When the Blackbird Sings

CREATIVE TEAM

Erica Whyman - Director

Erica Whyman has had a long career leading theatres - Southwark Playhouse, the Gate Theatre, London, and Northern Stage, Newcastle where she was awarded the OBE for services to British Theatre. From there she became Deputy and later Acting Artistic Director of the RSC. Her production of Ben and Imo by Mark Ravenhill for the RSC’s Swan Theatre transferred to the Orange Tree, London in 2025 and was nominated for an Olivier Award; Hamlet by Lolita Chakrabarti from the novel by Maggie O’Farrell was produced by Neal Street and the RSC in Stratford and the West End, and is now touring the USA.

Other notable productions include Revolt she said, revolt again by Alice Birch, The Museum in Baghdad by Hannah Khalil, Seven Acts of Mercy by Anders Lustgarten, Miss Littlewood by Sam Kenyon (all RSC) and Our Friends In The North by Peter Flannery (Northern Stage).

Currently, she is developing a new musical Freya with Cressida Cowell and Bjorn Ulvaeus; a stage adaptation of The Last Colony by Philippe Sands with Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson and Good Chance Theatre; and will direct Handel’s Serse for Garsington Opera in 2027. She is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, considering the role of culture in our democracy.

Natty Mark Samuels - Writer

Natty Mark is a writer, undergraduate astronomer and folklorist. In 2009, he founded African School, based in Oxford. He wrote The Encyclopedia of Rootical Folklore, published in America. Articles and poems have been published in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.

Writer of Lady of the Trees (Old Fire Station and Ruskin College) about Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmental activist; Dance for Claudia Jones (East Oxford Community Centre), a spotlight on the Trinidadian political campaigner; a promenade play, Finding The Spindleberry (Blackbird Leys Festival), directed by Erica Whyman.

He’s the founder of Betelgeuse Theatre: Astronomy through Dramatics and writer of one act-play Lady Ionosphere (East Oxford Community Centre), about Nigerian physicist, Francisca Okeke. He also began the East Oxford Astronomy Club, based at Leys College.

Helen Eastman - Writer and Co-Director

Helen is a writer and director of theatre, opera and film and a Novello-nominated lyricist. She trained at LAMDA, after graduating from Oxford University and has a doctorate from KCL. She is the artistic director of Creation. For the company she has directed: Animal Farm, Boatman Town, Sherlock in Summertown, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wind in the Willows, The Nutcracker and Twelfth Night.

Extensive writing credits include: 147, Chefs (Sheffield Crucible); Climat (Montpellier Opera House), Hercules (Chester Storyhouse); She Sells Sea Shells, Don’t Tell Me Not To Fly (Underbelly); In the Night Garden Live (Minory CBeebies); Foreclosure Follies (Symphony Space, NY / world tour); Bicycle Boy (Without Walls, Brighton Festival, GDIF); The Nutcracker, Alby the Penguin Saves Christmas (Reading Rep), Dear Father Christmas (Oxford Playhouse) and many choral pieces, including recent works premiered by the BBC Singers and National Youth Choir.

She has directed work for companies including ETO, City of London Festival, Cork Opera House, The National Theatre Studio, RADA, Glasgow Citz, and Delphi International Festival. Her films have been installed at the V&A. She is artistic associate of the APGRD at Oxford University.

She founded the Live Canon ensemble and created over one hundred poetry shows, pop-ups and interventions with the company at venues from Abbey Road to Broadway. She has been poet-in-residence at many organisations, most recently leading the Poetic Science project at Southampton University.

She has served as Classics advisor to the National Theatre and many West End productions - including Kae Tempest’s Paradise for which she wrote the literal translation from Sophocles’ ancient Greek. Her climate cabaret, written with Alex Silverman, has recently been performed for the UN and on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange to launch their inaugural climate week.

Afsaneh Gray - Writer

Afsaneh is a writer for stage, screen and audio. She grew up in Oxford, where she went to Cherwell School, and then studied at the University. She is currently a member of the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Artists Programme and was recently on attachment at the National Theatre and at the Oxford Playhouse as part of Playhouse Playmakers.

Theatre credits include: Nail Bar (National Youth Theatre), Fishville (National Theatre Connections), The Task (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts), Everywoman (The Bunker), The Border (winner of the Brian Way Award 2018), and Octopus (Edinburgh Fringe/Theatre503/national tour).

For television, she has written on Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (U/Alibi) and was a regular writer on BBC Doctors. Afsaneh’s debut audio drama, an original thriller called The Other Woman, is now available on Audible.

Community Director: Gabriel Subega Zimmerer

Movement Director: Rachael Nanyonjo

Dramaturg: Pippa Hill

Designer: Anthony Lamble

Composer: Holly Khan

Sound Designer: Matt Eaton

Lighting Designer: Charles Balfour

Associate Designer & Costume Supervisor: David Spence

Production Manager: Catherine Harmer

Stage Manager: Jade Samuels

Deputy Stage Manager: Holly Cooper

Assistant Stage Manager: Amelia Barrett

Assistant Stage Manager on placement: Jemimah Greenwood

Sound Operator: Luke Stockbridge

FOH Manager: Will Van Walwyck

Dialect Coaches: Izo FitzRoy & Hazel Holden

Exhibition Curator: Ruby A Duncan

Community Chorus: Edward Archibald, Eleanor Chung, Milo Rule-Whitty, Isna Aziz, Louise Andsell, Anisah Rokib, Oscar Boddy, Elena Draghiaci-Vasilescu, Briony Truscott, Sophie McSpadden, Capucine Tincelin, Gloria Phillips, Susan Reynolds, Joel Esemuze, Julia Iball, Celeste Angel Maybell, Kaity Tibbs, Gretchen Medd, Jess Newbury, Nicky Weiner