Mehrdad Seyf - Artistic Director
Born in Tehran, Mehrdad has lived in the UK since his teens and was educated at the Lycée Francais in Tehran and London. He trained as an actor/director with Theatre de Complicite, Monica Pagneux, Rick Zoltowski and Lorna Marshall. In 1996 he co-founded 30 Bird Productions, an Anglo-Iranian film and theatre company based in London. Mehrdad’s work is influenced by the relationship between Iranian and European cultures.
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His plays include: The Parable of the Blind; Death by Heroine; The Veil and Majnoun. Film credits include: the documentary but you speak such good English, Executive Producer and Two Obstacles to Marriage, co-written with Claire Summerfield.
Mehrdad is currently Associate Director for Attic Theatre Company and in January 2006 was Assistant Director to David Farr on The Odyssey at Lyric Hammersmith. He has also recently written his first radio play, The Virgin, for Stages of Sound, an initiative organised by BBC Radio 4, Hampstead Theatre and Arts Council England to develop Plays for Radio by writers from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Claire Summerfield - Producer
Claire trained as an actress at Rose Bruford College and with Theatre de Complicite, Monica Pagneux, David Glass and Del La Guarda. Her credits range from West End shows (Lysistrata for the Peter Hall Company) to Television Soap Operas (Family Affairs for Channel 5).
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Since 1995 Claire has co-run 30 Bird Productions, producing The Parable of the Blind, Death by Heroine, The Maids, Majnoun, The Persian Revolution and the documentary but you speak such good English. In 1999 Claire co-wrote her first film script Two Obstacles to Marriage with Mehrdad Seyf. Her freelance work includes Tiempo de Tango at Sadler’s Wells, project management and arts based training for the Almeida Theatre and producing for The Big Picture Company.
Leslie Travers – Resident Designer
Leslie trained at the Wimbledon School of Art. Current designs include ‘The Duchess of Malfi’, West Yorkshire Playhouse; ‘La Corsaire’, K Ballet, Tokyo; ‘Iolanta’/'Gianni Schicchi’, RAM; and ‘Croesus’, Opera North/Minnesota Opera.
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Theatre credits include: ‘The Man With Two Gaffers’, York Theatre Royal; ‘Shirley Valentine’, Derby Playhouse; ‘Majnoun’ and ‘Death By Heroin(e)’, Riverside Studios’; ‘Streets of Rage’ and ‘Silent Cry’, West Yorkshire Playhouse; ‘Taj’, national tour; ‘Vurt’, Contact Theatre, (winner of Arthur Peter Design Award, nominated for Manchester Evening News, Design); ‘Veriete’, Lindsay Kemp Company, world tour; ‘What’s Wrong With Angry’, Arts Theatre.
Dance and ballet credits include: Swan Lake (Asahi Award 2003) The Nutcracker, K Ballet, Tokyo, Japan (Asahi Award 2006); Some?, Space 211 Paris; The Lark Ascending, English National Ballet. Opera credits include: Le Nozze di Figaro, Graz Opera, Graz, Austria (Ring Award 2005); Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Stockholm.
Leslie was recently a top prize-winner at the European Opera Prize for his designs for Hans Heiling, Strasbourg, France. He was also a finalist and prize-winner in the Ring Award 2005, the top international competition for opera designers and directors.