ECHO: Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen

Nassim Soleimanpour is an Iranian playwright and the Artistic Director of the Berlin-based Nassim Soleimanpour Productions. His plays have been translated into many languages and performed by thousands of actors in most countries around the world.

Best known for his plays White Rabbit Red Rabbit and NASSIM, Soleimanpour is a form-pushing theatre maker who has mastered the format of cold-read. In most of Soleimanpour’s shows, a new actor receives and performs his plays for the first and last time in front of a live audience.

Soleimanpour lives with his beautiful wife, Shirin, and dog, Echo in Berlin.

Omar Elerian is a freelance director, dramaturg and theatre-maker.

Italian of Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris in 2005.

He was the resident Associate Director at the Bush Theatre from 2012 to 2019, where he commissioned and directed some of the theatre’s most successful shows.

As sole director for the Bush, his credits include smash-hit Misty by Arinzé Kene (Bush, West End and Off Broadway), NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour (Bush, Traverse Theatre and world tour), Going Through by Estelle Savasta and Islands by Caroline Horton. As Associate Director working alongside Madani Younis, his credits include The Royale by Marco Ramirez, Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and Perseverance Drive by Robin Soans. Outside the Bush, he directed Olivier nominated show You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy by Caroline Horton and co-created acclaimed site-specific show The Mill: City of Dreams with Madani Younis for Freedom Studios. His most recent directing credits include The Return of Danton by Syrian playwright Mudar Alhaggi which premiered at the Munchner Kammerspiele, The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco at the Almeida Theatre, the Olivier nominated two Palestinians go dogging by Sami Ibrahim at the Royal Court and As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001 for her contribution to the film, theatrical, and televisual arts, Fiona Shaw is one of Britain’s most prized actresses. She has worked with several international directors, including Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter), Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), Bob Raffelson (Mountains of the Moon), Brian DePalma (The Black Dahlia), and Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life). She is known in the US for her television performance as the villainess witch Marnie Stonebrook on HBO’s True Blood. On stage, she has excelled in a wide range of performances, including Olivier Award-winning performances in Electra, As You Like It, and The Good Person of Sichuan and Machinal, which also won her a London Evening Standard Theatre Award. Her outstanding role as the titular character of Medea earned her an Evening Standard Award and a nomination for a Tony Award®. Aside from her work on Killing Eve, she can also be seen in the films Lizzie, and Colette, as well as the TV series Mrs. Wilson. She can be seen most recently in the 4th series of the HBO series True Detective and the feature film IF directed by John Krasinski. Later this year she has the Amazon series Anansi Boys to come out, along with the Apple feature film Echo Valley and the British independent feature film Hot Milk.

In a career spanning three decades Salford born and bred, Benedict Wong first gained recognition in Stephen Frears’ Dirty Pretty Things (nomination best supporting BIFA).

Wong’s cinematic journey continued with notable performances in Danny Boyle’s Sunshine,the Frank Cottrell-Boyce written Grow Your Own. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epics, Prometheus and The Martian. Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield and Disney’s Oscar-nominated Raya and the Last Dragon. Edson Oda’s Nine Days (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor).

His portrayal of Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Dr Strange, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Soon to be seen in Bad Genius and Zach Cregger’s Weapons.

In 2019 Benedict was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.

Notable television work includes Errol in Sean Lock’s 15 Storeys High, Kublai Khan in Netflix’s Marco Polo and most recently as Detective Clarence Da Shi in David Benioff, D.B Weiss and Alexander Woo’s 3 Body Problem.His stage career began at the Lyric Hammersmith The Letter directed by Neil Bartlett he then continued at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre under the tutelage of Mark Rylance. Playing Laertes opposite Michael Sheen in Hamlet at the Young Vic directed by Ian Rickson. His performance as Ai Wei Wei in The Arrest of Ai Wei Wei at the Hampstead Theatre directed by James Macdonald and Zhang Lin in Lucy Kirkwood’s 5 time Olivier award-winning Chimerica directed by Lyndsey Turner.

