THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE DIGITAL PROGRAMME

Declan King

• Theatre-maker from Dublin, based in Belfast
• Worked with leading theatre companies across Ireland and the UK as an actor, devisor, director, facilitator, and stage manager
• Focuses on improvisation and physical theatre using the principles of Open Space
• Devised and directed several pieces including Rumble In The Ensemble (Smock Alley Theatre) and The Rehearsal Room (Accidental Theatre)

Philippa O’Hara

• Professional actor and singer from Belfast
• Toured Ireland, China, Norway and America five times with various Cahoots N.I. shows
• Guest vocalist with Lush! Classical and Cream Classical performing in huge venues with symphony orchestras in front of up to 18,000 people, videos of which have garnered over 9 million views on YouTube
• Performs regularly with her sister as the O’Hara Sisters at prestigious events all over the U.K. and Ireland
• Recent theatre credits include The Vanishing Elephant at New Victory Theatre New York, Secrets Of Space USA tour, and Cinderella at the MAC

Christina Nelson

• Dynamic and versatile actor and director
• Recent stage credits at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast include roles in “Hansel and Gretel”, “Snow Queen”, “Pinocchio”, “Lady Killers”, and “Sinners”
• Performed in “Good Vibrations” with the Irish Arts Centre in New York, following a successful run at the Grand Opera House in Belfast
• Other acting credits include roles in “Cassandra of Ulster” in Dublin, “McCooeys” at the Grand Opera House, “Betty and Bernie’s School Reunion” at the SSE Arena, and “Ring of Steel” with Kabosh
• Directorial prowess evidenced in her sold-out production of “Bernie’s Big Day Out” at the SSE Arena
• Collaborating with GBL and Greenshoot Productions on a community engagement project culminating in a large-scale professional production written by Gary Mitchell and community directed by Christina in the MAC Belfast
• Directed and performed in a series of comedy plays that have toured throughout Northern Ireland
• Latest triumph is the one-woman show “I’ll Tell My Ma,” a prequel to the Aisling Award-winning “Is That Too Hot” at the Mac Theatre
• TV and film credits include Hope Street (BBC), Back in 5 (Armchair and Rocket), History Makers (directed by Stephen Pierce, BBC), Make the Difference (directed by Michael O’Neil), and My Mother and Other Strangers (directed by Adrian Shergold, BBC)

Creatives and Crew

Creator/Director – Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney

• Founder and Artistic Director of Cahoots NI
• Produced and directed many productions, most recently The University of Wonder & Imagination LIVE (USA Tour 2024), The Vanishing Elephant (New Victory Theater, New York, 2023), When We Were Wild (MAC, Belfast 2023), Danny Carmo’s Mathematical Mysteries (USA Tour 2023), Cinderella : The Midnight Princess (MAC, Belfast 2022), The Ghost House (Immersive Walk-Through Experience, Belfast 2021), The Grimm Hotel (Immersive Walk-Through Experience, Belfast 2021), Secrets of Space (USA Tour 2022)
• Previous productions include Nivelli’s War, Milo’s Hat Trick, The Assistant’s Revenge, Pinocchio, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Snail and The Whale, and The Gift
• Theatre writing credits include; Penguins, Shh! We Have a Plan, Egg, and Lights! Camera! Maths!
• Worked extensively as an illusion consultant on many productions, ranging from Shakespeare in the open air to Broadway musicals
• Nominated for the prestigious Ian Charleson award and received a Commendation from the National Theatre for his performance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast
• Honoured with an Award of Distinction by The Belfast Metropolitan College in November 2011 for his contribution to the Arts

Creator/Writer – Charles Way

• One of Britain’s leading writers for children and young people
• Honoured by Action for Children’s Arts in 2016 for his contribution to children’s theatre
• Professional writer since 1978, with over fifty plays produced all over the world
• Plays Sleeping Beauty and The Search for Odysseus nominated as Best Children’s Play by the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain; A Spell of Cold Weather won the award in 1996
• Play about percussionist Evelyn Glennie nominated as Best Children’s Show by the TMA; Nivelli’s War for Cahoots NI transferred to Broadway in 2017
• The Borrowers won the award in a production for Northern Stage directed by Erica Whyman in 2014
• Wrote for the Unicorn Theatre in London, including The Flood and Red Red Shoes which won the English Arts Council’s ‘Children’s Award’
• Commissioned by the National Theatre for the ‘Assembly’ project to write Alice in the News
• Recipient of the prestigious German children’s theatre prize for Missing about child poverty
• Merlin and the Cave of Dreams nominated for a Helen Hayes award for the ‘Outstanding New Play’ in Washington DC
• Recent works with Cahoots include The Vanishing Elephant, When We Were Wild, Cinderella : The Midnight Princess, The Ghost House, The Grimm Hotel, Under the Hawthorn Tree, The Assistant’s Revenge, and Secrets of Space

Composer – Aoife Kavanagh

• Irish composer and sound designer active across a variety of music disciplines, including dance, theatre, circus, film, and contemporary music
• Interests