Nasrin is an award-winning Iranian artist with an MA in Dramatic Arts and is best known as a children’s playwright in Farsi. She has written more than 20 playscripts, 4 of which have been published as books in Iran. Since moving to the UK in 2022, she has been working to establish her artistic voice within Birmingham’s arts community. 

During this time, she has explored different fields including acting, directing, facilitating, puppeteering and set and costume design to better understand English theatre practices and audience tastes. 

She is now ready to write her new work in English through participation in the Foundry 2026 programme at The Rep. 

Katy is an award-winning writer born and raised in the Midlands, who came to writing later in life after coming face to face with the Grim Reaper.  She re-evaluated her existence and decided to make it more harder by becoming a writer. 

With a passion for drama with a dark streak of humour, her work is rooted in working class life, with all its warmth, colour and larger than life characters, who attempt to make a mark on a world that doesn’t know they exist. 

She currently has a TV show in development and will shortly be having her work performed as part of Birmingham Story Engine and was part of the Paines Plough 24-25 Tour the Writer Mentored Scheme. 

When not writing Katy can often be found tootling around spooky old places in search of the cake shop. 

Marcus is a mixed heritage Indian and English theatre maker, writer, director, and improviser. His work focuses on engaging with Birmingham’s diverse heritage and on empowering communities to tell their stories. 

He is the co-founder of Theatre(ish), with whom he has co-written and co-directed two sell-out plays, facilitated workshops with young people and adult literacy learners, and directs a long form improvisation troupe. 

Marcus is also the Co-Chair of the Centre for Performance Wellbeing at the University of Birmingham and develops workshops and resources to support students with managing performance anxiety.  

Louis is a writer and theatre maker with a passion for queer storytelling and interdisciplinary collaboration. His work blends devising, new writing, and experimental forms to uncover hidden narratives, often drawing from archives to celebrate LGBTQ+ histories. 

Committed to working in both traditional and unconventional spaces – from theatres to nightclubs – Louis seeks to create intimate, proactive work that centres queer voices and fosters community dialogue.