Mona Khashoggi
PRODUCER & WRITER
Mona Khashoggi is a theatre producer, playwright and prominent patron of the Arts. She specialises in reviving cultural stories from the Middle East and bringing them to international audiences.
After completing a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS, University of London, Mona Khashoggi co-founded the Mansoojat Foundation, a UK registered charity established to revive and preserve the traditional costumes of Saudi Arabia.
Mona Khashoggi’s passion has always been to promote the art, culture and music of the Middle East. Mona produced and wrote the play Umm Kulthum & The Golden Era, which premiered with a unique and ambitious musical and theatrical performance at the London Palladium in March 2020. Mona is now planning to tour the production internationally and is also working on new ballet and musical productions as well as short films and documentaries.
Mona is a prominent patron of the Arts, sponsoring young Arab artists, and is a consultant to galleries and Art Fairs. She has served on the events committee of the English National Ballet, Save the Children, Barakat Trust, MAP (Medical Aid for Palestine) and the Madad Foundation. Mona sponsored Ayman Yosri’s ‘Flag Series’ book, supported the Delfina Foundation’s ‘Staging History’ programme and sponsors Delfina’s Middle Eastern Art students residency.
Bronagh Lagan
Director
West End Directing Credits:
Umm Kulthum (Palladium) Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket); The Adventures of Pinocchio (Ambassadors Theatre); The Break, (Arts Theatre); Rags, in concert (Lyric Theatre)
Other directing credits:
Rags, the musical (Park Theatre); Broken Wings (Dubai Opera House; Doha Opera House & Beiteddine Festival), Rags, The Musical; Putting It Together and Little Women (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester); Children of Eden (Mackintosh theatre); A Christmas Carol (Ivy Studio); Girlfriends, in concert (Bishopsgate Institute); A Winter’s Tale (Rose Theatre, Kingston) Brexit, the Musical (C Venues, Edinburgh); tick, tick… BOOM! (Park Theatre); Promises, Promises (Southwark Playhouse); As You Like It (Jackson’s Lane); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Chipping Norton Theatre); The Pajama Game (Pleasence Theatre); Heart of Winter (Tristan Bates); James and The Giant Peach (UK & International Tour); A Man of No Importance (Pleasance Theatre); The Stationmaster (Tristan Bates); Rags – The Musical (Lyric Theatre); Portia Coughlan (The Old Red Lion Theatre); Girlfriends (Union Theatre); A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg (Greenwich Theatre); The Mistress Cycle (Landor Theatre); Expectations (Arcola Theatre); Blood Wedding (Courtyard Theatre); Newsrevue (Canal Café Theatre); Henry VI Part1 (Rose Theatre); Erris (Theatre 503); Julius Caesar (The Scoop) and The Madness of Sweeney (Lyric Theatre, Belfast).
Associate Director credits: Pippin (Southwark Playhouse); Becoming Shades (The Vaults); The History Boys (UK Tour) and Nothing Left to Lose (Purcell Rooms).
Twitter: @bronaghlagan
Gregor Donnelly
Set and Costume Designer
Gregor trained in Set and Costume design on the Motley Theatre Design Course and has designed for theatre, concerts and events all over the UK and abroad.
In 2016 he was nominated for Best Set Design and Best Costume Design, Off West End Awards for the J.B. Priestly play Benighted directed by Stephen Whitson. In 2017, he was nominated for Best Costume Design, Off West End Awards for The Autumn Garden, directed by Anthony Biggs. He was also nominated for Best Set Design, Off West End Awards in 2018 for Peter Pan directed by Jonathan O’Boyle and most recently nominated this year for Best Set Design for Rags currently playing at the Park Theatre and directed by Bronagh Lagan.
Set & Costume credits include: Jack and the Blingstalk (Harold Pinter), Snow Queen (Park Theatre), The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (Hope Mill Theatre), The Jazz Age (Playground Theatre), Daddy Long Legs (Barn Theatre, Cirencester), Me and My Girl (Frinton on Sea summer theatre), My Son Pinocchio (Southwark Playhouse), Rags (Hope Mill Theatre), Peter Pan (Park Theatre), I Loved Lucy (Arts Theatre/Lucille Lortel Theatre, NYC, Woodstock Theatre, NY), Cat – the Play! (Ambassadors Theatre), Shirley Mander (Playground Theatre), Shirley Valentine (Byre Theatre) Damn Yankees (Unicorn Theatre), Laughing Matters, Celia Imrie’s one woman show (Crazy Coques), The Great British Musicals starring the late Nicholas Parsons (St James Theatre/London Hippodrome), Dirty Dating (Stockport Plaza/ Epstein Theatre, Liverpool), Rumpy Pumpy (Windsor Theatre Royal/Union Theatre).
Opera credits include: The Angel Esmeralda (Silk Street Theatre, GSMD), Xerxes and Turn of the Screw both directed by Tania Holland-Williams (Barn Theatre, Scotland and tour), La Bohème (Thaxted Theatre), Barber of Seville and La Bohème (King’s Head Theatre) and A Dinner Engagement and Comedy on the Bridge Directed by Stuart Barker (Rosemary Branch).
Additional Set Design credits: Olivier Awards 2019 Media Suite and RAH TV studio design (Royal Albert Hall), Bastille’s ‘Doom Days’ album launch concert.
