Staff
David Mabbott
Artistic & Executive Director
David Mabbott
Artistic & Executive Director
David has extensive experience in creative engagement across a range of arts settings. At Angel Shed he is responsible for the overall management of the charity, including strategy, development, finance, artistic vision, and safeguarding. David's background includes work as a musical director, theatre practitioner and musician. David was born in East London and grew up in Sheffield. Inclusivity is central to his work and he is dedicated to ensuring full access to, and participation in, the arts for all.
Maya Shimmin
Volunteer & Training Manager
Maya Shimmin
Volunteer & Training Manager
Maya is a socially-engaged theatre maker, facilitator and director with experience in a variety of community and theatre settings. She is passionate about integrating inclusivity and accessibility creatively in all projects and productions. She has delivered and supported projects and workshops with a range of organisations including Brent Youth Theatre, Haringey Shed, OurTime, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Theatre Wales and Blink Dance Theatre. Maya graduated with First Class Honours in Drama, Applied Theatre and Education at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Within her role at Angel Shed, she is looking forward to working with her local community in Islington and supporting more people to find the joy of facilitating inclusively with young people!
Lauren Phillips
Membership & Inclusion Manager
Lauren Phillips
Membership & Inclusion Manager
Lauren is a neurodiverse theatre maker, producer and facilitator who is passionate about using the arts as tools to explore community and shape social change. She is a graduate of Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a degree in Drama, Applied Theatre & Education. Lauren is a founding member of GeoTone CIC and is an artist in residence at Eden Court Highlands, ArtsDepot and Newhampton Arts Centre as well as working with Face Front Inclusive Theatre, Freshwater Theatre, The Drive Project and the Polka Theatre.
Cora Sehgal Cuthbert
Outreach Co-ordinator
Cora Sehgal Cuthbert
Outreach Co-ordinator
Cora Sehgal Cuthbert is a multidisciplinary artist who is particularly interested in the arts within a community setting. She has worked as a producer of community projects, and as an artist/facilitator with schools, youth clubs and organisations such as Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Barbican Centre and Whitechapel Gallery. She believes in the power that creativity has to greatly improve mental health and is committed to aiding the organisation of inclusive spaces where everyone's creativity is able to flourish.
Maryam Shaharuddin
Lead Theatre Facilitator
Maryam Shaharuddin
Lead Theatre Facilitator
A freelance youth & community facilitator, Maryam co-creates theatre with participants in the UK and Malaysia. She has delivered workshops & performances at a range of organisations including Angel Shed, Almeida, Kiln, PositivelyUK, Coney, Bush and the UNHCR. She is currently a visiting lecturer in applied theatre at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Joy and play are at the heart of her practice in creating inclusive, socially engaged theatre. Maryam is especially passionate about making work that celebrates and elevates Muslim Women.
Holly Delefortrie
Lead Theatre Facilitator
Holly Delefortrie
Lead Theatre Facilitator
Holly is a Freelance Performer, Theatre Maker and Workshop Facilitator, who creates performances and facilitates workshops with companies and theatre including; Angel Shed, Told by An Idiot, Polka Children's Theatre, Tramshed Theatre, Omnibus Theatre, Talitha Arts and Thumbs Down.
Inclusive theatre practice is an important part of Holly's work which has led her to work with integrated SEN companies Hubbub and Open Theatre as a part of working with Told By An Idiot. Alongside this Holly has also set up her own theatre company Squelch creating multi-sensory theatre shows for children with Speech Language and Communication Needs. Holly originally trained at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance as well as Institute Del Teatro, Barcelona, where she developed her career as a performer and theatre-maker. Holly is passionate about creating work with and for young people; building playful and inclusive spaces where they can share the stories that they want to tell.
Maria Laumark
Lead Theatre Facilitator
Maria Laumark
Lead Theatre Facilitator
Maria is a facilitator, director and community producer and has worked with companies such as The Old Vic, Royal Court, Foreign Affairs Theatre Company, Omnibus and she recently travelled to Denmark, Ecuador, Poland and Croatia for youth projects. She is currently working with Zoo Co as Assistant to the Artistic Director and Creative Associate and has worked on shows including Perfect Show for Rachel at the Barbican, Night Shift at Stanley Arts and Risky Business with Zoo Co’s Young Company. When co-creating work, Maria is passionate about using games, movement and sound to devise from.
Yanna Avlianos
Lead Music Facilitator & Choir Leader
Yanna Avlianos
Lead Music Facilitator & Choir Leader
Yanna is a pop music graduate of Goldsmiths University, as well as a music alumni of City and Islington College. She currently works as an SEN learning mentor and singing teacher in schools across London. Making music under her artist name Yanna A, she has supported and headlined shows across the capital including at The Monarch and The Black Heart in Camden. She has also worked as resident musician at Shoreditch Church and Proud Camden. Coming from a largely self-taught background, Yanna enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills in creative D.I.Y approaches to writing, recording and performing. Yanna released her first EP online using only inexpensive earphones and an app on her phone and actively encourages anyone who has a desire to record and share their music to do the same!
