Christine was a core member of Actors for Refugees Australia, until she moved to the UK in 2004 to complete an MSc in Forced Migration at Oxford University. She founded ice&fire‘s outreach network Actors for Human Rights and has developed multiple performance and participation projects for the company.Christine is a trustee of Student Action For Refugees and volunteers for Hackney Migrant Centre and The Unity Project. Plays for ice&fire include On the Record; Afghan Monologues, Rendition Monologues; The Illegals; Broke; Seven Years with Hard Labour; Listen to Me; Souvenirs; The Island Nation; Lost and Found, My Skype Family,#ArmingtheWorld (with Ben Chessell) and What Do I Know (with Amina Atiq) [email protected]

Sebastian Aguirre, co artistic director of ice&fire and director of Actors For Human Rights, is a queer human rights activist and theatre practitioner from the Chilean refugee diaspora in the UK. They trained at Central School of Speech and Drama and previously worked at the international secretariat of Amnesty International. Sebastian is also a long standing member of Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants. Scripts for ice&fire include This Is Who I Am. Sebastian is currently running a 9 month participatory arts project with SurvivorsUk. Get in touch at seb@iceandfire.co.uk

Helen is an actor who first worked with ice&fire in a video for charity Safe Exit, performing the testimony of a sex worker. Since then she has become a regular face in Actors for Human Rights performances and a member of the new Residents group. Other acting credits include The Mousetrap (West End and tour), Home Front (BBC Radio Drama) and numerous performances at fringe London venues including The Arcola, Southwark Playhouse and Old Red Lion. Get in touch at [email protected] 

 Carlos Maria Romero aka Atabey Mamasita is a London-based Colombian multidisciplinary artist and performer with a background in dance and live art working in the fields of performing and visual arts, heritage and architectural activism, pedagogy and curating. Maria Romero is the third member of SPIT! (Sodomites, Perverts, Inverts Together!) with whom they wrote and continue to present a series of queer manifestos responding to contemporary pressing issues of sexual and gender oppression (initially part of Frieze Projects 2017), and a founding member of Vividero Colectivo, a group of multidisciplinary artists and architects revealing narratives in which historically marginalised social practices and architectural sites are re-claimed as cultural heritage. In 2016 Atabey created Vogue-Chi, a movement practice for people aged 50+ that evolved into a multi-generational queer and allies safe space for self-expression and coming together. Vogue-Chi was provided in 2018 to LGBTI asylum seekers through Micro Rainbow International.

For World AIDS Day 2018, Maria Romero presented A House of Ecstatic Virality, a dance and movement practice work commissioned by Auto Italia South East in collaboration with HIV activists, Health professionals and volunteers from METRO Charity’s Latinx and Polish communities programme. Using methodologies for communal dance and conversation, the work creates a celebratory, sober, embodied and life affirming environment for people to explore together HIV related issues in a safe, relaxed and supportive manner.

Carlos Maria Romero is currently coursing the Postgraduate Studies in Art at The Royal Academy of Arts. / www.carlosmariaromero.com

PJ Samuels is a queer poet and LGBTQIA+ human rights activist .

Amina Atiq is a 22 year-old poet and spoken word artist living and studying in Liverpool. She has performed extensively across her hometown and a number of regional cities. She has been involved in national and international projects, working alongside Roots & Routes international, Writing on the Wall, The Arab Arts Festival, ORT gallery, First Draft and many more. She has been featured on various artistic platforms such as BBC five digital, Skinny, Bito Lito and Ummahsonic. To mark to 100 year anniversary of partial female suffrage, Amina was filmed giving her poetic take as a young Muslim ‘scouser’ by BBC 5 Livehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05x506m.

Amina worked with ice&fire on What Do I Know in collaboration with the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival. This piece engages with the effects of the war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where Amina is from and launched in July 2018. Further dates planned – stay tuned

Waleed is an actor, whose screen credits include Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Kudos Film), and most recently 3 girls (BBC 1), Bucket, (BBC 4) and Tyrant (FOX Network). On stage he has predominately worked in new writing for theatre’s including The Birmingham REP, Chichester Festival Theatre, Leicester Curve, Nottingham Playhouse, The Yard and Finborough. While as a voiceover artist he has worked for BBC Radio 4 drama and brands including McDonalds, Google, Kiss FM and Adidas. He is passionate about human rights, and proud to have been an active member of Actors for Human Rights from 2008, having been involved with readings and events across the country. He is now also an active member of the resident committee helping to guide and grow the work of the Actors for Human Rights network.