Forthcoming designs: Brigadoon (Barn Theatre), Olivier Awards Media Suite and RAH TV studio design (Royal Albert Hall)
Philip Michael Thomas
Choreographer
Theatre credits include: covering the role of Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street (UK tour) Assistant Dance Captain and covering the roles of Nick, Schlomo and Goody in Fame (Victoria Palace and Cambridge Theatre)Young Fred Astaire in Fred Astaire- His Daughters Tribute (London Palladium) Covering the roles of Sky and Pepper in Mama Mia! (Prince Edward Theatre) Dance Captain in the original cast of Mary Poppins (Bristol Hippodrome and Prince Edward Theatre) Mort in Artie, Gwen and Lance (Hampstead Theatre), Assistant Choreographer for The Witches Of Eastwick (UK tour), Resident Choreographer for Oliver! (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Associate choreographer for Oliver ! (UK tour).
Choreographic credits include: Rags (Park Theatre), School Of Rock (Teatro Santander), Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Tick Tick Boom (Park Theatre), Some Lovers (The Other Palace), Hampstead Heath The Musical (BBC), YouTube Rewind (2016), YouTube Rewind (2018), Songs For A New World (Courtyard Theatre)
Other credits include: The Wild West Show and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (Oakwood Theme Park),Cinderella (New Victoria, Woking)
Television includes: Stars and Stripes Concert (BBC),Sing with a Star (LWT), 80’s Mania(LWT),Queens Jubilee Concert(BBC), Queens Birthday Celebrations (BBC),Blue Peter (BBC),Children In Need (BBC)
Philip has also taught, directed and choreographed for Bird College, Arts Educational School, Urdang Academy ,Guilford School of Acting and Laines Theatre School as well as taking master classes for the R.A.D, I.S.T.D. and I.D.T.A. dance associations.
Nic Farman
Lighting Designer
Winner of The Worshipful Company of Lightmongers & ALD Award for New Talent in Entertainment Lighting 2016.
Winner of the ‘Francis Reid Award’ as part of the Association of Lighting Designers Michael Northen Bursary in 2013.
Nominated four times for Best Lighting Designer at the ‘Off West End Awards’ and shortlisted for Night of the Living Dead at Pleasance Theatre, London.
MUSICALS INCLUDE: Falsettos (The Other Palace), The View Upstairs (Soho Theatre), Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket and Middle Eastern tour), Billionaire Boy (Nuffield City, Southampton & UK tour), The Toxic Avenger (Arts Theatre & Southwark Playhouse), A Little Princess (Royal Festival Hall), Spring Awakening (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester), Liver Birds Flying Home (Liverpool Royal Court), Working (Southwark Playhouse), Freaky Friday, The
Wild Party, Nice Work if you Can Get it, Legally Blonde, Newsies, Priscilla and The Life (ArtsEd) and Dusty (Auzura, P&O Cruises).
THEATRE INCLUDES: Much Ado About Nothing (Tobacco Factory & Wilton’s Music Hall), Valued Friends (The Rose Theatre, Kingston), The Night Watch (UK tour), Night of the Living Dead (Pleasance Theatre, London), Tonight: The Eighties (JACC Kuwait & Middle Eastern tour), Kindertransport (Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg & UK tour), The Invisible Man (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), A Guide for the Homesick, Coming Clean, 3 Women and Late Company (Trafalgar Studios), Robin Hood, Jack & the Beanstalk (Salisbury Playhouse)
OPERA INCLUDES: Opera Undone, La Boheme (Trafalgar Studios), The Elixir of Love, La Traviata, Madam Butterfly and Cosi Fan Tutte (King’s Head Theatre).
Simon Hendry
Sound Designer
Simon is currently the resident Sound Designer for the London Contemporary Orchestra. Credits for the LCO include designing BBC Proms in both 2018 and 2019, The Phantom Thread live screenings (Paul Thomas Anderson / Jonny Greenwood), and varied programs with Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Terry Riley. Associate Design credits for Sound Intermedia include collaborations with the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and London Sinfonietta. Other Design credits include Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Puccini’s Tosca (Pensare Opera) and “Priesner Conducts Kieslowski” (Shanghai Symphony Orchestra)
Simon regularly performs live electronics for the Dutch composer Michel van der Aa, with credits including concerts with London Sinfonietta, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dallas Opera, Lyon Opera and the LA Philharmonic.
Simon is a professional member of the Association of Sound Designers.
Maha Alangari
Fashion Stylist
Maha is a Certified fashion stylist, colour consultant, and fashion buyer with an innate sense of style, creativity, and an eye for beauty.
Maha specialises is personal styling, red carpet dressing, styling special events, holiday styling, creative projects, editorial styling, and style and image transformations.
Maha is an expert in colour analysis and colour psychology. She has helped over a hundred people discover their customised true colours that heal them, enhance their looks and compliment their personality.
Maha has been a fashion buyer for many years. She shares her discerning eye for fashion across high end brands and emerging designers with her passion for scouting new and young design talents.
Maha’s vision is to use her years of experience and talent to inspire women and men to feel and look their best with increased self-confidence and self-love.
Neil Rawlinson
Dramaturg & Script Developer
Neil trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, from which he was incubated by companies such as Punchdrunk, Pas De Dieux and the ENO. He has been developing new actors, writers and creatives for over 17 years at top UK conservatoires, including RCSSD, Arts Ed and notably as the Creative Projects Manager of London’s Actors Centre for over six years. Neil’s specialism lies in the development of concept and new writing, working with writers and companies with projects at the embryonic stage and progressing their work with them into production. Neil has worked with film and theatre production companies in both production and casting, including Vertigo and Hubbard Casting. Neil is the Dramaturge for Umm Kulthum and the Golden Era, has also supported the Mona Khashoggi with the development of her script and the company through coaching and character development. Neil has recently worked with another company (WonderJunkie) involved in Arabic storytelling on the development of a Saudi festival bid and an immersive performance based on ancient Arabic fairy tales due to showcase in the UK and Saudi Arabia in the near future.