Our members are writers, actors, dramaturges, circus performers, dancers, singers, musicians and more. We have won awards as directors, writers and performers for BBC Radio Drama, the commercials oscars, the Cannes film festival and an international shakespeare competition.
Gopal completed his formal training at the Poor School in 2006. During his time there he tackled various challenging roles such as Shamrayev in The Seagull, Torvald in A Doll's House and Richard in Babies. Theatre credits include: Where's my bag?, Citizenship, Apocolypse Wow and The Nativity (all Universal Citizens productions), Snake of Doom (Etcetera Theatre), Torn (Hackney Empire), A Lifetime On Tiptoes (Stratford Circus) and The Carbon Footprint Detective Agency (tour). Having caught the acting bug at an early age, he has performed in Norway, Tunisia and various venues around the UK including Wembley arena, The Milenium Dome and The Hackney Empire.
Jamilah graduated from NewVIc with a full distinctions in performing arts. She is now a freelance actor and theatre practitioner working in London. In addition to being a Universal Citizen for four years, Jamilah is a member of Theatre Venture's Youth Company. Recent productions include Those Three Words (NAYT), Top Trump (Stratford Circus), The Clap (Etcetera Theatre), My Body My Voice (London tour), Apocalypse Wow!(Unicorn Theatre), Panphobia (LOST theatre), Brood (Unicorn Theatre). Jamilah has also co-founded her own theatre company with Chi Lin Nim called Give and Take.
Co-founder of Give'n'Take Theatre Arts Company, Chi-Lin had first taken an interest in acting as she grew up watching movies of Chinese comedian Stephen Chow (recognised in the West for the movie 'Kung Fu Hustle'). She finally ventured into her desired profession when she took Performing Arts at NewVIc (Newham Sixth Form College) and achieved three Distinctions. Chi-Lin starred as Ugly Jenny in the short film My Body, My Voice (LiveEd) and recent credits include: Panphobia (Lost Theatre), Those Three Words (NAYT BYTF), To, Two, Too, 2 (NAYT BYTF), The Alternative Nativity (Stratford Circus)and Meanwhile (Stratford Circus). Alongside drama, Chi-Lin also takes part in hip hop dance theatre with Limitless Dance, formerly known as East London Dance Youth Company. As well as performing, she is always looking for new ways to develop and improve her acting skills to further her career.
Ceri trained in devised and physical theatre at Central School of Speech and Drama. Her recent credits include: Charlie and Lola's Best Bestest Play (Polka Theatre with Watershed Productions and BBC Worldwide), Present:Tense 11 (Nabokov Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse), We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Polka Theatre with Lakeside Arts), Red Ladies (Clod Ensemble), A Servant to Two Masters (Rose Theatre, Bankside), Havisham (BAC) and Through the Arch (Cultural Olympiad 2012 launch). Ceri also performs in her own one-woman theatre clown company, Jugglingspinster, at festivals around the country. Last year Jugglingspinster performed at festivals in Norway and the UK. Ceri has also played a variety of surly teenagers for film and TV.
Company Director Austin Spangler has just won a Gold World Medal at the New York Festival International for best viral/advert in the world and Bronze at Cannes Film Festival for Embrace Life, Directed by Daniel Cox. Austin graduated from Central St Martins in 2004, specialising in Installation Performance Fine Art, and from Central School of Speech and Drama in Voice. He has been performing with the Universal Citizens for the last four years. Theatre credits include: Panphobia, Its Criminal, Apocalypse Wow, The Nativity Show, FUCF (Universal Citizens), The Cells (Tangled Feet), You Me Bum Bum Train (winner of the Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award), Together We're Heavy (CANUK Theatre), You cant go swimming with your ex-husband (Behind the Bikeshed), Julius Caesar Directed by Barbara Warner (Barbican), Dinner with a perfect Stranger (2006). Film and TV credits include: A Good Year, Ridley Scott (2006), Eastenders (2007), Orbit Monkey's (2007), Ed is Dead (2008) and Commercials such as Old el Paso, Wrigley's, Olbus Oil, Sunsilk and Barclaycard to name a few.
