Culture maker in performance, film and sociocultural fields. In my projects I dedicate myself in particular to the participation and empowerment of people who have to experience structural discrimination in different forms, and who are socially and culturally marginalised. So far, I have mainly advocated Black and intersectional feminist perspectives, as well as those of survivors of sexual and/or domestic violence. I am also dedicated to the conception and development of new cultural projects and structures. At the moment I am to be found (once again) in my hometown Berlin (Germany), but have so far spent the majority of my life elsewhere, having lived for about a decade each in Brussels (Belgium) and London (UK) as well.
First seen the light of day in 1987 in the Charité in Berlin (East Germany), I spent a large part of my childhood and youth in Brussels (Belgium). From 2006 to 2009 I completed a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Studies (minor in Film Studies) at the Free University of Berlin (Germany), whilst I was also active in the P14 youth ensemble of the Volksbühne Berlin. From 2009 to 2011 I did a Master of Fine Arts in Acting International at East 15 Acting School in London (part of the University of Essex, UK), during which I also spent a month each at the Russian Theatre Academy - GITIS, Moscow, and the Balinese Art Institute - ISI, Denpasar.
After completing my master's degree, I stayed in London and made my professional theatrical debut as an actress in 2012, after having occasionally worked as an actress for film projects during my studies already. In 2013 I started working as a director and producer, the latter in particular through my own activist production company Goblin Baby Co., which aims to create a stage for underrepresented perspectives, as well as promoting cultural representation of our true social diversity and especially supports newly developed plays and unheard voices. Many productions have been created with Goblin Baby Co. over the years, such as the UNHEARD Festivals and annual Vagina Monologues / One Billion Rising Events since 2013.
In 2014 I became Co-Founder, Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Bread & Roses Theatre, a project that I had been contributing to since 2012 and which ultimately became one of my most formative ventures. The Bread & Roses Theatre is a, now multi-award-winning, small theatre above a London pub, known for its innovative, ethical and forward-thinking ways of working, and is also home to the annual Clapham Fringe Festival as well as its own independent publishing house. In addition to my cultural management work for the project, I was also involved as an actress and director in numerous in-house productions, such as Low Level Panic (2016) and dirty butterfly (2017). I eventually stepped down as Artistic Director in 2018, but remain an Executive Director of the theatre to this day.
Also in 2014 my first original short plays were professionally performed on the London Fringe Theatre Scene (scene of the independent performing arts), where further short plays of mine have been regularly performed since. From 2015 to 2017 I also completed advanced training courses for selected playwrights at Tamasha Theatre Company and the Criterion Theatre. In 2015 I wrote two one-act plays for children (CinderElla & (S)Elfish Christmas), which premiered at the Bread & Roses Theatre, and in 2018 three monologues of mine were published in Hear Me Now - Audition Monologues for Actors of Colour (Oberon Books / Bloomsbury). In addition, I have been writing for several online magazines, such as the English-language Female Arts from 2015 to 2017, and since 2019 I regularly write for RosaMag, the first German-language online magazine by and for Black women.
During my time in London I worked artistically and creatively with many further productions and collectives, and was involved in over 100 projects. In addition to a wide range of theatre work, I also participated regularly in film projects, made my film directing debut with The Big Day (Godiva Films) in 2017, and, in the same year, took on a lead role in a feature film as well as a position as executive producer, for the first time, in the political-activist tragic comedy TRUMPED. The film - centred on two Black, queer women - takes a critical look at social discrimination, exclusion and political developments in recent years towards more right-wing extremism; after its release in 2019, it received several awards on the international indie film scene.
In 2015 I started giving workshops in theatre and empowerment work, and since 2016 I have also worked occasionally with colleges and universities, for example in the subjects of Drama / Creative Writing at Greenwich University and Middlesex University, as well as being a public speaker. I also contributed to Beyond the Canon at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) as a director, where we worked with BIPoC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) students on plays by BIPoC authors, not taught as part of the traditional canon of theatre and film schools (an important first step, because really, all students should learn this as part of the compulsory curriculum).
Despite all the wonderful adventures and opportunities in London, I moved back to Berlin in 2018 due to a vareity of social and personal reasons. In addition to my previous projects Goblin Baby Co. and the Bread & Roses Theatre, which I have continued working on from here, I took on the challenge of having to re-establish myself in a (work-wise) new country and build a new network. Since then I worked at the Performing Arts Festival Berlin - the largest festival of independent performing arts in Berlin -, in 2019 as Associate Director and in 2020 as organisational Co-Director for an unexpectedly fully digital edition of the festival. Furthermore, I cotinue to be active in film and performance projects as a performer, director, organiser and writer and have returned to the Free University of Berlin, for my ongoing dissertation on "Diasporadical Stages - Contemporary Afropean Theatre & Performance ".
