Artistic team
Staging and writting in the Theatraverse theatre company
Joanne ALLAN
Director
Joanne is a theatre director and actor who trained at l’Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She is particularly attentive to the role of language in onstage communication and specialises in Theatre of the Absurd. Joanne, originally from Aberdeenshire in Scotland, graduated in 2006 from Queen's University, Belfast with a joint honours degree in Drama and French. In 2005 she directed her first piece of bilingual theatre at the university: La Leçon (The Lesson) by Eugène Ionesco.
Joanne is one of the founding members of Theatraverse. Since the company’s creation in 2008, Joanne has directed and accompanied four bilingual productions on tour: Lost in Scotland, a devised play inspired by Isabelle Gilbert’s book of the same title; Rhinocéros, a bilingual adaptation of Ionesco’s original; Great Artists Steal and Monsieur Somebody, both by Seamus Collins.
The plays she has directed have toured in the UK and France, and are accompanied by bilingual theatre workshops. Joanne creates and leads bilingual theatre workshops and training days for children, young people, and adults. She also gives talks and leads discussions about bilingual theatre in the context of interviews and conferences.
Outwith Theatraverse, Joanne works as an actor and director for Cie Grain d’ArtGile in Amiens, and Theatre du Voyageur in the Paris region.
Seamus COLLINS
Writer
Seamus has written plays for Belfast theatre companies Tinderbox and Chatterbox. Following his participation in the Fireworks programme for young writers, organised by Tinderbox, Seamus was asked to write Swing State Cabaret and Home Truths, both of which were performed at the prestigious MAC Theatre, Belfast. Four of Seamus’ plays have been performed at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival, including Great Artists Steal, performed by Theatraverse.
Seamus has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Queen's University, Belfast, and has been closely mentored by Owen McCafferty for several years. He is currently writing a play for the Lyric Theatre as part of their “New Playwrights Programme”. The first reading of his most recent play was directed by Des Kennedy in October 2017.
Recently chosen as one of 30 playwright’s for Fishamble’s “A Play for Ireland”, Seamus has also been selected for BBC NI’s new “Northern Irish Voices” scheme.
Jenni KALLO
Actor and assistant director
Jenni is a circus-trained actor and juggles many talents.
Over the past seven years Jenni has worked with companies such as Circo Aereo, Theatraverse and Kallo Collective. She moved to Paris in 2006, where she trained at the International Theatre School Jacques Lecoq. She also has over fourteen years of dance training.
In 2008, Jenni became one of the founding members of Theatraverse, alongside a team of like-minded European artists. She performed onstage during the company’s first play, Lost in Scotland, and she is happy to be able to participate in Theatraverse’s evolution through her involvement in the direction and, more specifically, choreography, of Rhinoceros.