Welcome to the Battle of the Carnivals!

The Bird Carnival have challenged the Ingénue’s to a battle royal, a carnival-off, if you will.   Sergei Bird, the head of the Bird Carnival, felt ill-treated by reports last year claiming he stole Popou Ingénue’s phoenix. He said, and I quote: “things are not always as they seem, nothing is ever black and white, nothing fair in love and warring carnivals.”

On the hour every hour we will meet at the Boxing Ring Stage were members of each carnival will slog it out for your approval. One carnival will be crowned champion. The other banished from the carnival world forever.

Letttssss Geettt Reeadddyy Tooo Rummmblllleeee.

- Jewel

Mathias Asplund – Sergei Bird

Mathias is from Northern Norway, but has lived many years in Copenhagen and studied at THE COMMEDIA SCHOOL. He has also attended the ROYAL CENTRAL SCHOOL OF SPEECH AND DRAMA in London, where he did a BA (Hons) in Collaborative and Devised Acting. In between his studies he travelled Europe as a street performer doing acrobatics, physical comedy and clown.
As an actor he is based in London, but has done work across countries.

Nicola Blackman - Jewel

Nicola was trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has worked in the industry for over 45 years.

West End: Showboat, Little Shop Of Horrors, Barnum, Godspell, Elegies, Lion King, Mutiny! Destroy Rides Again ( Olivier nomination, best supporting actress ) The National Theatre. She was delighted to work with LAStheatre early in 2015 when she played Marciano Weiss in New Atlantis.

She has worked all over the country, toured in Fame, Rocky Horror Show, Throughly Modern Millie with the English Shakespeare Company. Her TV credits include guest appearances in, Casualty, The Bill, Angels, her own comedy series Us Girls, and in the US, Madame Manhattan.

For good measure she was a backing singer for Ray Charles, Lulu and Cleo Laine.

Farrell Cox – Anastasiya Abramovich

Farrell Cox an aerialist and physical theatre actress. Training at Dell Arte International school in California and East15 acting school. Farrell is thrilled to be taking part in The Lost Carnival.

Joseph Derrington - Maks Mager

Since graduating in 2014 from The School of The Arts, University of Northampton Joseph has worked across Voiceover, Film, Theatre and Television. He has worked with directors such as Laurie Sansom (current artistic director of the Scottish National Theatre), James Farrell (Nameless Theatre and associate director for the RSC) and Jamie Rocha Allan (assistant director for Frantic Assembly and associate director for the RSC).

Theatre credits include: THE DUMB WAITER (Maltings Arts Theatre, St Albans), THE BACCHE (Royal & Derngate) and THE CRUCIBLE (Looking Glass).

Television Credits include: CRIMEWATCH (BBC), BIRDSONG (Working Title) and WILLIAM AND MARY (Granada Television)
Other Credits include: BWIN SPONSERS OF PRIMETIME ON DAVE (Prescription Media), THE GUN (Sony/Pinewood Group) and 12 GUARDIANS (Hulu Media)

Anna Larkin - Popo Ingénue

Originally from Glasgow, Anna Larkin is now London-based (via Oxford, Paris and North Yorkshire.) She studied French then spent a year training at Lecoq and now works mainly in French language theatre and on the cabaret circuit as a musical comedian and compere.

Ivanhoe Norona – Tama Taconwana

Ivanhoe Norona has been an experienced quality actor for 20 years, who started his acting career when he was at Chelsea School of Art. He has performed with artists such as Omid Djalili, Jonny Vegas and Orlando Bloom. He has also worked with writers Richard Herring, Steward Lee and Hanif Kureishi. However, his greatest passion is Shakespeare playing in Macbeth, Tempest, Henry V, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet and Twelfth Night.

Ivanhoe was a keen amateur boxer, fighting with the Wandsworth Boys Club for over five years. However, he had to make a decision between art school or a career in boxing, the former came on top. When Ivanhoe was a teenager he wanted to be the legendary boxer Roberto Duran, however by the time he finished art school he wanted to be the actor Bob Hoskins.

His Italian background means he loves his family very much. His wife Frances is studying to become a vet and he is so proud of her. He also has three children Ruby and twins Charlie and Harry whom he loves very much.

Jenny Novitzky – Claire V’oyant

Jenny is a multi-discipline performer, working in stage, screen, physical theatre and circus performance. She has written, produced and performed in two short films and co-devised work with her theatre company. Theatre includes Oyster Boy with Haste Theatre, Colour with Omnibus, The Hideout at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Surgery with Washing Line Productions, Snooze with Chimaera Theatre, The Wonderful World of Dissocia at the John Thaw Studio, Let Me Go Home at Contact theatre and Twelfth Night at The Lowry. Screen includes the pilot of The Village That Forgot for Channel 4, Out directed by Gsus Lopez, Coastal Shelf by Fresh Loaf Productions,Two Feet by Jenny Novitzky and Rainbow River by John Williams.

CREATIVE TEAM

Barra Collins – Writer, Director

Barra studied theatre at Goldsmiths’ University of London and Trinity College, Dublin. Following graduation Barra worked in all aspects of the theatre industry. In 2012 he brought these skills together to established LAStheatre. Since then, over a quarter of a million people have seen LAStheatre shows, he has won multiple awards and his work has been described as 'spellbinding' (Manchester Evening News) ‘powerful’ (The Scotsman), 'atmospheric' (The Herald), ‘fascinating’ (BBC) and 'thrillingly immediate' (FT).
Whether creating work for an adult or family audience, Barra's aim is to ignite conversation and set imaginations alight.

Deborah Pugh – Movement Director

Deborah Pugh is a theatre maker & movement director, originally trained at École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. As well as freelancing she works regularly with Theatre Ad Infinitum, developing & performing original work with them since 2007. Recent credits include: Light Ad Inf.(Barbican & London International Mime Festival), Ballad of the Burning Star Ad Inf. (international tour), Translunar Paradise , Ad Inf. (Barbican & International tour), Bassett (movement dir.) with Sheffield Crucible & National Theatre Connections, Thesmophoriazusae (mov. dir) Theatre In The Mill and Movement/Theatre consultant for Breakin' Convention, Sadler's Wells. In 2016 Deborah will be working on R&D for Ad Inf's latest show, Bucket List, set to premiere at Edinburgh International Festival Fringe this Summer.

Bryony Rumble – Costume Maker

Bryony trained as a Technical Effects artist, and Cordwainer at The University of the Arts London, and works widely as a freelance props, costume props maker and supervisor for theatre, opera and events. She specialises in the fabrication of creature and animal based designs.
Recent credits include mask maker for Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne), Props assistant (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company), Costume Props/creature fabricator for The Empire Strikes Back (Secret Cinema), Costume Props/Armour maker for Peter Pan (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Costume Props/lifejacket maker for Against Captain's Orders (Punchdrunk Enrichment), Costume Props maker for Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Kenny Wax ltd.)

Sean Turner – Designer

Sean has designed opera, theatre, film and live events both nationally and internationally. He trained at Motley in 2006, three years after studying illustration at Kent Institute of Art and Design.

Sean is the associate designer for award-winning immersive theatre company LAStheatre, creators of the multidisciplinary science/art series The Enlightenment Café. Sean has also developed and designed work for Punchdrunk Enrichment for the past six years, including The House Where Winter Lives, which transferred to the Perth International arts festival in 2014.

For the past two years Sean has designed the actor musician pantomime in Leeds for the City Varieties music hall, but mostly Sean finds himself in fields, derelict warehouses, great halls, castles and hospitals creating theatre in response to all manner of beautiful environments, with passionate interesting people trying to make sense of the stories that fill our lives.