Rothna Begum is the women’s rights researcher on the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. She has, among other work, documented the abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers in Gulf states; sexual slavery of Yezidi women and girls by ISIS in Iraq; and the government response to domestic violence in Morocco. Rothna previously worked for Amnesty International for over five years researching human rights violations in the Gulf region.

“ice&fire is doing some amazing work bringing people’s stories to life, often where such voices are silenced or go unheard. I’m honoured to be able to help them in any way I can.”

Morten is a campaigner and activist. He’s a co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, a group of LGBT+ activists taking creative action to challenge the demonisation of migrants in the UK. He works at Neon as a senior organiser working to strengthen organising in UK social justice movements

“ice&fire tell the stories of people who have been dehumanised in the media and reminds of us the humanity that often gets lost in political debates. I’m honoured to be able to support their work.”

Gbolahan Obisesan is Artistic Director of Brixton House as well as a Freelance Theatre Director, Actor and Playwright.Genesis Fellow at the Young Vic as Associate Director.Gbolahan has previously directed work for the Young Vic, Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Crucible, Yard Theatre, Latitude, Unicorn Theatre, Soho Theatre and The Gate. As a playwright his plays have been seen at Edinburgh Festival, Bristol Old Vic, Soho Theatre, Young Vic, Pentabus, Latitude, Bush Theatre, Unicorn and the House of Parliament. He was a recipient of a Fringe First in 2011 for his play Mad About The Boy. Gbolahan was the recipient of the Bulldog Princep Directors Bursary in 2008 as Director in Residence at the National Theatre Studio.

“ice&fire really inspires our collective responsibility towards representing a wider spectrum of life experiences and the need to challenge the injustices of the world through theatrical integrity. I want to be a part of that effort and contribute to the journey.”

Liz Pagett is the founder and director of Silver Sea Insight, a consultancy that manages research, evaluation, strategy, and CRM projects for the arts and culture sector. Previously Liz worked in marketing roles for arts organisations such as the National Theatre and Southbank Centre. She has a particular passion for work at the intersection of the arts and human rights/international development, and currently consults for The Freedom Theatre in Palestine and the theatre for development charity Arts for Action. 

“The arts have a profound ability to provoke and inspire, to change hearts and minds, and to challenge our assumptions about the world. ice&fire are telling vital human rights stories that need to be heard, and I’m thrilled to be able to support them as a Trustee”

Neal Shah is a Chartered Accountant with 15+ years industry experience. He is currently a Finance Director for the LEGO Group within their retail division based in London.  Neal started out his career as an auditor at PriceWaterhouseCoopers followed by various finance roles in the consumer goods and travel industries. Neal has experience in working overseas (Australia and India).

“I’m thrilled to be a trustee for ice&fire.  Sharing real-life stories about human rights issues through performance is so powerful.  I hope to bring my financial skills and expertise to help ice&fire continue to reach more people”

Juliet has worked extensively for the RSC and the Royal National Theatre. She won an Olivier Award for her role in Death and the Maiden at the Royal Court, and a number of awards for her work in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply. Other film credits include The Trial, Drowning by Numbers, and Emma. Described as “one of the finest actors of her generation” (The Times), Juliet has been a consistent supporter of ice&fire since our inception in 2003 and appeared in the gala performance of Asylum Monologues at the National Portrait Gallery in 2006.

Jean, a former teacher from East London, has been London’s Green MEP since 1999. Her special interests include Democracy and Human Rights, Refugee Rights, Anti-discrimination and Social Inclusion and aiding the development of a Green employment strategy. “It is an honour to be a patron of ice&fire. My deep commitment to human rights issues is reflected in their work and their unique use of theatre to make these issues relevant to all of us is something I wholeheartedly support.”

Sonja is an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced in theatres across the UK and USA.  She founded ice&fire theatre in 2003 with the launch of  I Have Before Me A Young Lady from Rwanda, which was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio. Other work for ice&fire includes Crocodile Seeking Refuge; Asylum Monologues, Asylum Dialogues, Palestine Monologues, On A Clear Day You Can See Dover and Welcome to Ramallah, co-written with Adah Kay. Sonja now acts in a consultative capacity to the company and has created a new company, Visible Theatre, which transcends and celebrates age.