Nominated for the 2023 BAFTA Rising Star Award; winner of two Oliviers in 2022 and 2018, the Chopard Trophy at the Cannes Festival in 2022; and named as a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2021, one of Variety’s ’10 Brits to Watch’ in 2020; appearing on the Forbes ’30 Under 30’ list that same year and awarded an MBE for services to drama in 2019.  

Film includes: All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24); The Woman King (TriStar Pictures for Sony); Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness (Marvel); Pinocchio (Disney); and Bruised (Thunder Road Films for Netflix). 

 Television includes: Royal Kill List, The Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors (72 Films for Sky History); The Underground Railroad, The Feed, (Amazon Studios); The Irregulars (Drama Republic for Netflix); The Pale Horse (Mammoth Screen/BBC); Bounty Hunters S2 (Tiger Aspect for Sky); Harlots S2 (Monumental Television for Hulu); I Live With Models (Comedy Central) 

Stage includes: Constellations (Vaudeville Theatre); Time Is Love / Tiempo Es Amor (Finborough Theatre); Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe); Girl From the North Country (Noël Coward Theatre/The Old Vic); The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse) 

Award-winning actor and director Adrian Lester CBE has been a recognisable face on screen and stage for over three decades.  His leading role in the blockbuster movie Primary Colors, also starring John Travolta and Emma Thompson, propelled his international career and more movies followed including The Day After Tomorrow and Mary, Queen of Scots. His TV career has seen him star in many TV dramas including Hustle, Undeclared War, Undercover, Life, Trauma, Trigger Point, Riviera, Renegade Nell and the forthcoming series of Sandman. He is also a revered stage actor with iconic roles including Othello and Henry V at the National Theatre, Bobby in Company, for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor, Red Velvet and The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. His directing credits include Riviera (Sky Atlantic), Hustle (BBC1) & The Greatest Wealth (Old Vic).

Jeremy O. Harris is the playwright and producer of Slave Play, currently on the West End. He’s nominated for two 2023 Tony Awards for producing The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window and Ain’t No Mo’. His play Daddy premiered Off-Broadway with Alan Cumming at the New Group and then at London’s Almeida Theatre with Claes Bang before premiering at Tokyo’s Globe Theatre. In 2023 in collaboration with Gucci and Monteverdi he started the SUBSTRATUM residency where he mentored five young writers for a month. Jeremy co-wrote A24’s critically-acclaimed Zola alongside director Janicza Bravo. He is currently developing new series for FX, HBO, and Legendary. He is also currently working with Universal, HBO Films, and Warner Bros. His documentary feature debut Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play. had its US premiere on HBO. 

Image by Micaiah Carter

Theatre credits include: Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Kit Kat Club/West End); As Composer: Prima Facie (Harold Pinter Theatre & Golden Theatre, NYC, ).

Film credits include: Layla

Television credits include: Smothered; I Hate Suzie Too
Album credits as Self Esteem include: Compliments Please; Prioritise Pleasure (The Guardian and Sunday Times Culture’s Album of the Year, Mercury Prize nomination, BRIT Award for Best New Artist, Sky Arts Award nomination, NME Awards nomination, BBC Introducing 2022 Artist of the Year Award, Attitude Magazine’s 2021 Music Award).

Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier Award winning actor whose work spans television, film and stage.

She can now be seen in cinemas in Carol Morley’s latest feature Typist Artist Pirate King and in the latest series of Black Mirror for Netflix. She has recently wrapped on the second series of Sherwood for the BBC and Mr Bates Vs The Post Office for ITV1 and ITV X. Before that she wrapped on the feature This Time Next Year. Monica has recently been seen as ‘Anna Darwin’ in The Thief, His Wife, And The Canoe for ITV/Story Films and in BBC 1’s My Name Is Leon.

Television highlights include Appropriate Adult (for which she won the BAFTA), Alan Bennett’s Talking HeADS, Stephen Frears’ A Very English Scandal (BAFTA nomination Best Supporting Actress), BLACK MIRROR, The Witness For The Prosecution, The Casual Vacancy and W1a.