In September 2020 I then became Project Director of AfroPolitan Berlin, a project whose main goal is to strengthen Black and Afrodiasporic people and the communities in which we live and work, through culture, education and networking. Therefore, I can now focus more on the socio-cultural aspect of my work in Berlin as well, which is still a major hurdle in the city's established white cultural institutions. Furthermore, for 2021 I am also the Programmer of the "MOP Shortlist" program segment at the Film Festival Max Ophüls Preis.
After completing my master's degree, I stayed in London and made my professional theatrical debut as an actress in 2012, after having occasionally worked as an actress for film projects during my studies already. In 2013 I started working as a director and producer, the latter in particular through my own activist production company Goblin Baby Co., which aims to create a stage for underrepresented perspectives, as well as promoting cultural representation of our true social diversity and especially supports newly developed plays and unheard voices. Many productions have been created with Goblin Baby Co. over the years, such as the UNHEARD Festivals and annual Vagina Monologues / One Billion Rising Events since 2013.
In 2014 I became Co-Founder, Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Bread & Roses Theatre, a project that I had been contributing to since 2012 and which ultimately became one of my most formative ventures. The Bread & Roses Theatre is a, now multi-award-winning, small theatre above a London pub, known for its innovative, ethical and forward-thinking ways of working, and is also home to the annual Clapham Fringe Festival as well as its own independent publishing house. In addition to my cultural management work for the project, I was also involved as an actress and director in numerous in-house productions, such as Low Level Panic (2016) and dirty butterfly (2017). I eventually stepped down as Artistic Director in 2018, but remain an Executive Director of the theatre to this day.
Also in 2014 my first original short plays were professionally performed on the London Fringe Theatre Scene (scene of the independent performing arts), where further short plays of mine have been regularly performed since. From 2015 to 2017 I also completed advanced training courses for selected playwrights at Tamasha Theatre Company and the Criterion Theatre. In 2015 I wrote two one-act plays for children (CinderElla & (S)Elfish Christmas), which premiered at the Bread & Roses Theatre, and in 2018 three monologues of mine were published in Hear Me Now - Audition Monologues for Actors of Colour (Oberon Books / Bloomsbury). In addition, I have been writing for several online magazines, such as the English-language Female Arts from 2015 to 2017, and since 2019 I regularly write for RosaMag, the first German-language online magazine by and for Black women.
During my time in London I worked artistically and creatively with many further productions and collectives, and was involved in over 100 projects. In addition to a wide range of theatre work, I also participated regularly in film projects, made my film directing debut with The Big Day (Godiva Films) in 2017, and, in the same year, took on a lead role in a feature film as well as a position as executive producer, for the first time, in the political-activist tragic comedy TRUMPED. The film - centred on two Black, queer women - takes a critical look at social discrimination, exclusion and political developments in recent years towards more right-wing extremism; after its release in 2019, it received several awards on the international indie film scene.
In 2015 I started giving workshops in theatre and empowerment work, and since 2016 I have also worked occasionally with colleges and universities, for example in the subjects of Drama / Creative Writing at Greenwich University and Middlesex University, as well as being a public speaker. I also contributed to Beyond the Canon at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) as a director, where we worked with BIPoC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) students on plays by BIPoC authors, not taught as part of the traditional canon of theatre and film schools (an important first step, because really, all students should learn this as part of the compulsory curriculum).
Despite all the wonderful adventures and opportunities in London, I moved back to Berlin in 2018 due to a vareity of social and personal reasons. In addition to my previous projects Goblin Baby Co. and the Bread & Roses Theatre, which I have continued working on from here, I took on the challenge of having to re-establish myself in a (work-wise) new country and build a new network. Since then I worked at the Performing Arts Festival Berlin - the largest festival of independent performing arts in Berlin -, in 2019 as Associate Director and in 2020 as organisational Co-Director for an unexpectedly fully digital edition of the festival. Furthermore, I cotinue to be active in film and performance projects as a performer, director, organiser and writer and have returned to the Free University of Berlin, for my ongoing dissertation on "Diasporadical Stages - Contemporary Afropean Theatre & Performance ".
In September 2020 I then became Project Director of AfroPolitan Berlin, a project whose main goal is to strengthen Black and Afrodiasporic people and the communities in which we live and work, through culture, education and networking. Therefore, I can now focus more on the socio-cultural aspect of my work in Berlin as well, which is still a major hurdle in the city's established white cultural institutions. Furthermore, for 2021 I am also the Programmer of the "MOP Shortlist" program segment at the Film Festival Max Ophüls Preis.