The P Word

Waleed Akhtar

Billy / Writer

Waleed Akhtar is an award-winning writer and actor. His play, The P Word, won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, alongside a nomination for Best Play at the WGGB Awards. He won Most Promising Playwright at The Offies and was nominated for the equivalent at The Evening Standard Awards.  He was the recipient of the Peggy Ramsay/Film 4 bursary and won an MGC Futures award. 

Work for theatre includes: The Real Ones, The P Word (both Bush Theatre); Kabul Goes Pop: Music Television Afghanistan (Brixton House, Mercury & HighTide). His translation work includes Alexis Michalik’s The Art of Illusion (Hampstead). He currently has commissions from the Almedia, The Unicorn, Manhattan Theatre Club, and is on attachment at the Royal Court.

Work for screen includes: The Road Trip (Paramount+/42MP); Famalam (Season 4 contributor); Lost Paradise (Short film B3 Media/UK Film Council). He was selected for the BBC Studios Spotlight scheme and is developing a number of original ideas. His audio play, Mrs Bibi, was released by Audible in March 2025 and was a finalist for the Tinniswood Award. 

As an actor, Waleed’s television credits include The Great (Channel 4), Franchise (HBO), and Three Girls (BBC). Film credits include Cruella, The Roads Not Taken, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. On stage, he has been seen in AI (Young Vic), Fracked (Chichester Festival Theatre), and A Thousand Splendid Suns (Birmingham REP & Tour). He is also an experienced comedy improviser and seasoned voice actor. He voiced the Planet Omar series of books and, most recently, played Ravi in Downstream for BBC Radio 4.

Anthony Simpson-Pike

Director

Anthony Simpson-Pike is a director, dramaturg and writer. He is currently Artistic Director of Theatre503, and was Deputy Artistic Director at the Yard Theatre, Resident Director at Theatre Peckham and Associate Director at the Gate Theatre.

Recent directorial work includes: Donbas (Theatre503); The Real Ones, Olivier Award-winning The P Word, and Lava (nominated for Best Director at the Black British Theatre Awards) (all Bush Theatre); Samuel Takes a Break… (Yard); Drama Desk Award-winning Grenfell: in the Words of survivors (National Theatre, transfer to St Ann’s Warehouse, New York); Irish Time Theatre award-nominated An Octoroon (The Abbey, Dublin).

Max Johns

Set & Costume Designer

Max Johns trained in theatre design at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and was the recipient of a BBC Performing Arts Fellowship in 2015, and prior to this he worked for a number of years as a designer in Germany.

His most recent UK productions include costume design for Why Am I So Single? (Garrick Theatre), The Duchess [Of Malfi] co-design with Tom Piper (The Trafalgar Theatre), As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe), Sound Of The Underground co-design with Rosie Elnile (Royal Court), Choir Boy and Birthmarked (Bristol Old Vic), The Climbers (Theatre by the Lake), The P Word, Overflow, Strange Fruit and Rust (Bush Theatre), The Strange Undoing Of Prudencia Hart (Manchester Royal Exchange), Once Upon A Time In Nazi Occupied Tunisia (Almeida), King John (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Panopticon (National Theatre Scotland), Lord Of The Flies, Kes and Random (Leeds Playhouse), Heartbreakin’ (WLB Esslingen, Germany), Buggy Baby (Yard Theatre), Yellowman (Young Vic), The Half God Of Rainfall (Kiln/Birmingham Rep/Fuel), Urinetown (Central School of Speech and Drama), Wendy And Peter Pan (The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), Utility and Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre), Fidelio (London Philharmonic Orchestra), Enron and Our Town (the Egg), Life Raft, Medusa, The Light Burns Blue and Under A Cardboard Sea (Bristol Old Vic), and Hamlet and All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory).

Niraj Chag

Composer

Niraj Chag is a London-based composer and artist whose work spans a wide range from albums, to TV & film scores, theatre and live events.

Niraj’s television and film soundtracks have reached a worldwide audience. These include One Night in Bhopal (BBC1), Bafta & Emmy winning Simon Schama’s The Power of Art (BBC Worldwide), The Age of Terror (BBC2), Andrew Marr’s Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (BBC2), Sex and the City (HBO), Origins of Us (BBC2), The Rise of the Continents (Discovery Channel), All in Good Time (Studio Canal), Our Girl (BBC1).

By contrast, Niraj’s album work allows him to explore and bring to life his own narrative. Albums include the critically acclaimed ‘Along The Dusty Road’, ‘The Lost Souls’ and ‘Mud Doll’.

Other work includes the score for the official Olympic Torch event on London’s South Bank (SBC). Musical Wah! Wah! Girls (Sadler’s Wells), The Olivier Award winning Rafta Rafta (National Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (RSC), Dara (National Theatre), Captive Queen (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Ramayana (Radio 4). In addition, Niraj has scored over 20 dance productions including Shobana Jeyasinghs Classic Cuts (Royal Opera House).