Recent feature films include Cyrano, Days Of The Bagnold Summer, The Dig, Rialto, Official Secrets, Eye In The Sky, The Arbor, Pride and The Falling. Monica recently played the lead in DOUBT at Chichester Festival Theatre, to critical acclaim. Before that she revived her performance in THE SHRINE for the Talking Heads Series at The Bridge.

Other recent work in theatre includes Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ critically acclaimed Appropriate at the Donmar Warehouse (directed by Ola Ince) and Ivo van Hove’s production of All About Eve (for which she won an Olivier Award). Monica also wrote and starred in the award winning play The B*Easts which transferred to London following a hit run at the Edinburgh Festival.

An undeniably talented actress, Emilia Clarke has garnered the attention of audiences for her powerful and ground-breaking performances.

Best known for her role as the iconic ‘Daenerys Targaryen’ on the HBO award winning series GAME OF THRONES, Clarke garnered four Emmy and three Critics Choice nominations for her portrayal of the beloved ‘Mother of Dragons’.

Last year, Clarke starred in the Sundance Award winning film THE POD GENERATION opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor,  and in Marvel’s limited series SECRET INVASION opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Her film credits include Paul Feig’s romantic dramedy, LAST CHRISTMAS; Ron Howard’s SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY; ME BEFORE YOU, the screen adaptation of Jojo Moyes best-selling novel of the same name, which grossed over $200M worldwide; and TERMINATOR: GENISYS, a prequel to the popular box-office franchise, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In 2022, Clarke made her West End stage debut in Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL. Opening to rave reviews, she portrayed ‘Nina’ in director Jamie Lloyd’s staging of the Chekhov classic at the Harold Pinter Theatre. In 2013, she made her Broadway debut as ‘Holly Golightly’ in the stage adaptation of Truman Capote’s classic 1958 novella, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.

Meera Syal CBE is a multi-Emmy Award-winning British actress, comedian and writer. Last year, she was presented with the BAFTA Fellowship at the BAFTA Television Awards 2023, which is the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA and recognises an outstanding contribution to the industry and the much-coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the Women in Film & Television Awards 2023. 

Born in Wolverhampton, Syal began her multifaceted career in theatre with roles spanning renowned productions, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing, David Hares Behind The Beautiful Forevers, (NT) Kenneth Branagh’s production of Romeo and Juliet, (Garrick Theatre) and Jeremy Herrin’s West End transfer of Noises Off. She also starred as Shirley in Shirley Valentine (Menier Chocolate Factory and Trafalgar Studios West End), receiving the What’s On Stage Award for Best Actress.  

 Her television credits as a writer/performer include the multi award-winning comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at Number 42, for which she received a BAFTA nomination. Her additional television credits include The Split, Broadchurch, Back To Life and Sky’s Code 404. She has just been seen starring in new Apple TV show Roar, an anthology series based on a short story collection of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. Meera can currently be seen in new Amazon series, The Devil’s Hour and as a series regular in series 2 of Amazon’s The Wheel of Time. She is also currently starring as the title role in Acorn’s Mrs Sidhu Investigates.

On the big screen, her film credits include Yesterday, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Paddington 2, Doctor Strange, Beautiful Thing, Absolutely Anything, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. More recently, she has just been seen in Disney Channel Original movie SPIN and will also soon be seen in indie movie The Almond and the Seahorse. 

Syal’s first novel, Anita And Me, won the Betty Trask Award and is the first novel by a British Asian writer to be included on the national school’s curriculum. She has written two other critically acclaimed novels, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee and The House Of Hidden Mothers. Meera holds honorary doctorates at the University of Manchester, the University of Birmingham and SOAS, and was also previously a Visiting Professor for Theatre at St Catherine’s, Oxford University. She is currently in the process of writing her memoir, which is due for publication by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in June 2025. 

Her credits as a screenwriter include the popular films Bhaji On The Beach, Anita And Me and My Sister Wife, for which she won two Asian Film Awards (AFA), for her screenplay and performance. Meera has also been a recipient of the Women In Film And Television Award for Creative Innovation. 

