Rachel Baker is a champion of silliness. She infuses comedy with creativity in her work as a facilitator. With the belief that laughter connects all. As a working-class and neurodivergent person, she recognises how essential it is to work with intersectionality in mind. With her belief that everyone is creative she utilises this message in her co-creation, focusing on building connections, learning from one another and laughing together.

So far on Foundry I have learned so much about different ways to co-create and connect. Particularly I have found the feedback and support from my fellow foundry cohort invaluable. I am now looking forward to utilising all the knowledge from the fantastic visiting facilitators and starting to improve my own practice. It will be a joy to be paired with a community and start to co-create and learn from one another.”

I come to Foundry after 30 years working as a high school drama teacher in schools and colleges across the West Midlands. The majority of my work has been through co-creation. Working with young people to develop/facilitate their ideas into pieces of performance or working closely with other practitioners and venues. For example, working with the ‘Creative Partnerships’ initiative to engage some of the most vulnerable learners at a school in West Bromwich; site specific works at The Black Country Museum, The Commandry Centre in Worcester, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wednesbury Art Gallery; an open-air Shakespeare festival in Wolverhampton involving more than 150 young people. I would describe my creative style as active/playful, a quest for exploration, a quest for learning. I want to give people the opportunity to sit forward, to be fearless, to have a voice, to find meaning. I want to enable people to be curious, to celebrate, to share, to be found.

Being part of Foundry 2024 is the most joyous experience”

Jenny is a Birmingham-based facilitator and artist. Since graduating in 2023, they’ve been building gardens and relationships, through Grand Union’s Growing Project, and working on their own performance practice. They are interested in the medical body, other mechanisms of power, and how we can care for and collaborate with the (living and non-living) beings around us. They are most interested in what you might want to make and whether you’d like them to help you make it.

The relationships we have developed as Foundry Artists so far on the program have been so kind and critical where needed. It is valuable as a freelance creative to have this space where I can test out new ideas.”

Robert George Lane is an actor, musician, writer and improviser. He is a founding member of comedy improvisation group Improv Wolves and has recently written and directed his first short film. As a songwriter and musician, he has toured extensively and released four albums. Robert has delivered workshops on topics including songwriting and comedy improvisation and provides regular music and drama sessions for Midland Mencap. Robert is also the host of a podcast about creativity where he chats to creatives about their careers and how they create their work. Whether he’s performing, teaching, or chatting with interesting people, Robert is dedicated to exploring, sharing and celebrating creativity.

Foundry has been fascinating and is already giving me a lot to think about in terms of my practice, why I do what I do and how I could develop things. It’s wonderful to have a bit of validation from an organisation like the Rep and encouragement that what I do is interesting and of value. My fellow foundry artists are a massively talented and supportive bunch and the guests we’ve had in to work with us have all been superb. I can’t wait for more!

Foundry for me, from the very beginning was all about taking a leap into something that has the potential to be amazing. So far, it is proving me right! Its giving me a chance to learn and express myself in ways that I never could have imagined.

I constantly state that you couldn’t have put a better group of people in to one room, from all walks of life and with different creative passions, but all with a willingness to learn, to create, to better ourselves. We’ve created such a unique, refreshing and magical environment that I wish we could bottle up and sprinkle into other courses and creative processes not just in the wider community but nationally. I’ve never been so inspired and excited to see what we get the pleasure to learn next in this process because every single hour has been magical… I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings but so far… it was an opportunity I’m so honoured to have been selected for and something I’m exceptionally proud of.

Dan is a movement facilitator and practitioner based in the West Midlands. He has worked with different organisations across the United Kingdom and has worked within Community, Educational and Professional contexts. Dan started his community practice within the dance industry and has started to transfer these skills into the world of theatre and actor movement. Dan is excited to be embarking on this journey with the Foundry programme.

Foundry so far has been an amazing and perspective changing experience. From working within different community settings from an artist led perspective, the workshops and guest speakers have opened my lens of practice to different ways of working. With collaboration being at the forefront of the process, it has been an enriching, diverse and nurturing experience to be a part of. I am so grateful to be going through this journey with the cohort and Rep producing team who always support, challenge and make us think of new and exciting possibilities each session.”

Adjei Sun is a poet, multidisciplinary artist, speaker, educator, community organiser, director and yoga teacher.

As a poet, Adjei Sun has performed nationally and internationally, including at the Dubai World Expo and BBC World Questions. Another one of his poems welcomed the baton for the Queen’s Baton Relay Birmingham Homecoming Celebration. Adjei’s work has also been performed at The Natural History Museum, BBC World Questions, featured by The Poetry Society, and has been displayed on screens across London by Apples and Snakes.

As an educator, Adjei facilitates creative workshops, especially in schools, to address stigma around mental health, help young people to express themselves, and make difficult identity and social concepts more accessible.

As an organiser, Adjei Sun was awarded as a BBC 1Xtra Future Figure for his work in communities that brings voices together, in creative and accessible ways, to engage in conversations around who we are as humans and the world around us.

As a public speaker, Adjei Sun has featured at the Bradford Climate Symposium, on BBC Radio WM, and on BBC Three.

As a director, Adjei Sun has created short films such as Small Pockets and Love Is Every Step (both of which were in collaboration with animator Malikah Holder).

As a certified Yoga teacher, Adjei Sun delivers Yin Yoga.