Olivia Graham
Choir Leader
Olivia Graham
Choir Leader
Olivia is a musician/singer and educator with over 15 years experience. A scholarship jazz voice gradate from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Olivia has performed and toured across the UK and Europe, recorded for herself and other artitsts, and is an established song and music writer for use in art projects, film, and shows including a 4 year run at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As an educator Olivia has taught for over 10 years, both individually and in groups spanning across age ranges, focusing on helping participants use their voice to the fullest and nurturing individual creativity.
Victoria Billington
Creative Makaton Signer & Facilitator
Victoria Billington
Creative Makaton Signer & Facilitator
Victoria is a passionate advocate for inclusive arts and a firm believer in the power of storytelling to drive change. She trained in Musical Theatre at the Urdang Academy and will soon begin postgraduate studies in Theatre for Community and Education at Mountview.
Her performance work spans TV, film, and UK-wide children’s theatre tours. As a facilitator, she has delivered training across the NHS, Armed Forces, and within grassroots organisations supporting disabled people.
Victoria has worked with companies including Candoco, Extant, The Story Museum, and The London Museum, and has partnered with the Ashmolean and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to co-create accessible cultural experiences and exhibitions.
She is committed to amplifying the voices of disabled people and using creative expression as a tool for connection, visibility, and change.
lydia luke
Theatre Facilitator
lydia luke
Theatre Facilitator
lydia luke (no caps) is a writer, director + youth facilitator working across theatre, radio + opera. she makes complex, nuanced, deeply poetic + radically honest theatre about Black british people that examine the heart and human condition.
Chloe Rianna
Music Facilitator
Chloe Rianna
Music Facilitator
As a session drummer, she has had experience in live performances, UK/EU tours, plays, studio recordings, drum choreography, adverts, films and in West End theatre shows as an actor-musician. She has eight years experience of teaching drums privately and in education. She also recently qualified as a music therapist and is looking forward to using all of the experience gained so far to learn and grow as a member of the Angel Shed team!
Ben Wilson
Access Support Worker
Ben Wilson
Access Support Worker
Ben is a facilitator, theatre maker, and community arts worker who specialises in working with young people and SEN participants across the fields of drama, writing, and film.
He has a BA in Theatre: Writing, Directing & Performance from the University of York, and an MA in Applied Theatre from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and in addition to working with Angel Shed has also worked with companies including Wimbledon Civic Theatre Trust, Unique Community, Boom-Wow Theatre, Fresh Arts, Little Angel Theatre, Attic Theatre Company, SPID Theatre, Sparks Media Arts, and Community Focus on a variety of participatory projects.
Mel Berry
Access Support Worker
Mel Berry
Access Support Worker
Starting in theatre as a Stage Manager after graduating in 2015 with a BA Hons in Theatre Production (Arts and Stage Management) Mel has always been passionate about working on shows with and for a disabled audience, shining a light on inclusivity and acceptance. She has worked on productions such as Philoxenia and Animal. In more recent years this passion developed and, along with working in schools with SEN children, Mel started to focus on promoting and enabling a more accessible approach to theatre. As well as providing Access Support with Angel Shed and Polka Theatre, Mel facilitates with Concrete Youth and Embracing Arts, creating theatre, workshops and sensory stories specifically for children with special education needs. Mel is so pleased that she made this career change and loves the work that she does.
Grainne Pearson Cockrill
Access Support Worker
Grainne Pearson Cockrill
Access Support Worker
Grainne has worked as a performer, facilitator, director and theatre-maker. She runs her own fringe theatre company and is excited to continue at Angel Shed as an Access Support Worker.
Eloise Gold
Access Support Worker
Eloise Gold
Access Support Worker
Eloise Gold is an artist working in performance, writing and drawing. They co-host an alternative comedy night called Hey Mum. They are passionate about inclusivity and working collaboratively.
David Ward
Fundraiser
David Ward
Fundraiser
David is a fundraising consultant based in West Yorkshire. Following a number of years working in senior fundraising positions for organisations including Northern Ballet and the Leeds International Piano Competition, David turned to the freelance life in 2018. He’s worked as a consultant with many companies across the UK including Complicité, Brixton House and Transform. David is also the Artistic Director of the Leeds-based Northern Opera Group.
Trustees
Sam Lansdale
Chair
Sam Lansdale
Chair
Sam has worked across a variety of sectors in the first ten years of his professional career since graduating from University College London with an Atomic and Particle Physics degree in 2014. He has worked in theatre, mass-participation sports, education technology and most recently financial services. He was until recently a Trustee of a charity based in Kent providing grassroots football to over 1000 children. Sam believes passionately in the transformative power of inclusive performing arts as a vehicle for positive change.
Jardelle Johnson
Secretary
Jardelle Johnson
Secretary
Jardelle Johnson is a qualified solicitor who works at Slaughter and May. She has first-hand knowledge of how transformative performing arts can be for young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds having attended a local performing arts school from the ages of 11-18. Having graduated from Brown University (USA), she volunteered with the US-UK Fulbright Commission and the Sutton Trust on an educational social mobility programme that supports low-income students applying to US universities. Jardelle is excited to bring the combination of her legal skills, her experience as a school governor of a special primary school, and her passion for theatre and working with young people to the Board. She has lived and worked in Islington for several years and is excited to meaningfully contribute to the strategic direction of Angel Shed and to the wider community in Islington.
