Make 2023 Participants

Gail Babb is an award-winning theatre maker who specialises in creating new work that centres and celebrates Black British experiences. As a director and dramaturg, she has created shows for theatres, found sites – including museums, swimming pools and a derelict school – as well as national and international touring. Recent credits include work with Fuel, Brixton House, China Plate, National Youth Theatre, Soho Theatre, Talawa Theatre Company, Coney, Tamasha and Hackney Showroom. In 2021, she won the Kenneth Tynan Award for Excellence in Dramaturgy and was named one of Alfred Fagon Awards’ 25 Black Champions of Theatre. Gail also facilitates creative processes in community settings and runs the MA in Applied Theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Caitríona Daly is a playwright and screenwriter from Dublin. Her plays have been produced all over the world. They include: Duck Duck Goose (WINNER Writers Guild of Ireland Zebbie Award for best theatre script 2022), Normal (nominated Fishamble New Writing Award and First Fortnight Award, Dublin Fringe 2017) and Test Dummy (nominated Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play 2016). In 2022 she was awarded the Irish Theatre Institute’s Phelim Donlon Playwright’s Bursary and Residency. She writes frequently for television and has written for shows on RTÉ and the BBC. She is currently under commission with Run of The Mill and The Abbey Theatre.

Éadaoin Fox is a theatre and film director from Cork. Her credits include: Electra (The Kino, 2020), Earwig (The Roundy, 2020) A Girl is A Half Formed Thing (The Carly Churchill Theatre, London 2021), Strain (Myrtleville Beach, 2022) The Future is Clean and Round (DISK theatre, Prague Quadrennial 2022), This is You which featured at St. Luke’s Crypt in 2023 as a part of Cork Midsummer Festival and Smock Alley Theatre as a part of Dublin Fringe Fest. Éadaoin shadowed on Paradise Now! By Margaret Perry in 2022 at the Bush Theatre, which was later nominated for an Olivier. She also assisted on The Glass Menagerie, directed by Emma Jordan at The Everyman in 2023. Film credits include; Pit which featured at the 21 Islands International Film Fest in 2021. Electra which featured Half Moon Fest in 2020, LASTA Fest 2021, and Galway Fringe Fest 2021 and Smell PVC, which featured at Lift Off Global Film Fest 2022, Berlin Indie Film Fest 2022, and Bath Fringe Arts in 2023.

Aoife Nyhan-Kavanagh is an experimental multidisciplinary artist, living and working in Dublin, Ireland. Originally an oral storyteller, her latest works weave their story through song, dance, aerial circus and theatre. She is especially interested in the alchemy of performance space, and the transformative experience of live enactment. With her circus-theatre company “Erebidae Circus” she explores immersive theatrical group performance, with her musical group Kooshla she performs old Irish language folk music. Recently she has been developing solo work supported by The Experimental Circus Award 22/23, Fingal Artists’ Support Scheme 2023, The Mermaid Arts Centre and The Arts Council Agility & Bursary Awards 2021.

Anthony Keigher is an award winning performer, writer and producer making musical theatre, cabaret and club experiences under the alter-ego of pop-star Xnthony. He explores pop culture, social phenomena and community life to create multi-platform performances that are thought provoking and acerbic. The work often focuses on revisiting historical moments or long held cultural traditions as a way to create new conversations.

Brigid Leahy is a Vietnamese-Irish-American actor and writer. She is an alumni of Dublin Fringe Festival’s Weft Studio, a collective for POC artists. During her time with Weft, she developed the concept for her play, “DADDY ISSUES”, with a work-in-progress presented at Smock Alley Theatre. As an actor, TV & film credits include Disney’s Disenchanted, As Luck Would Have It (Hallmark Channel), Smother (Treasure Entertainment/BBC Studios), Avenue 5 (HBO), Familiar (BBC/Fremantle), and Can’t Cope Won’t Cope (Deadpan Pictures). Theatre credits include Spring Awakening (Ill-Advised), Discretion Guaranteed (Edinburgh Fringe) and various productions with Hooligan Theatre Company at University of California, Los Angeles. Brigid is also the recipient of the 2022 Virgin Media Discovers Award for co-writing and co-producing the script Good Chips and was mentored by Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson. Next up, Brigid will write and perform a piece in Draíocht’s NEST led by artistic director Veronica Coburn.

Colm is a Belfast based theatre-maker and wannabe cabaret star of the Glens. He is the current reigning Little Miss Associate Artist of SkelpieLimmer who produced his first show ‘Scaredy Fat’. The show had successful runs at Edinburgh Fringe and Dublin Fringe where it was nominated for an OffFest Award as well as four Dublin Fringe Awards including Best Performer. ‘Scaredy Fat’ won The LET Award 2023, CQAF Theatre Award, and the Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnership with Lyric Theatre Belfast. Colm is currently an Incubate Artist with Tinderbox Theatre Company as well as a HATCH Artist with The MAC Belfast where he is developing new work with Fergus Wachala-Kelly.

