Hear, Here! (Volume 2)

Lucy Kirkwood is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. In 2009, Lucy’s play IT FELT EMPTY WHEN THE HEART WENT AT FIRST BUT IT IS ALRIGHT NOW was produced by Clean Break Theatre Company at the Arcola Theatre. The play was nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer and made Lucy joint winner of the 2010 John Whiting Award. NSFW premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, starring Janie Dee and Julian Barratt. CHIMERICA premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2013 and subsequently transferred to the West End, earning Best New Play at the 2014 Olivier and Evening Standard Awards, as well as the Critics Circle Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Recent work includes MOSQUITOES (presented by special arrangement with Manhattan Theatre Club), which opened at the National Theatre, London, in summer 2017; and THE CHILDREN, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016. THE CHILDREN opened on Broadway in December 2017. Lucy also writes for screen: She has written for “Skins” (Company Pictures); created and wrote “The Smoke” (Kudos/Sky 1); wrote and directed the short film “The Briny”; and is developing projects with Raw TV, Cowboy Films, Clio Barnard, and Lenny Abrahamson. Her new six-part season “Adult Material” (Tiger Aspect Productions) and the mini-series of her play CHIMERICA (Playground Productions) have both recently been greenlit.

Arghya Lahiri has worked in the theatre for over twenty years, in every capacity he can get away with. His directorial credits include: The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Birthday Party, Fireface (with Pushan Kripalani, supported by the Goethe Institute, Mumbai), Crab (part of Writer’s Bloc II), a reading of Ramu Ramanathan’s The Three Ladies of Ibsen, Creado, Constance, part of One on One, Hayavadana- also with Pushan Kripalani, Wildtrack, which he
also wrote, Iron and, most recently, Swallow.

Phalguni Vittal Rao is an actor, writer/journalist and theatre-creator. She is in search of healing through ensemble-based processes. A recent graduate and an alum of Drama School Mumbai (2019-20), she also holds a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media and a BA in Theatre Studies, Communication and Media, and English from Christ University, Bangalore.

Phalguni has been performing and writing about theatre for the last seven years. She also enjoys movement-based work and wants to delve deeper into physical theatre through Kalaripayattu, dancing, clowning and mask work to find new ways of moving her body. Apart from theatre, Phalguni is an avid reader, pianist, basketball player and aspires to create an empathetic, loving world through her writing and performances.

Anuja Ghosalkar is the founder of Drama Queen, a Documentary Theatre company, in India since 2015. Her inter-disciplinary practice extends the idea of theatre to create audacious work. Her performances, lectures, have been programmed by University of Oxford, Hong Kong University, University of Cambridge, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Sophiensale, Museum of Art and Photography among others.

Rency Philip is a theatre practitioner based in Bangalore.

Swetanshu Bora is an actor, playwright and director known for works like “Pagdi” (Winner TFA 2013), & “Guilt” (Shortlist- Hindu metroplus award 2018).

Lekha Naidu is a theatre practitioner, educator and arts administrator among other things. Some call her the Girl Friday of the arts community, conveniently forgetting about the other days of the week.