Ray is a freelance theatre-maker and a founding member of the Universal Citizens. Ray is a BA(hons) & MA graduate from the Central School of Speech & Drama and trained on the Royal Court's Young Writer's Programme. Ray is an Associate Director of Theatre Venture and a regular director for Face Front Inclusive Theatre and LiveEd. Prizes include an Arts & Humanities Research Council grant and Best Play (Fringe Report, in 2005) for Sandman.
Kate trained in Theatre directing at Drama Studio London. She also has a First Class Honours degree from The Central School of Speech and Drama in Drama, Applied Theatre & Education. Her professional credits include: The Perfect Party (Camden People's Theatre), Beyond Therapy (Hen and Chickens) Never Any Fruit (Pleasance Stage Space & Rondo Theatre, Bath), The Double (White Bear) Panphobia (LOST Theatre), Like It Never Happened (Old Red Lion), Zipporah (The George Wood Theatre),12 Clocks (RACC Studio), Shout Across The River (Courtyard Theatre), Wanda's Visit (White Bear Theatre), The Surveyor (New End Theatre), Final Play (Tabard Theatre), Whole Blue Sky (Unicorn Theatre) and the EU tour of devised show, Journey. Kate has also directed several rehearsed readings and been a faciliator for drama education projects in London, Dorset, Northern Ireland, Kosova, Romania and Hungary. She is currently Associate Director (Education) at Upstart Theatre and Resident Director at Blossom Tree Productions. Kate is also Artistic Director of Theatre 6.
Miranda played Amie in Imogen (Bristol Old Vic and tour) and Sarah in The Virgin for BBC Stages of Sound (Hampstead Theatre). Other theatre credits include: Veronica in Planting David (Waterloo East Theatre), Marigold in Panphobia (LOST Theatre), Lorrainne in Together We're Heavy (Cock Tavern Theatre), Detective Danni in The Carbon Footprint Detective Agency (Arcola and Stratford Circus Theatre), Veronica in Tabooed (New End Theatre), Storyteller in Present:Tense/11 (Southwark Playhouse), Ophelia in Hamlet (National Tour), Viola in Twelfth Night (GBS Theatre), Sarah in Female Transport (White Bear) and The Fool in King Lear (Orange Tree). TV and film credits include Ivana Strakow in Crisis Control (CBBC), Alice in Hiccup (Waterdog Films), and Rachel Nickell in Innocent: the Colin Stagg Story (BBC 1). Miranda won BBC Radio's Norman Beaton Award in 2006. She has performed in over 30 plays for BBC Radio Drama.
Jo spent a year at the Central School of Speech and Drama and then went to the University of Exeter where she graduated with a degree in Drama. Theatre credits include: Director of Interuptions for The 24 Hour Plays (Kenneth More Theatre), Director of Planting David (Waterloo East Theatre), Assistant Director to Kate Mcgregor on her Theatre 6 production of Beyond Therapy (Hen and Chickens Theatre) and Production Manager for the Universal Citizens Production of Panphobia (LOST Theatre). She has also worked at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe organising showcases, theatre events and a film festival for C Venues and is currently a practitioner with Theatre Exchange, delivering Drama workshops to primary school children.
Dominic Lindesay-Bethune has worked as a professional in theatre and film for 8 years. Since graduation from the Central School of Speech and Drama, Dominic has cultivated a career producing shows in the UK and abroad. Recent credits include: Midnight, When the Trumpets Cry (Theatre 503, Upstairs at 3&10 and headlining at the Ince's Hall Theatre in Gibralter), How to Die in a Domestic Environment (Jacksons Lane Theatre, The Oxfringe Festival and The Brighton Fringe), Pearls of the East (N7 Theatre and a Gala production at The Central School of Speech and Drama attended by the Filipino Ambassador), Once a Catholic (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), The Surveyor (New End Theatre), The LOST One Act Festival (New End Theatre), The New Comedy Scene 2008 (Colourhouse Theatre).