Cian is a theatre maker from Co. Dublin, working mainly as a performer and musician on new collaborative work. He graduated from Trinity College in 2020, having studied Drama and History of Art. As an actor he has performed with Gift Horse Theatre Company, tasteinyourmouth, as well as in works-in-progress including Rough Magic’s Rough Weekend and Fighting Words’ staged readings at the Abbey Theatre, and has developed his music composition practice independently. He has a particular interest in architecture and in how the built environment shapes our understanding of history, and seeks to incorporate this research into performance making. With Martha Knight, he is developing a new work for Dublin Fringe Festival and the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, with the support of the Romilly Walton Masters Award for Experimental Performance. In 2023, Cian trained in clown with Philippe Gaulier in France and interned with Rimini Protokoll at Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, Switzerland.

Molly O’Cathain is a Set and Costume designer for theatre, dance, and opera. Previous designs include CONSTELLATIONS: The Gate, BAJAZET: Irish National Opera, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD; Gaiety & Lyric Theatres. Previous costume designs include AN OCTOROON: The Abbey and TO THE LIGHTHOUSE: Hatch/Everyman. She is a co-founder and the designer of all of Malaprop Theatre’s productions, including HOTHOUSE, EVERYTHING NOT SAVED, and LOVE+.

Emma O’Grady is an Inis Oírr-based theatre artist, actor, writer, documentary maker and theatre production manager. She creates documentary theatre, film and art inspired by true events, real lives and shared histories under the name Up Up Up. Emma’s first play ‘What Good is Looking Well When You’re Rotten on the Inside?’ – based on cassette tapes recorded by her civil servant grandfather one month before his death – was produced to critical acclaim in 2017. In 2020 she created documentary series ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous: A Celebration of Difficult Women’ for Dublin Fringe and Bealtaine. She co-wrote ‘The Local’ with Clare Monnelly and Medb Lambert for Asylum Productions and it premiered at Kilkenny Arts Festival 2023. Her new production ‘Dogs Already Know How To Love’ – a show for dogs and their humans – will tour in 2024. Emma was an Irish Theatre Institute Six in the (Virtual) Attic artist 2022-23 and a Druid FUEL artist 2021.

Favour Odusola (Proud African King) is a Nigerian Irish multidisciplinary artist based in Dublin Ireland and a professional member of Dance Ireland and Create Ireland. He has worked across several contexts from traditional dance & percussion to commercial work and contemporary theatre for over 15 years in Europe (Ireland and London), Africa (Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria), and UAE (Dubai).

Salamay, an Irish artist from Cork, has established himself in the hip-hop community with his distinctive brand of contemporary hip-hop. Salamay has made a name for himself in the Irish music industry as a musician with a strong affinity for the genre. He draws inspiration from various experiences to infuse his music with unfiltered emotion and a brazen attitude. His songs address issues like love, sorrow, and tenacity while painting a vivid image of life’s reality. Salamay’s particular approach captivates audiences with witty wordplay, catchy choruses, and a charming delivery. Salamay’s music demonstrates his artistic ability by deftly fusing parts of hip-hop with more modern sounds to produce a distinctive and original sound. His contagious beats and earworm tunes have a way of making you desire more because they captivate you. Salamay challenges genre conventions with each song, shattering preconceived notions and reinventing what it means to be a Hip Hop artist in the context of music. Salamay stands out as a beacon of authenticity and originality in a society overrun with cookie-cutter artists. His music is a potent reminder that hip hop is more than just a genre; it’s also a means of self-expression and narrative. Every phrase, tempo, and performance are infused with Salamay’s ardor for his work. He serves as a showcase for the rich and varied hip-hop talent that Ireland has to offer.

Eftychia is a professional director, performer, dramaturg and drama educator from Greece, currently based in Ireland. She was Dead Centre’s Resident Artist for 2022. Her directing and assisting directing credits include collaborations with Landmark Productions,ANU,Dead Centre,dlr Mill Theatre,Sightless Cinema,Anseo Theatre. In 2020 she co-founded Common Crow Theatre company. Her artistic interests lie in new approaches in staging and modernising ancient Greek texts and collaborative,multidisciplinary storytelling focused on the idea of diaspora throughout history and real cases of social injustice. Her creative process is informed by her volunteer work with the elderly and the refugee community. She holds a Bachelor in acting from the Drama School of the National Theater of Northern Greece, a Bachelor of Drama Studies from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She also holds an MFA in Theatre Directing by the Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts(Trinity College University).

