Philippa Vafadari - actress/aerialist
Anglo/Iranian in origin, Philippa trained as an actress at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She created the roles of Regan, Seven Lears ,(1989) and Goodgirl, Golgo , (1990) for Howard Barker's The Wrestling School at the Royal Court Theatre , London . She went on to work in regional rep and with Asian theatre company, Tara Arts. Since training as an aerial artiste at The Circus Space, London, she has worked as an actress/aerialist/choreographer in Boilerhouse Theatre Co's Circus (1999/2000), V.amp Productions' Burning Bright (2001) and Communicado/Sounds of Progress' Brave (2002). For BandBazi, her work as producer and performer includes the self-penned Pussy Galore's Flying Circus (1999) ( Scotland , England and Germany ), the Iranian/Scottish R&D project, Suzy=Soraya (2000), In Audrey Hepburn's Arms (2004/5) (SE regional tour) and The Persian Cinderella (2005/6). She is guest director of The Circus Project's Youth Circus, as well as running BandBazi's Above & Beyond project with young refugees and asylum seekers aged 15-25. She has just finished playing Audrey Hepburn and Holly in the company's award winning Breakfast at Audrey's (2005/6) ( UK and German Tour).
John Binnie - Writer/director
Co-founder of Clyde Unity Theatre who have been in regular receipt of Project funding from the Scottish Arts Council. Multi award-winning writer and director of over 20 productions. His work has toured Scotland , the UK and abroad. It includes Beyond the Rainbow (1989 Fringe First Award); A Little Older (1992 Independent Theatre Award Winner); Accustomed to Her Face (1993 Fringe First Award); Breadmakers (Spirit of Mayfest Award); Armistead Maupin's Babycakes , Last Night (Red Ladder Theatre Co., Leeds ); and Coconut (1999) with contemporary dancer Rosina Bonsu. He was also director of Pussy Galore's Flying Circus (1999), Suzy=Soraya (2000); In Audrey Hepburn's Arms ( 2004) The Persian Cinderella (2005), Breakfast at Audrey's (2005/6 Fringe First Award). He was Lecturer in Playwriting at Glasgow University , as well as directing at the Universities of Massachusetts and Portland , Oregon , RSAMD, QMUC (Edinburgh) and Northbrook College . His radio play, Summer Sectioned (2001) was broadcast on Radio 4. He wrote and directed a Scottish/Namibian cross-cultural production, Journey (Tramway, Glasgow 2002 - British Council). His opera direction includes Turandot (2003) and Carmen (2004) both for Edinburgh Grand Opera. Since February 2004 he has been teaching playwriting for the British Council in Nigeria . He returned there this February 2006 to co-produce Our House with Clyde Unity Theatre and Jos Theatre Co ( Nigeria ). He has just written Monster's Tears and Good Sister Bad for Lung Has' special needs company in Edinburgh . He currently mentors mental health playwriting group Out Of The Dark in Dunfermline .
Jamsheed Master - Musical Director
Trained at Sussex University in Music and Media Studies under acclaimed composer Martin Butler, he has performed with conductor Carl Davis and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Jamsheed has worked as Musical Director for the critically acclaimed For One Night Only musical theatre concert series, orchestrated and arranged by Jamsheed himself. He has conducted many orchestras, including a challenging production of Carmina Burana , as well as being MD for the UK premiere of The No Frills Revue at the Edinburgh Fringe. He was MD and orchestrator for the national tours of Fame - The Musical and West Side Story and a string of number one London pantomimes, as well as on a number of productions of the work of Stephen Sondheim, including Putting it Together and Into the Woods . As a composer, with White Noise Entertainment, he was responsible for the soundtrack for Vanity Fair [Granada 2000] and Star School [LWT 2001]. He provided the score for the British blockbuster Nine Lives [A&A Production 2002] as well as for numerous advertising and corporate engagements. Alongside teaching, MD work and composing, he is a piano-vocalist at the Sussex Arts Club, Chambers of Brighton, St Georges Hills Club, numerous Hiltons, The Grand De Vere, Wentworth Golf Club, Le Caprice and The Ivy restaurants, Harrods, The Savoy and The Ritz, as well as private engagements here and abroad. He taught voice at the London School of Drama, and has giving lectures at Central School of Speech and Drama. He is currently touring a critically acclaimed series of concerts.
Jessica is a director and designer with award-winning multi-media theatre company, People Show. Her production, Baby Jane (Traverse Edinburgh and National Tour), received a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2003. Other productions as director/designer with People Show include, A Song Without Sound (1999), Second (2001), Art of Escape (In the key of C) (2002) and The Obituary Show (2006). She has exhibited her work as a solo artist, as well as collaborating with sound artist Rob Kennedy on Radio Tuesday (Glasgow 1999), Memorial Imorial (Bulkhead Prize, Glasgow 2000) and Omega , the closing event of PUSH, (The Cut, London 2001). As a designer, Jessica has worked with companies all over the UK, including King John (2001), Oedipus (2001) and Macbeth (2002) for Northern Broadsides; Spring Awakening ( 2001), The Rivals (2002), A Midsummer Nights Dream (2003) and Peter Pan (2003) for the Theatre Royal, Bath; as well as Turandot (2003) and Carmen (2004), for Edinburgh Grand Opera at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh . In Audrey Hepburn's Arms (2004) was Jessica's first collaboration with BandBazi and her first design for a piece of circus theatre. She went on to design The Persian Cinderella (2005/6) and Breakfast at Audrey's (Fringe First 2005). She has recently completed School for Scandal (Northern Broadsides), The Wars of the Roses (Northern Broadsides) and Good Sister, Bad (Lung Ha's).
Jamie Ogilvie - Aerial Designer
Jamie is one of only a few European aerial technicians. His experience derives from 20 years of climbing and mountaineering. He has worked on many productions for companies such as De La Guarda, Gecko, Boilerhouse, Scarabeus, Te Ao Marama, Scottish Dance Theatre company, Motionhouse Dance company, and The Dream Engine. Jamie is the Technical Director for his own company, Wired Aerial Theatre , an aerial theatre company that specialises in their own creation of bungee-assisted dance, featured at the Royal Opera House 2 'Firsts' this Autumn. Jamie also designs and builds bespoke aerial equipment.