Elliot Griggs

Lighting Designer

Theatre work includes Blue Mist, all of it, Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks, A Fight Against, On Bear Ridge, Yen (Royal Court); Beautiful Thing (Theatre Royal Stratford East/Leeds Playhouse); Jitney (Old Vic/Leeds Playhouse/Headlong); Amélie the Musical (Criterion Theatre/The Other Palace/Watermill Theatre/UK Tour); The Wild Duck (Almeida); The Lover/The Collection (Harold Pinter Theatre); Fleabag (Wyndham’s Theatre/New York/Soho Theatre/Edinburgh Festival/Tour); No Pay? No Way!, Queens of the Coal Age, The Night Watch (Royal Exchange); Sleepova, The P Word, Hir (Bush Theatre); An Octoroon, Pomona (National Theatre/Orange Tree); Ivan and the Dogs (Young Vic); Richard III (Headlong); Disco Pigs (Trafalgar Studios/Irish Rep, NY); The Swell, The Misfortune of the English, Last Easter, The Sugar Syndrome, Low Level Panic, Sheppey, buckets (Orange Tree); The Oracles (Punchdrunk).

Awards include Off West End Award for Best Lighting Designer (Pomona).

XANA

Sound Designer

XANA is a composer, spatial sound artist, music supervisor and a haptic specialist sound designer developing accessible audio systems for theatre and live art spaces. Xana is the music science and technology lead and project mentor supporting Black artists and inventors at audio research label Inventing Waves.

Theatre credits: After Sunday (Belgrade); Alterations (National); Conversations After Sex (Park Theatre); Pig Heart Boy (Unicorn Theatre); Shifters, Barcelona (Duke of York); Dead Girls Rising (Silent Uproar, UK Tour); Not Your Superwoman, Speed, The Real Ones, My Fathers Fable, Elephant, Sleepova, The P Word, Strange Fruit (Bush); The Architect (ATC/GDIF); Beautiful Thing (Stratford East); Imposter 22, Word:Play, Living Newspaper #4 (Royal Court); Rumble In the Jungle (Rematch:Live); Anna Karenina (Edinburgh Lyceum, Bristol Old Vic); Intimate Apparel, The Trials, Marys Seacole (Donmar); Earthworks, Sundown Kiki: Reloaded, The Collaboration, Sundown Kiki, Changing Destiny, Fairview, Ivan and the Dogs (Young Vic); …cake (Theatre Peckham); Who Killed My Father (Tron); as british as a watermelon (Contact); Hyde and Seek (Guildhall); Burgerz (Hackney Showroom); King Troll (The Fawn); Everyday (Deafinitely) (New Diorama); Black Holes (The Place); Hive City Legacy (Roundhouse); Main Character Energy, But Daddy I love her, Glamrou: From Quran to Queen, Curious, Half-Breed (Soho Theatre); Blood Knot, Guards At The Taj (Orange Tree Theatre); Samuel Takes A Break, SEX SEX MEN MEN (Yard); Limp Wrist & Iron Fist, Everything I own, Is Dat Yu Yeah (Brixton House).

Black British Theatre Awards; Best Sound Design 2023 (Win), Best Sound Design 2024 (Win) 

Theatre Awards Offie; King Troll (The Fawn) (Win), Shifters (Win), Guards at The Taj (Win), Sleepova (Nom), The P Word (Nom), Blood Knot (Finalist)

Olivier: Olivier Award for The P Word production award 2023, Olivier Award for Sleepova production award 2024

Rachael Nanyonjo

Movement Director

Rachael Nanyonjo is a movement director and choreographer.

Rachael’s training includes BA Honours in Dance Studies (Roehampton University) and MA in Choreography (Middlesex University).

Choreography & Movement Direction credits include: The White Card (Northern Stage & UK tour); Purple Snowflakes & Titty Wanks (Abbey Theatre and Royal Court); Trouble In Mind (National Theatre); Love Reign (Young Vic); Changing Destiny (Young Vic); The Death of a Black Man (Hampstead Theatre); Pigeon English (Bristol School of Acting); Cinderella (Nottingham Playhouse); Cbeebies (BBC); Spine (UK Tour); In A Word (Young Vic); Great Expectations (National Youth Theatre at Southwark Playhouse): Either (Hampstead); Two Trains Running (ETT – Royal and Derngate); American Dream (Young Vic); Does My Bomb Look Big In This (Soho Theatre, Tara Arts); Babylon Beyond Borders (Bush Theatre); Macbeth (Orange Tree); The Jumper Factory (The Young Vic, Bristol Old Vic); Misty (Trafalgar Studios); Sleeping Beauty (Theatre Royal Stratford East, nominated for the Black British Theatre Best Choreographer Award); After It Rains (National Youth Theatre); Shebeen (Nottingham Playhouse & Theatre Royal Stratford East); Bernstein’s Mass (Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre); Twilight (Gate Theatre); The Divide (Old Vic); and Cover My Tracks (Old Vic).

