Curtis-Lee Ashqar - Laurence
Curtis-Lee’s theatre credits include Peat (The Ark, Dublin), and on screen has been in Game of Thrones, Into the Badlands, Torvill & Dean, The Gift. He also has roles in the upcoming BBC series Hope Street and feature film Ballywalter.
Brendan Coyle - John
Brendan Coyle's most recent theatre includes St Nicholas (Donmar Warehouse & Goodman Theatre), The Price (Theatre Royal Bath & Wyndham's Theatre), Mojo (Harold Pinter), The Silver Tassie (Almeida) and Buried Child (National Theatre). Brendan also starred in the original production of The Weir at the Royal Court, in the West End and on Broadway; winning both the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor & New York Critics’ Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. On screen, Brendan is most recognised for playing Mr Bates in Downton Abbey (ITV); for which he won 3 SAG Awards for Outstanding Ensemble and received Emmy, BAFTA and IFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and for playing Robert Timmins in Lark Rise to Candleford (BBC). Most recent TV includes Requiem (BBC/Netflix) and Spotless (Netflix). Brendan will next be seen in feature Downton Abbey 2 directed by Simon Curtis. He can be seen in Downton Abbey 1 and in Mary Queen of Scots directed by Josie Rourke. Other recent movies include Unless and Me Before You.
Michelle Fox - Neasa
Michelle’s recent theatre credits include Romeo & Juliet (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Armadillo (Yard), Translations and If We Were Older (National Theatre, nominated WhatsOnStage Best Actress Award for Translations) and Medea and King Lear (Bristol Old Vic). Television credits include A Very English Scandal, Overshadowed and Casualty.
Rory Keenan - Ian
Rory’s most recent theatre credits include Plenty (Chichester Festival Theatre), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (West End/BAM New York), Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse) and The Seagull (Dublin International Theatre Festival). His TV work includes The Duchess for Netflix, Versailles for Canal+, and BBC’s War and Peace, Peaky Blinders and Birdsong. Film work includes The Young Messiah, Grimsby, Second Coming and The Guard.
Conor McPherson - Writer
Conor McPherson was born in Dublin in 1971 and began writing for the stage while a student at University College Dublin. His plays include Girl from the North Country (with Bob Dylan), The Weir, The Seafarer, The Night Alive, Port Authority, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, Rum and Vodka, and The Good Thief. Adaptations include Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (Sonia Friedman Productions at the Harold Pinter Theatre), August Strindberg’s Dance of Death (Donmar) and Franz Xaver Kroetz’s The Nest (Young Vic/Lyric Theatre Belfast).
Nadia Fall - Director
Nadia Fall trained at Goldsmiths College, University of London (MA Directing) and on the NT Studio's Directors programme. Nadia directed The Village and King Hedley II as her first shows as Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East. In May 2020 she directed The Outside Dog for BBC One as part of London Theatre Company’s Talking Heads monologue series. In September 2020 she directed NO MASKS for Sky Arts, a one-off drama based on testimonials from key workers. She wrote and directed Welcome To Iran, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the Lockdown Theatre Festival. Her other directing credits include Three Sisters, The Suicide, Our Country’s Good, Dara, Chewing Gum Dreams, Home, Hymn, The Doctor's Dilemma (National Theatre), Hir, Disgraced (Bush Theatre), R and D (Hampstead Theatre), Way Upstream (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hobson's Choice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), How Was It For You? (Unicorn Theatre), Sticks & Stones (Polka Theatre), The Maids (Lyric Hammersmith), Miss Julie (Croydon Warehouse Theatre) and Wild Turkey (Site Specific). As Associate Director, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Gielgud Theatre), Collaborators and The Habit of Art (National Theatre), and as Staff Director, Rocket to the Moon, Really Old, Like Forty Five, Phèdre and Much Ado About Nothing (National Theatre). Fall has directed at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and led participation initiatives with partners such as the Young Vic, Clean Break, Soho Theatre and the Royal Court.
