Company — Playing ON

About Us

Playing ON is creating a world where communities are better understood.

We bring together experts by experience and experts by profession through innovative performances, workshops and training to explore new relationships; transforming lives and improving the wellbeing of all.

Playing ON was founded in 2010 by Jim Pope and Philip Osment.

Our Core Values

Co-creation

Our delivery teams, consisting of professional theatre makers and lived experience practitioners, create theatre which brings together participant groups of experts by experience and experts by profession: mental health service users are facilitated to co-create with doctors; care leavers with carers; young people with youth workers; prisoners with officers etc.

Authenticity

By providing platforms for people to share their lived experiences we create a fertile ground for different standpoints to be explored and understood; often voices not regularly given the space to be shared, and those historically underserved by publicly funded culture.

Creativity

Using the creative tools of theatre making we build imaginary worlds from truthful conversations with different communities, these lead to innovative performances in theatre and community spaces.

Personal growth

We provide one to one mentoring with participants, training programmes for associate and freelance artists; and we work with our partners to forge pathways into training, education and employment.

Community

We bring arts expertise to underserved communities through relevant partnerships in education, healthcare and the third sector.

The Team

Jim Pope

Artistic Director & CEO

More about Jim

He has extensive experience as an actor, director and teacher and performed the role of Liam in INSIDE, co-directing the Roundhouse production. He directed Philip Osment’s Hearing Things and Can I Help You? for which he received an Offie nomination for Best Director.

He is a trainer for Leap Confronting Conflict and he has provided teaching, training and consultation for the Roundhouse, The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Cardboard Citizens and the NYT in peer mentoring & working with challenging behaviour and taught on BA and MA courses at Central SSD and Brighton University.

Jim cofounded Playing ON in 2010, with Philip Osment.

Rhian Davies

Executive Director

More about Rhian

Rhian first worked with Jim and Philip many years ago while a member of National Youth Theatre.

Having trained in Applied Theatre at Central School of Speech and Drama, Rhian spent several years working in casting, including at London 2012 Ceremonies as a cast coordinator.

In 2016 Rhian completed an MA in Creative Producing at Birkbeck, at which time she started work at Omnibus Theatre as Producer for Creative Learning.

She reconnected with Playing on in 2017 and has worked with them since 2018. She is also Producer at YESYESNONO.

Rebecca Charlton

Projects & Marketing Assistant

More about Rebecca

Rebecca began working with Playing ON through her professional placement term while studying in October 2020. She is currently in her third year at Central School of Speech and Drama on the BA (Hons) Drama, Applied Theatre and Education course, and hopes to go on to complete a Masters in Directing in the future.

Rebecca grew up in the North East of England, and loves engaging with local communities to make politically-charged theatre. She can’t wait to continue working with Playing ON, and is super excited to join the team in 2021.

Associate Artists

Michael Amaning

More about Michael

Michael is an Actor, Writer and Workshop Facilitator who originally met Jim in 2003 through Blue Sky Arts and Media, a New Deal regeneration initiative in South Kilburn for which Jim designed the curriculum. He subsequently joined the Playing UP course at the NYT and created the part of Jamal in the production of INSIDE.

He has a degree in Theatre Studies, PGCE in English and Drama and recently completed his Masters in Screenwriting. Michael has worked with different groups of young people and adults across London and is enthusiastic about the arts and social change.

Jill Power

More about Jill

Jill became an associate artist in 2018. She joined PLaying ON after being a participant on a project at the Albany theatre, She is now a practioner working in mental health settings. She also provides peer mentoring and pastoral support. She joined the Young Vic neighborhood voices writing programme in 2019 and has completed her first full length play. Jill enjoys performing at spoken word events. In addition she is responsible for programming social and economic inclusion events for LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers. IN 2016 she won a Change Makers award at the Southbank for this work.

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Lin Coghlan

More about Lin

Lin Coghlan is from Dublin. She travelled to England in search of work as a teenager and eventually found her way into the arts by training at the Rose Bruford College. Alongside her work in conventional theatre spaces including the National Theatre, The Bush, The Soho Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic,she has always maintained a commitment to working with and alongside marginalised and disadvantaged communities. She has run several long term projects in prisons, with the homeless and in youth clubs and drop in centres, and most recently with refugees and looked after children in Derby.

Her screenplay First Communion Day [BBC Films] was Winner of the Dennis Potter Play of the Year Award, and Some Dogs Bite [Kindle Entertainment/BBC] winner of the Audience Prize at the Nantes Film Festival. She has numerous credits on British and Irish television alongside many dramatisations for BBC Radio 4.