Directing credits include Recognition (audio play with 45North Ltd & Ellie Keel Productions); Bobsleigh (Old Vic Monologues); Amazina (Film); An Alternative Musical (National Theatre, for NT Learning as co-director); Assata – She Who Struggles (Young Vic, for Young Vic fresh direction); 2:1 (Kanzaze Dance Theatre at Rich Mix).

Choreographer screen credits include The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (ACE Entertainment); CBEEBIES: Christmas in Storyland (BBC); and Pirates (Hillbilly Films/BBC/BFI).

Jatinder Chera

Casting Director

For the Bush: Heart Wall; Miss Myrtle’s Garden; Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew; The Real Ones; A Playlist for the Revolution; Sleepova; The P Word.

Other theatre includes: The Waves (Jermyn Street Theatre); Marriage Material (Lyric Hammersmith); Scenes from a Repatriation, G (Royal Court); The Comeuppance (Almeida); The Flea, Samuel Takes a Break, Multiple Casualty Incident (The Yard); Sweat (Royal Exchange).

Awards include: Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Sleepova and The P Word.

Adam Karim

Associate Director

Adam is a former NT Resident Director, Donmar Resident Assistant Director, JMK Award & Eastern Eye award-winning Director.

Directing credits include: What Fatima Did (Tara); Before The Millenium (OFS); Guards At The Taj (Orange Tree/ JMK); Mantelpeace (Young Vic TP); Macbeth (LAMDA); Julius Caesar (RADA); Oliver Twist (Mountview); Pressure Drop (Immediate Theatre); Platform (East15); Second Person Narrative (Omnibus/ ALRA).

As Associate / Assistant: Confidential Title – The Musical (Playful); Clyde’s (Donmar); When Winston Went To War With The Wireless (Donmar); Trouble In Butetown (Donmar); The P Word (Bush); Sorry You’re not a Winner (Paines Plough).

Seventh Productions

Producer

Seventh Productions is the theatre and live events production company within The Partnership Group. Based in London’s West End, the company focuses on building meaningful collaborations and long-term creative relationships with the group’s clients. It develops, produces, and supports ambitious and innovative work across live storytelling in all its forms, with a strong commitment to empowering talent and championing creative excellence. Working alongside a diverse network of industry partners, Seventh Productions delivers high-quality events and experiences, including West End and touring theatre productions.

The company mounted its first production in 2023, The Enfield Haunting, which ran for twelve weeks at the Ambassador’s Theatre starring Catherine Tate and David Threlfall.

The Partnership Group brings together leading talent, literary and below-the-line agencies, covering every facet of the entertainment industry, as well as tv/film/theatre development and production services, live events and podcasts all under one banner.

Seventh Productions is led by Executive Producer, James Beresford, supported by General Manager and Associate Producer, Gabriella Sills. The Partnership Group is headed by Chief Executive Roger Charteris and group Managing Director Robert Taylor.

seventh-productions.com
thepartnershipgroup.com

Chuchu Nwagu Productions

Producer

Chuchu Nwagu Productions (CNP) is an independent theatrical and live entertainment company founded in 2019 to develop, commission, invest in, and produce world-class theatre and entertainment in the UK, US and Internationally. Through all of its work, CNP looks to disrupt the canon, democratise theatre, tell world-class stories, create inclusive experiences, elevate the voices of the under-represented and be the changing face of theatre.

Recent producing credits include: Hell’s Kitchen (North American Tour); Dear England (UK Tour); BURLESQUE! The Musical (Savoy & UK tour); Retrograde (Apollo); The Roommate (Broadway); Shifters (Duke of York’s); Red Pitch (@sohoplace); Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Broadway); Dreamgirls! The Musical (UK & Ireland Tour).

www.chuchunwagu.co.uk

Tan France

Producer

Tan France is a global media personality and style icon, celebrated for his work as a designer, New York Times best-selling author, actor, producer, and television personality. He first rose to international stardom as the witty and charming fashion expert on Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Queer Eye, which recently concluded with its milestone tenth and final season. Queer Eye is the longest-running unscripted Netflix series and continues to hold the record for the most wins in the Emmy Awards’ Outstanding Structured Reality Program category. 

Tan later co-hosted Netflix’s critically acclaimed design competition series Next in Fashion with Gigi Hadid as well the relaunch of the global hit Say Yes to the Dress for Warner Bros. Discovery UK. Tan served as a host and producer for the award-winning digital series Dressing Funny and last year launched his digital culinary series Forking Fab. In scripted television, Tan’s credits include Deli Boys, Big Mouth, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Princess Power. 

In 2022, Tan explored the subject of colorism in the BBC documentary Beauty and the Bleach. Most recently, he launched his own production company, French Tuck Media, focusing on authentic, impactful storytelling that amplifies diverse voices and perspectives. Beyond the screen, he released his New York Times best-selling memoir in 2019, Naturally Tan, a candid and inspiring account of his journey growing up in a South Asian Muslim household in the UK.