Making TV history as the first woman to play the iconic title role, Jodie starred as the ‘Doctor’ in the BBC’s legendary hit series Doctor Who for the past 3 seasons. She can currently be seen in Jimmy McGovern’s series Time for the BBC, which recently aired to rave reviews. She recently wrapped shooting the Netflix limited series Toxic Town, written by Jack Thorne and directed by Minkie Spiro. Jodie’s previous television credits include ITV’s critically acclaimed crime drama Broadchurch, opposite Olivia Colman and David Tennant, Black Mirror’s infamous episode The Entire History Of You, which is consistently ranked among the Netflix anthology series’ best episodes, the Sky One drama The Smoke and the lead of the eight-part spy miniseries The Assets on ABC. On the feature side, Jodie had her breakout role in the Oscar-nominated film Venus, opposite Peter O’Toole. She also produced and starred in Adult Life Skills, directed by Rachel Tunnard, receiving a Best Actress nomination at the British Independent Film Awards. Other feature credits include Joe Cornish’s Attack The Block. An accomplished stage actress as well, Jodie played the title role in Antigone for the Royal National Theatre. 

Mawaan is a BAFTA winning actor and writer. This year saw the release of his critically acclaimed BBC series, Juice, which he wrote, starred and exec produced. It co-stars Russell Tovey, his mother Shahnaz Rizwan and his brother Nabhaan Rizwan. Mawaan also starred in Two Weeks to Live alongside Maisie Williams, a 6 part comedy series for HBO Max. And Mawaan’s writing credit on Netflix’ Sex Education (series 2 and 3) earned him a spot on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.  

As a comedian, Mawaan has appeared on Taskmaster and Live at the Apollo and his live performances of his songs Mango and Are You Checking Me Out or Are You Just a Racist? both went viral.

Jessica is currently starring as Martha in the Netflix drama Baby Reindeer. The seven-part series is based on the Olivier Award winning show about writer, actor and comedian Richard Gadd’s true-life experience of being stalked and has received international acclaim.

Jessica has also recently returned to our screens as Diane in Season 3 of hit BBC comedy The Outlaws. She is about to begin shooting an adaptation of Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, in which she plays Dame Washalot.

On stage, Jessica played the role of Mrs Jewkes opposite Cate Blanchett in the National Theatre production of When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other. Other credits for the National Theatre include Much Ado About Nothing and Major Barbara.

Jessica played Siân James in the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated feature film Pride (Pathé), and was in the BBC series’ White Heat, MotherFatherSon and What Remains, as well as guest-starring in the Doctor Who episode Partners in Crime.

Other screen credits in recent years include Inside No. 9 (BBC), Back (Channel 4), Prime Suspect 1973 (ITV), Victoria Wood’s That Day We Sang (BBC), Law and Order: UK (ITV), Peter Kosminsky’s The State (Channel 4), Trollied (Sky One) and Fortitude (Sky Atlantic).

Nick Mohammed is an established, double Emmy-nominated actor, comedian and writer.  He has just wrapped filming a pivotal role in Control, an upcoming Studio Canal feature in which he co-stars opposite James McAvoy.

In early 2024, Nick filmed a lead role Deep Cover for Amazon – a feature with Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom, produced by Colin Trevorrow.  He also became a fan favourite on the latest series of the hit show – Taskmaster – for Channel 4.

He can recently be seen starring in the first series of The Ballad Of Renegade Nell, in which he plays a regular role, for Disney+. He also created, wrote, executive produced and co-starred, alongside David Schwimmer, in Sky One’s hit show Intelligence. It has run for two series and a special and airs on Peacock in the US.

Nick’s other recent acting roles include a regular role in Apple’s hit, Emmy award-winning series – Ted Lasso – opposite Jason Sudeikis. Nick has been nominated twice for the Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series award at the Emmys for his work on the show.

Nick has received critical acclaim for his live character comedy work and has transferred this success to the small screen. Nick’s iconic persona Mr. Swallow is ever popular both on his sell out 2023 national tour, The Very Best & Worst Of Mr. Swallow,  as well as viewing figures online – as Mr. Swallow’s Jurassic Park rendition stand at 8.7 million on Facebook whilst the clip of him memorising cards has been viewed 7.9 million times.

