directed the tri-lingual theater production, Made of Mannheim, which had its world premiere with Nationaltheater Mannheim and Theaterhaus G7. His most recent work Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World opened to five-star reviews and sold out audiences at Battersea Arts Centre and HOME, Manchester.

Javaad was Resident Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres from 2017-18 where he directed a new version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Prior to this, he was Associate Director at Bradford’s Theatre in the Mill from 2015 to 2017. His writing about politics and culture has been featured in The Guardian, The Independent, and The Stage. His plays have been published by Oberon and Nick Hern, and his poetry by Art in Usual Places.

Raam Emami (he/him), aka **
King Raam**, is an Iranian musician, writer, actor and podcast host. He started his musical career in the undergrounds of Tehran. With a great deal of international press behind his band, including features in the New York Times, MTV, Billboard, NPR, CNN, VICE, NME , and Vanity Fair, Raam paved the way for a new generation of aspiring underground Iranian artists.

In January 2018, Raam's father,  Kavous Seyed Emami, a prominent environmentalist, was arrested in Tehran under false charges of espionage. Two weeks after his arrest he was killed in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. Raam and his family attempted to flee Iran, but the authorities detained his mother and confiscated her passport. Raam and his brother were allowed to leave, but his mother was held hostage in Iran for 582 days.

Besides his live shows with his band, Raam has also channeled his creative energy into a one-man storytelling performance called “Departure” about his family's experience and his father's legacy, woven together with his music. He also has a podcast in Persian called "Masti o Rasty," since its inception in 2020 the show has had over 40 million streams.

Photo by Emma Rowan-Kelly

Me-Lee Hay (she/her) composes for film, TV, dance and theatre. A Malaysian-born Chinese-Australian, she has had works shown across multiple platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Tubi, commercial TV channels and mainstream cinemas, plus international planetariums and film festivals including Cannes and Sitges.

Off the screen, Me-Lee has been commissioned by leading arts companies of Australia such as Sydney Dance Company’s PPY, Sydney Theatre Company as well as performing at the Sydney Opera House. Me-Lee received her debut nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2024 for Best Composer and Sound Designer in Independent Theatre (Face of Jizo)as well as her first AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) nomination for Best Original Score in Film in the same year (Suka).

Classically trained in piano and cello, Me-Lee is a graduate of the Australian Film Television Radio School (AFTRS), an Associate Composer Representative of the Australian Music Centre and was the Vice President of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers for 4 years. She composed for her first ballet in 2024 entitled GOLD presented at Parramatta Riverside Theatre (Sydney), a magical children's ballet set in the Australian bush during the historic gold rush era.

Photo by Michael Shelford

Asha Reid (she/her)

Theater includes: - One Jewish Boy (Trafalgar Studios), Snowflakes (Old Red Lion), Pufferfish (Vault Festival), One Jewish Boy (Old Red Lion), Graceful (RADA Studio/Rosemary Branch Theatre), Inside Pussy Riot (Les Enfants Terribles), Biggest Tarantino Fan in the World (The Vaults Festival/Arcola), Edinburgh Test (Pleasance/Old Red Lion), Stay Happy Keep Smiling (Jermyn Street Theatre), I Found Joy in a Hopeless Place (Hackney Showrooms), Money Womb (Theatre 503), A Third (Finborough Theatre), Scarlet (Southwark Playhouse), Electra (Old Vic), Cross Purpose (Crypt Gallery), Medea (The London Theatre), The Hate Play (Box Clever Theatre), Miniaturists: The Interval (Arcola), Scarlet (Bush), The Tempest (Watford Palace), Lord of the Flies (Broadway Theatre), The Magpies The Wolves (Tristan Bates/Pleasance), Hacked (Theatre 503), The Beggars Opera (Regent’s Park Open Air).

Film includes: - This Is Gay (BBC), FEMME Feature Film, FEMME Short Film – (BIFA Winner & BAFTA Nominated), Horror Vacui, Into Me See, Face The Camera & Smile, House Hold, Gemma’s Wedding, Puzzled, White Collar, Weird Love. Television: - The Syndicate (BBC1), Nutritiously Nicola (London Live).