Freddy Mardlin
Treasurer
Freddy Mardlin
Treasurer
Albert Simsensohn
Trustee
Albert Simsensohn
Trustee
Albert Simsensohn works as Director in the Commerce Business Group at Meta. His professional experience is centred on e-commerce development, having held prior leadership roles at eBay and Naspers, and management consulting with McKinsey & Company. He holds an MBA from INSEAD. He has been engaged in fundraising for youth leadership development and other non-profit organisations, both in direct and advisory capacity. As a young person, he was a direct beneficiary of theatre's developmental benefits and is keen to support multiple generations to have similar positive experiences. His strategy and fundraising skills will of great benefit to Angel Shed.
Anna Fox
Trustee
Anna Fox
Trustee
Anna Fox is a theatre director with considerable experience of working in the theatre with young people of all ages. She is currently the International associate on &Juliet, the musical. She has worked as resident Director on Matilda the Musical, as director on productions in the West End, on national and international tours and at Guildford School of Acting. Anna has previously worked as education and outreach director and at theatre company, Selladoor Worldwide, where she coordinated a number of externally funded workshop programmes. Her work with young people includes as a teacher and pastoral liaison at Rhodes Farm Clinic school, and safeguarding lead on a national theatrical tour.
Elizabeth Okoye
Young Trustee
Elizabeth Okoye
Young Trustee
Elizabeth Okoye is an actor, producer and writer, with 5 years’ experience within the gaming industry, screen and stage. Upon graduating in PPE, she was accepted into the Oxford School of Drama and embarked on a career in the arts. She has participated in young companies across the U.K. including National Youth Theatre, Contact Young Company, Royal Exchange Writers, Slate Playwriting, Talawa: TYPT and DMC Film Screenwriters. Elizabeth has previously worked as producer with Contact Theatre, tiata fahodzi theatre company, Slick Films and Dolphragon. She is part-time carer for her younger autistic brother and is passionate about providing empowerment opportunities for young people of all abilities and providing a safe environment for their development.
Freya Johnson
Young Trustee
Freya Johnson
Young Trustee
Freya Johnson is a graduate of English and Drama at Queen Mary University, London. Born and raised in Islington, she was a member of Angel Shed from the ages of 8-16 and later become a volunteer. She was a member of Islington Giving's Young Grant Makers programme for two years and now works part time in youth hubs in Islington. With her experience of Islington and its young people, Freya hopes to represent and give voice to the younger people that may not necessarily be heard or listened to. She has a passion for the arts and deeply loves Angel Shed and the work we do.
John Gaine
Volunteer representative
John Gaine
Volunteer representative
John Gaine has been a volunteer for over a year. When he was 13 he started attending activities at WAC Arts in Belsize Park, first as a participant and then as a volunteer, becoming an Ambassador for them in 2012. He has worked with young people for many years, helping them produce various forms of media including short films, animations, editing work, drama performances and more, and he brings this experience to the board to assist Angel Shed in their interests going forward.
Monica Arino
Trustee
Monica Arino
Trustee
Monica leads public policy and government affairs for Amazon UK. She has over 20 years of experience in the communications and tech industries having worked in both the public sector and for major global corporates. Monica lives in Islington with her three children, two of whom attend Angel Shed weekly. She passionately believes in theatre's ability to transform lives and is particularly drawn to Angel Shed's work helping children from all backgrounds find their voice, express themselves freely, and develop lasting self-confidence. Monica has volunteered supporting refugees and asylum seekers in London for over a decade, and is a Trustee at Brainkind, the UK's leading charity helping people thrive after a brain injury.
Opher Mansour
Trustee
Opher Mansour
Trustee
Opher Mansour is a civil servant at the Department of Work and Pensions. He holds a PhD from the Courtauld Institute and worked for over fifteen years as a university lecturer and researcher both in Britain and internationally at institutions including Dartmouth College, the University of Hong Kong, and the Warburg Institute. He has a lifelong interest in the performing arts and, as a parent, appreciates and deeply values the skills, sense of togetherness, and opportunities for personal expression that Angel Shed brings to children and young people. As a local resident, and carer for a SEN child, and a former volunteer for the International Rescue Committee for refugees, Opher is committed to supporting Angel Shed's work and maintaining its commitment to accessibility and inclusivity.
Paul Brocklehurst
Trustee
Paul Brocklehurst
Trustee
Paul Brocklehurst is Senior Helpline Manager at Centrepoint where he set up and runs a national helpline supporting 7,000 young homeless people each year. He regularly represents Centrepoint in local and national media and is part of the organisation's Senior Leadership team. Paul has worked in the charity sector for over 10 years including Victim Support and The Mix youth helpline. He has volunteered with Angel Shed since 2012, photographing the shows and workshops, and enjoys seeing the participants grow in confidence and understanding.