Lucy Richardson

More about Lucy

Lucy Richardson is a director, dramaturg and educator. Her work focuses on giving a platform to those under-represented in the theatre and in society. It spans professional theatre work and large-scale participatory projects. Recently she has made work with ex-offenders for Clean Break, refugees for Sanctuary Voices, and women with lived experience of mental ill health for Southwark Women’s Forum. She has become adept at working on zoom.

Lucy’s directorial work includes The Woman Who Cooked her Husband by Debbie Isitt in the West End, The Quick by Stephanie Jacob at the Tristan Bates Theatre and Heart Speak by Zawe Aston for Clean Break. The Strongbox by Stephanie Jacob won The Origins Award for Outstanding New Work at Vault 2018. Bare Knuckle – a one man about bare knuckle fighting in the traveller community – has been selected to be showcased at the United Solo Festival in New York later this year. Mid Life, a show about the menopause, will open at Bristol Old Vic and at High Tide early next year. Lucy was Associate Director of Project Phakama for many years making large scale, immersive, participatory performance in South Africa, Argentina, India and Lesotho and UK. Her book Phakama: Making Participatory Performance is published by Bloomsbury Methuen this year. Lucy has directed over 30 productions in Drama Schools and Universities and was Artistic Director for Lewisham Youth Theatre for 10 years.

Nishna Mehta

More about Nishna

Nishna Mehta recently completed her MA in Theatre for Young Audiences at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, England. Having worked as a performer, director, light designer and operator, workshop facilitator, marketing manager and administrator for various theatre companies in Mumbai, India. Her mantra of doing theatre is “Make it happen”. She wishes to share the magic and joy of theatre with children across age groups and backgrounds throughout the world. The same joy that inspired her to be a maker as she grew older. She is the Champions Project Lead for the International Inclusive Arts Network and has also attended the ASSITEJ Next Generation residencies Augenblick Mal!, Berlin in 2015 and On The Edge, Birmingham in 2016. She is also a wildlife enthusiast, especially butterflies and will toss random facts during conversations.

Hannah Gittos

More about Hannah

Hannah is a director/actor/writer. As a director, she is currently working on a new play to be performed in the Chichester Showroom. She directed the brilliant political show for kids, Kidocracy by Keith Farnam and the critically acclaimed The Burning Tower in association with Bush Theatre. She has worked extensively for Lyric Hammersmith including on their ground-breaking START programmes. She has delivered on theatre projects in both Rochester and Feltham YOI alongside the Artistic Director of Playing ON, Jim Pope. This includes a programme of work which led to the extraordinary play “Inside” by the co-founder of Playing ON, the late and great Philip Osment. She’s also delivered projects for the NYT and Roundhouse. In Comedy, she directed the multi-award winning, Womaz.

As an actor and writer, she is a founding member of the 5* sketch group Comedy Bitch and has worked repeatedly with the award-winning theatre company Tangled Feet and The Work Theatre Collective. She is the writer and performer of her one-woman show, The Clown, T & Me – the incredible story of an unexpected relationship and the power of creativity. The show successfully premiered at The Edinburgh Festival in 2017 and is now currently in further production talks. She has trained in Clown and Bouffon with the world renowned, Philippe Gaulier.

She is thrilled to be joining the incomparable Playing ON as an associate artist.

Joseph Arthur Jr.

More about Joseph

Joseph is an Actor and Facilitator. He is passionate about the arts and its ability to inspire and positively transform lives. He completed the Represent course run by Playing On at the Roundhouse in 2012 followed by the year long Performing Arts course at Generation Arts. In 2013 he attended The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts where he completed the Three Year Acting BA (Hons) course.

Lucy Shaljian

More about Lucy

Lucy Shaljian is an actor, drama practitioner, workshop leader and training consultant with over twenty years experience devising and directing actors and non actors in theatres, schools, colleges, prisons and the NHS. Currently delivering work across the UK for Leap confronting conflict; creatively managing conflict within diverse sectors including schools, charities, councils and care home settings. Lucy is passionate about using drama to explore and transform lives

Peyvand Sadeghian

More about Peyvand

Peyvand is a Performer & Performance Maker born, bred and based in London. Peyvand seeks to make socially engaged work which activates an audience and prompts them to consider the world around them and their place within it. Their work often combines live action with puppetry, video, and direct address to the audience. Springing from her own experience as a woman of mixed immigrant & refugee heritage (Malaysian Chinese & Iranian), and growing up in one of the poorest parts of the UK , common themes include resistance, displacement, and memory. Recently Peyvand has begun to explore stop motion animation and working this into her practice, receiving their first film commission through MENA Arts UK to create a short animation celebrating the MENA+ diaspora.

