meet our team
REYA
artistic director and founder
Reya combines the roles of writer and director as our founder and artistic director. She is incredibly fascinated with the complexities of our inherited literary cultural landscape, and with bringing past narratives into dialogue with our present moment.
Her background is inherently academic, with her studies at Oxford University fostering within her a deep passion for the written word. At university she was the director of her college theatre troupe, and took part in many productions as actor, director and dramaturg.
Recently, she completed her MA studying Text and Performance at RADA and Birkbeck, where she created shows which pushed against hegemonic norms, especially in her dissertation film, which took the work of 15th century proto-feminist Christine de Pizan and attempted to bring her into dialogue with modern day feminist discourse.
Her aim in creating low door was to push for a new introspection into how we approach our literary past, calling for reinvention of our cultural heritage.
she/her
marianne
principal actor and founder
Marianne is a classically trained, thoughtful, proactive actress. She recently studied for the MA in Acting and Performer Training at Rose Bruford University. Before that, she studied English Literature at Trinity College Oxford, where she often focused on performance and drama, especially in her extended essay on the future of tragedy, for which she achieved first class honors, and her dissertation on the works of Sarah Kane.
Her theatrical and academic background allows her to bring both theory and practical experience to any role, constructing rich and considered characters. She is particularly interested in the rich tapestry of tragic narratives, and in exploring a fresh approach to acting, which involves active and intelligent inquiry.
she/her
kelly
dramaturg and founder
Kelly Thurston is a writer, dramaturg and theatre-maker from Lancashire, now based in London. She is a recent graduate of RADA and Birkbeck College’s MA Text and Performance, completing the course in 2022 with a distinction. Prior to this, Kelly graduated from Lancaster University in 2017 with a first in Film, Media and Cultural Studies.
Kelly has six years professional experience in Marketing and Communications, working predominantly across the North West for various organisations, crossing artistic disciplines by working on marketing campaigns for theatre, film, music, art and more. She now works as a freelance marketeer, copywriter and graphic designer. In her spare time, she also works as a script reader for London Playwrights.
Kelly is passionate about supporting and championing new writing. She has a particular interest in stories that are nuanced, have emotional depth and are character focussed. She specialises in naturalistic dialogue and seeks to find truth in her work. Themes that often crop up in her own practice include class, mental health, relationships and the human condition.
she/her
emma
actor and founder
Emma Chatel is a writer, director and theatremaker. Originally from France, she is now based in London, where she works in both French and English. She graduated from De Montford University in 2019 with first class honours in Drama Studies, and has since explored her studies further afield, including a semester at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Fransisco in 2020. She also has acquired an MA from RADA and Birkbeck's Text and Performance course, achieving a distinction.
Through her own experience, she has become fascinated by how we understand one another, express ourselves and generally communicate as human beings. She thus tends
to approach any work through a (socio)linguistic angle, being intrinsically passionate about movement-based performances and physical theatre, especially the body in the space as linked with identity and environment. This is primarily what shapes her writing, as well as her approach on acting and character
work.
Her latest work in progress is a play about Queerness and Alzheimer’s in which she explores perception, the memory as an activity of the present and sensorial vulnerabilities.
she/her
tom
cinematographer and editor
Tom is our vision and sound chief. Combining artful and expressive imagery with experimental synth-based music production, he helps to take our scripts to the screen and beyond.
With over thirteen years of creative experience — from online short films to promotional videos and wedding shoots — and over four years in the digital marketing world — copywriting, social, and advertising — he also completed a degree in Media Production from the Unversity of Lincoln, specialising in single-camera film in his final year.
With an unconventional path comes different perspectives. Turning these perspectives into fully-fledged visions, and assisting with the production process from initial concepts to editing the final film — as seen with ‘The Empty Table’ — makes him a unique member of the collective.
When not behind a camera, he is working on his music/DJ group FYLO, where he combines the emotive charm of 1980s Italo-disco with the upfront sharp production styles of minimal house and techno.
he/him