In 2022, Nick (as Mr Swallow) also staged a hysterical reconstruction of Charles Dicken’s classic Christmas tale at Soho Theatre.  A Christmas Carol-Ish received widespread acclaim and included appearances from David Elms, Kieran Hodgson, and Sarah Hadland.

Nick was seen in one of the lead roles in the feature Maggie Moore(S) in 2023. The film co-stars Jon Hamm and Tina Fey, with John Slattery directing. He also co-wrote and co-starred in the pilot, Morning Has Broken, with Julia Davis for Channel 4.

Other credits include Sky’s Christmas hit film Roald and Beatrix, Joe Cornish’s The Kid Who Would Be King, Ridley Scott’s The Martian, box office smash Bridget Jones’s Baby, and The Ab Fab Movie. He voiced Piglet in Disney’s live action feature Christopher Robin and played the Butler in Disney’s The Nutcracker And The Four Realms. He has featured in a host of TV comedies including HBO and Sky’s Sally4ever, Sky’s Camping, Channel 4’s Uncle and Stath Lets Flats and the BBC’s This Time With Alan Partridge.

Toby Jones most recently played the central role of ‘Alan Bates’ in Mr Bates Vs. The Post Office (ITV). Directed by James Strong, the 4-part drama told the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history of the Post Master Scandal. He will soon be seen in ITV’s upcoming drama, Ruth, which follows the story of the infamous Ruth Ellis who was the last woman in the UK to be hanged.

Toby also took on the role of ‘Basil’ in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Walt Disney Pictures), opposite Harrison Ford. Further recent onscreen credits include Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light (BBC Legends/Searchlight Pictures) alongside Olivia Colman, The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix), based on Louis Bayard’s novel of the same name, The Long Shadow (ITV) and The Wonder (Element Picture), opposite Florence Pugh. He will next appear on screen in Duke Johnson’s The Actor based on the 2010 novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake and Doug Liman’s The Instigators for Apple TV+, opposite Matt Damon. Previous notable Film & TV credits include Tetris (AI-Film/Apple TV+) , The English (All3 Media), Danny Boy (BBC Two), First Cow (A24), Worzel Gummidge (Leopard Pictures), Sherlock (Hartswood Films) and The Detectorists (BBC). 

Toby similarly has an expanse of onstage credits to his name, perhaps most notably Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre for which he received an Olivier nomination for his portrayal of the titular role. Further theatre credits include The Painter (Arcola Theatre), The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter Theatre) and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (National Theatre). His role as Arthur in Kenneth Brannagh’s The Play What I Wrote earned Toby an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Kathryn Hunter is an Olivier Award-winning Actress and Director. 

Theatre credits include: King Lear, The Chairs, Happy Days, WHY, Timon of Athens, Prometheus Unbound, The House of Bernarda Alba,Fragments,The Valley of Astonishment, The Emperor, Kafka’s Monkey, Cyrano De Bergerac, Hearts-Cards, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Tender Thing, Antony & Cleopatra, King Lear, One Green Bottle, The Diver, The Bee, Yerma, Celestina, Whistling Psyche, Dona Rosita, Richard III,The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Electra, Far Away, The Rose Tattoo, The Devils, Live Like Pigs, The Recruiting Officer, Our Country’s Good, The Hypochondriac, Women of Troy, Romeo & Juliet, Spoonface Steinberg, Mother Courage, The Skriker, The Visit.

As long-term associate of Théâtre de Complicité, her credits include: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, The Visit (Olivier Best Actress Award), Foe, Out of the House Walked a Man, Anything for a Quiet Life, Help! I’m Alive and The Winter’s Tale. 

Film includes: Megalopolis, Poor Things, The Pod Generation, The Front Room, The Tragedy of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tale of Tales, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Baby of Macon, Maria’s Child, Orlando, All or Nothing.

Television includes: Black Doves, Andor, Landscapers, Les Misérables, Black Earth Rising, Flowers, Rome, Silent Witness and Grushko. 

Directing credits include: Napoleon Disrobed, Othello, The Birds, Mr Puntila and his Man Matti, Wiseguy Scapino, The Glory of Living, The Comedy of Errors, Pericles, My Perfect Mind.