Recent projects include: The Art of Uprising (MENA Arts short film), Dual دوگانه (Vault Festival 2020 Show of the Week award), Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran (Fringe First award 2019), Marty & the Party (Milk presents)

Training: National Youth Theatre, Goldsmiths College University of London (BA (hons) Drama & Theatre Arts), Little Angel Theatre Performer's Puppetry

Associations/Residencies : Barbican Open Lab, Camden People's Theatre Starting Blocks, Soho Theatre Drag Lab, Soho Theatre Writers Lab, Theatre in the Mill Tech Play Learn, Little Angel Theatre

Our Board of Trustees

Lisa is the Head of Film, Games, Photography and ESports at Access Creative College, London. She was Head of Outreach, Partnerships and Student Experience at Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts, Assistant Principal at London South East Colleges and Director of Creative Arts at Lewisham College.
Lisa lives in SE London, with her husband, dog and cat.
She has two grown up children, enjoys outdoor swimming and cycling.

Over a 40-plus year career, Fitzroy has served in a number of CEO roles for local and national third sector agencies, alongside 20+ years’ experience in organisational consulting across sectors, advising and facilitating on strategy, change management, and leadership development.
He is a qualified coach and has a particular interest in coaching applications in career development and diversity & inclusion contexts, alongside an active portfolio of related leadership development activity. Fitzroy maintains an active interest in the social enterprise sector, serving as a non-executive director of three agencies in addition to his involvement at Playing ON.

As Director of Blue Box entertainment Nigel has many years’ experience as a general manager and theatre producer. As an Olivier Award winning West End production company, Blue Box have produced musicals which have transitioned from fringe “scratch” productions to West End and Broadway success via the Edinburgh fringe festival, most notably Jerry Springer the Opera. His time is currently spent running West End In Schools, which offers pantomimes, dance and drama workshops, musical theatre shows, and Shakespeare workshops to primary schools all over the UK.

Michael is an Actor, Writer and Workshop Facilitator who originally met Jim in 2003 through Blue Sky Arts and Media, a New Deal regeneration initiative in South Kilburn for which Jim designed the curriculum. He subsequently joined the Playing UP course at the NYT and created the part of Jamal in the production of INSIDE.
He has a degree in Theatre Studies, PGCE in English and Drama and recently completed his Masters in Screenwriting. Michael has worked with different groups of young people and adults across London and is enthusiastic about the arts and social change.

Zara represented Hackney as a public Governor for four years where she was Lead Governor and Quality Improvement Lead of the Council of Governors. As a staff Governor, Zara wants to represent the specific needs and views of staff as well as local communities at a strategic level to implement greater change within ELFT. Zara is a Community Clinical Psychologist working in Newham CAMHS with over 15 years of experience working in mental health services and interrelated systems. Zara considers the involvement of service users, carers, staff, and the local community to be essential in the delivery of high-quality healthcare.

Coming soon.

Yaa is a Business & Finance professional in the Health & Social Care sector. She has spent several years aiding the development of an Agency which specialises in Residential, Education and Fostering services for Looked After Children.
She has a Masters degree in Sexually Transmitted Infections & HIV which she has been utilising in her outreach work to raise awareness of Sexual Health issues.
Over the years Yaa has transitioned from Medical Biochemistry to Operations, Strategy and Business Development using Data Analytics.

Clare Forknell is Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at Freedom From Torture, leading a team which secures high value gifts from individuals, trusts and foundations and corporate supporters.
Prior to Freedom From Torture, Clare was Deputy Director at Reprieve, an organisation working to protect victims of extreme human rights abuses - people on death row, people held without charge or trial, people tortured and people targeted by illegal and lethal drone attacks. Here she led a team in raising income and mobilising the public through campaigns. Before this she worked in a variety of international development and human rights organisations.
Clare has an LLB in Law from Brunel University and when not in work can be found watching movies or dreaming about owning a dog!

Our Friends

We are associate Artist Company at Omnibus Theatre

We partner with many NHS trusts, including Camden and Islington, and East London NHS Foundation Trust

We work with and deliver at universities and drama schools across the country, including: Rose Bruford, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of Kent

We work with youth organisations including Spotlight Youth Services and Lewisham College