I am a Dublin-based Independent Producer working across theatre, dance, and multidisciplinary performance. As well as being Producer for Dead Centre, I am a Creative Producer working with independent artists. From intimate audio experiences,  to raucous stage shows, to artistic interventions in public space; I work collaboratively, with lots of brilliant artists, to grow the seeds of ideas into compelling live productions. Right now I’m obsessed with Queer lineage, the pageantry of sport, and nostalgia. Recent projects include MOSH (Project Arts Centre, Dublin Fringe Festival, 2023); Glimmer (Live Collision International Festival, 2022); Heat Sink (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2022); You’re Still Here and I Feel You Apart From Me (Dublin Fringe Festival, 2021). Other companies I have produced with include Landmark Productions, Dublin Dance Festival, Headlong, Live Collision, New York Live Arts, Amanda Coogan, Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, Bombinate and Trans Live Art Salon.

Ray Young is an award winning trans-disciplinary performance artist, theatre maker and writer. Their practice exists at the boundaries of contemporary theatre, live art, text, movement, activism and neuro-diversity. Their most recent work BODIES is an immersive water, light and soundscape installation that investigates the embodied experiences of our relationship to water. BODIES is a sister piece to THIRST TRAP – a meditative sound piece that delves into the possible outcomes of rising temperatures and the correlation between social and climate justice. Their work has been presented widely across the UK – including London, Cambridge, Brighton, Leeds, Edinburg – and internationally – including Dublin, Geneva, Skopje and Vienna.

Uta Lambertz (they/them) is a dramaturg, curator and systemic coach who works as artistic coordinator at Kampnagel Hamburg. Lambertz studied Theatre and Media Studies and Communication & Cultural Management and has been part of the programme team at Kampnagel since 2010. As the person responsible for cooperations, Lambertz regularly organizes cross-sector conferences; the focus of the artistic programme work is on performance, theatre, cross-genre and participatory formats – with a special focus on queerness and gender equality. In addition to local and international artists, Lambertz supports national and international networks such as “ACT – Art, Climate, Transition” (Creative Europe) and regularly takes on jury activities and teaching assignments.

Benji Reid is a British photographer, visual theatre maker, and educator. His work focuses on the intersection of race, nationhood and gender with particular attention to the Black British experience,Black masculinity, and mental health.He attended the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, studying ballet, contemporary, choreography, and lighting design. After appearing in Alan Lyddiard’s production of The Tempest at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he auditioned for Soul II Soul, became chief dancer and co-choreographer for some of their numbers, and went on a world tour as part of the collective.His photograph Holding on to Daddy(2016) was the winner of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2020 in the Mental Health category. A pioneer of Hip Hop Theatre and culture in the UK, Reid defines himself as a ‘Choreo-Photolist’, a term he coined to refer to the practice of merging theatre and choreography in his photography. His work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in New York, Somerset House in London, and Design Fair Paris.Reid then trained for a year with David Glass, touring nationally with the David Glass Ensemble. He has worked with director Denise Wong and Black Mime Theatre, as well as directing Aeroplane Man by Jonzi D, and co-creating the pieces Silence da Bitchin’ and Cracked.The hip hop musical Avalanche at Nottingham Playhouse marked the foundation of Reid’s own company, Breaking Cycles. Reid took part in the Hip-Hop Theater Festival in New York, and was the curator of The Illness at Sadler’s Wells in London. Reid’s show The Holiday toured to PS122 in New York, Sydney Opera House, the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House, and more. In 2006, Reid founded Process 06, an opportunity to explore Hip Hop Theatre as an educational tool.When his company was left without funds in 2011, Reid’s journey into photography started. His first photography exhibition was A Thousand Words at Contact Theatre. From a love note to his daughter to exploring mental health through surreal portraits and self-portraits, for Reid photography represents a possibility to celebrate love and fragility, challenging stereotypes of Black masculinity. Reid refers to his creative work as ‘part ritual, part photography, and part prayer.’

Ragnheiður Skúladóttir was born and raised in Reykjavík.  She finished her BA in theatre and multimedia at the University of Iowa in 1991 and her MFA at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1996. Following her studies she moved to New York City where she  lived and worked as a performer, performance maker, coach and instructor. In 2000, following a 13 year stint in the U.S, she moved back to Reykjavík  after being offered the position of  Dean of Department of Theatre and Dance at then newly founded Iceland Academy of the Arts. Ragnheiður worked at the Academy until 2011, initiating new programs in contemporary performance practices and contemporary dance. In 2008 she co-founded the LÓKAL International Theatre Festival, an annual event that presents new local and international work in the field of theatre and performance. She was artistic director of the Akureyri City Theatre from 2012 to 2015 and manager of Iceland Dance Company 2016-2019. Ragnheiður is the artistic director and CEO of Festspillene i Nord-Norge since 2019.

Ragnheiður has years of experience as teacher and mentor (at IAA, University of Syracuse, Academy for Scenekunst in Fredrikstad, MAKE Ireland, NB8 Nordic Circle Mentoring Program, Future Leaders in the Performing Arts). She has also worked with various artists/groups as a producer and served as a critical friend (Kviss búmm bang, Dance for Me, Room 408, Shalala, Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir)