Truth lies here

Liana Patarkatsishvili

Founder and Concept Creator

Liana is a Georgian-born media executive and cultural innovator with extensive experience in the television and arts sectors. She previously served as CEO of Georgia’s national independent TV and radio stations, a role that positioned her at the forefront of media in the region. Throughout her career Liana witnessed firsthand how media control influences political climates, solidifying her commitment to truth and freedom of expression. As the daughter of Badri Patarkatsishvili, a prominent Georgian businessman and philanthropist, Liana grew up immersed in a world of enterprise and cultural investment. Today, Liana leads Sage & Jester, an innovative arts production company, where she works with a team of seasoned professionals to create transformative experiences that blend critical thinking with entertainment.

Sophie Larsmon

Creative Director

Sophie is an Immersive Director & Experience Designer who has garnered a reputation for making theatrical work outside of traditional venues, weaving audience personalisation into her ‘utterly unique’ (The Stage) work. Her productions have been described as ‘breaking the threshold of immersive theatre’ (Theatre Times) and have been featured in The Financial Times and on the BBC’s Front Row & Click and praised for their technical innovation and form. Alongside her role as Creative Director for Sage & Jester, she is the European Associate for experience design pioneers Odyssey Works, where credits include There Are Mountains Beneath Us and The Road to Taz. She was the inaugural Artistic Director of immersive theatre & software development company Any One Thing. Credits whilst in post include Souvenir by Tristan Bernays and Recollection by Richard Pucci. As a producer and company manager, she has worked for various organisations including The Old Vic, Les Enfants Terribles, Bompas & Parr, Secret Cinema, Paines Plough and curious directive. She was a producer on the Victory Ceremonies Team for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games; Tour de France 2015; the Indoor Asian Games 2017; and Matthew Williamson’s Fashion Show at The British Embassy in Hong Kong as part of the GREAT Britain Creative Campaign.

Zoe Snow

Executive Producer

Zoe is an Olivier Award-winning producer, known for her leadership in international productions across events, ceremonies, theatre and live broadcast. She is Partner at Gary Beestone Associates, and Executive Producer for Sage & Jester. Her career highlights span creative events across the world and include: leading on the production of the openings and interval creative for the Eurovision Song Contest for BBC Studios
in 2023; executive producing the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for both the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the World Taekwondo Championships in Manchester; producing the Great North Run One Million Opening Ceremony; leading on music production for the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Abu Dhabi; and producing the opening events for Hull, City of Culture and for Waltham Forest, London’s first Borough of Culture. Zoe’s experience also includes producing Victory Ceremonies for London 2012; producing and delivering British House for Team GB in Rio 2016; and leading on entertainment production for the Rugby World Cup and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games handover ceremony. She also worked for many years in the experiential space, leading on campaigns for Coca Cola, Nike, Converse, Puma, Google and Apple. She has worked extensively in immersive theatre, with productions including: Peaky Blinders: The Rise and Doctor Who: Time Fracture for Immersive Everywhere; bespoke productions for Les Enfants Terribles and Path Entertainment; and leading international openings for Secret Cinema (London, L.A. & Shanghai). Currently, Zoe is producer of the Olivier award winning new West End musical, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with another musical in development alongside delivering the new Secret Cinema 2025 production.

Rosalyn Newbery

Lead Producer

Rosalyn’s extensive experience spans artistic, commercial and broadcast production, creating bold, boundary-pushing theatre, festivals, events and multi-artform programmes. Her career is defined by commitment to enrichment, access, inclusion, sustainable practice and fostering collaboration in the creative industries. She’s worked as creative director for experiences including Museum of Shakespeare with Bompas & Parr and senior producer at City of Culture 2021 co-creating the sell-out Haus of Kraft: Beneath the Seams at Assembly Gardens. As Co-Artistic Director and Exec Producer for Longsight Theatre, Rosalyn made thought-provoking, issue-based theatre, including award-winning, Where Do Little Birds Go? (‘A Triumph’ The Times) and Mr Incredible. A member of VAULT Festival’s director team for five years, Rosalyn mounted numerous shows, co-created the VAULT New Writers Award, and spearheaded access and inclusion schemes. Other highlights include producing shows for The Young Vic, Birmingham Rep, Soho Theatre, Traverse, DEM Productions, Arcola, Lyric Hammersmith, Edinburgh and Perth International Arts Festivals, Kiln, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Albert Hall and Tate Modern. Rosalyn helped shape the immersive landscape in the genre’s early days, with Look Left Look Right and Theatre Delicatessen, on pioneering productions including You Once Said Yes, Once Upon A Christmas and Heist. She’s made significant contributions to the hospitality sector, co-conceiving, directing and producing major festivals, including London Coffee Festival (and global franchise) and Balance Festival. Her innovative approach to concept creation has achieved worldwide reach.

Alice Helps

Production Designer

Alice works internationally designing large scale immersive sets and installations. With twenty years’ experience designing for theatre, arts and experiential sectors, Alice brings ambitious projects to life from conception to delivery through detailed world-building, creating interactive and narrative material environments for live audiences. Her recent theatre designs include Lost Origin (Hoxton Docks, 2020) with Almeida Theatre, and SOMNAI (London, 2018) and she has designed experiences for brands including Google, Chanel, Airbnb and H&M. Alice regularly collaborates with interdisciplinary specialists including clinicians and social science researchers (King’s College London), paleontologists (Natural History Museum, London), roboticists (Science Museum, London), and creative technologists working in XR and live interactive projections, to develop techniques that enhance physical and digital integration. She recently appeared as a speaker at SXSW, Texas, where she shared her insights working in this rapidly expanding field. Alice has a PhD in Scenography which explores embodied experience of touch and its connective, emotive potential in immersive scenographic design. She guest lectures at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and University of the Arts.

James Bulley

Sound Designer

James is a Composer and Sound Designer whose practice explores sound, space and the more-than-human world. Works include: Evolver, a spatial virtual reality experience exploring oxygen in the human body, with Marshmallow Laser Feast (Cannes Film Festival 2024); Living Symphonies, a touring sound installation in forest ecosystems by Jones/Bulley (2014–2023); Dawns, a live composition for players in distant locations, with non zero one and the National Trust (premiered May 2020); the world premiere of Daphne Oram’s Still Point with Shiva Feshareki and the London Contemporary Orchestra (BBC Prom 13, July 2018); and Tactus, a touch–sound landscape for visually impaired audiences (Kaunas Biennial 2015–).

Ben Donoghue

Lighting Designer

Ben is a Lighting Designer and Creative Director for live music, performance, fashion and large-scale live events. Recent work includes creating shows for artists including Ezra Collective, Central Cee, Hot Chip and Soft Cell. Ben’s work with light also informs an ongoing creative collaboration with Right/Left Projects, creating immersive installation pieces such as Beyond The Road in London and Seoul; The Retiring Room at The Standard, London and Origin at World Heart Beat. Ben has worked extensively with Punchdrunk and its alumni, including projects such as The Burnt City, The Drowned Man and The Third Day. Prior to co-founding multi-disciplinary design studio Freehouse London, Ben spent time as a Senior Lighting Designer with Flare Lighting and global creative agency Imagination.

Donnacadh O’Briain

Story Producer

Donnacadh is a multi-award-winning Creative Director, Experience Designer and Story Architect specialising in live theatre, immersive experiences and experiential learning. His wide-ranging career has seen him working on everything from musicals, to clown shows to large scale immersive LBEs. He has won multiple awards including an Olivier Award for his production of the groundbreaking play Rotterdam (Arts Theatre London, 59E59 New York); an Offie Award for his production of the musical Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse/Riverside Studios London); and multiple awards for gig-theatre sensation Electrolyte (Edinburgh Festival). In recent years Donnacadh has pivoted to working on immersive theatrical experiences, leading on creative and story. He has taught and mentored at major UK Universities and drama schools, including RADA and LAMDA, SAID and Warwick Business Schools, Cambridge University, and he spent a year as Associate Fellow of Creativity at Warwick University. Donnacadh is a fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, and a member of the WXO’s World Experience Council, working for and alongside global leaders from the experience economy.

Tristan Bernays

Co-Writer

Tristan is an award-winning-writer and performer whose work has been performed at The Globe, Soho Theatre, Bush Theatre, National Theatre Studio and Southwark Playhouse. His play Boudica was performed at The Globe in 2017 with Gina McKee in the title role. Teddy at Southwark Playhouse won Best New Musical at the Off West End Awards in 2016. Old Fools premiered at Southwark Playhouse in 2018 and was nominated for four Off West End Awards, including Best Play. His one-man show The Bread & The Beer received rave reviews at Edinburgh Festival 2013 and transferred to Soho Theatre followed by a UK tour. He is currently developing his first screenplay, Ghost House, and several pilots for TV. Tristan was Writer-in-Residence at Dancing Ledge TV Productions, as well as a member of Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers’ Group. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at Central School of Speech and Drama, where he teaches Playwriting.

Sonali Bhattacharyya

Co-Writer

Sonali is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter (Sonia Friedman Production Award and Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award for Chasing Hares). Her play King Troll (The Fawn) was a finalist for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. In addition to King Troll (Kali Theatre/New Diorama), her plays include The Little Mermaid (Bristol Old Vic); Liberation Squares (Fifth Word/Nottingham Playhouse); The Jungle Book (Chichester Festival Theatre); Arabian Nights (Bristol Old Vic); Chasing Hares (Young Vic and Theatre Uncut); Two Billion Beats (Orange Tree Theatre and Kirkos Theatre, Seoul); Silence (Tara Theatre and Donmar Warehouse); Megaball (National Theatre Learning); Slummers (Cardboard Citizens/Bunker Theatre); The Invisible Boy (Kiln Theatre); and Assembly: The Teachers’ Play (Almeida Theatre). Sonali is a graduate of the Royal Court Writers’ Group, the Old Vic 12, and Donmar Warehouse’s Future Forms Programme. She is part of the writing team for new television drama Split Up from Sister Pictures/BBC, and is under commission to the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Kathryn Bond

Co-Writer

Kathryn is a queer working-class writer, actress, improviser and maker who has been writing and performing live comedy for fifteen years. Her live shows as part of duo That Pair, and her critically acclaimed solo character comedy Loo Roll, were sell-out hits at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and transferred to the Soho Theatre. Kathryn was part of the writers’ room for series six of CBBC’s Class Dismissed, a BAFTA Award-winning sketch show that she was also a lead performer in. She has also developed ideas in the writers’ room for Hat Trick’s panel show Hypothetical along with some short-form sketches for CBBC’s Crackerjack. In September 2021, Kathryn won the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award sponsored by Sky Studios, with an extract from her script Personal. Other writing and devising credits for stage include: It’s True, It’s True, It’s True (Breach Theatre, Barbican, BBC4); Perfect Women (Bric a Brac Theatre); Emotion In Progress (Vault Festival); and Happy to Help (Edinburgh Fringe). TV credits include: The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (Apple TV); Smothered (Sky); Class Dismissed (CBBC); Whitstable Pearl (Acorn/Amazon Prime); Semi Detached (BBC); Call the Midwife (BBC), Urban Myths (Sky Arts); Dr Brown Show (Channel 4); and EastEnders (BBC).

Katie Lyons

Co-Writer

Katie is an actor and writer and has carved out extensive experience working in immersive and interactive theatre, both as a script writer and a collaborator. She wrote the script for Peaky Blinders: The Rise which ran in Camden from 2022-23, and for the immersive production The Paddington Bear Experience at London County Hall. For Look Left Look Right, Katie co-wrote the award-winning immersive show You Once Said Yes (Roundhouse, Edinburgh Fringe, Southampton, Salford, Perth Australia); Above and Beyond (Corinthia Hotel); The Many Whoops of Whoops Town (Lyric Hammersmith) and Once Upon a Christmas (Covent Garden). She developed a binaural sound musical with China Plate and has written a promenade audio show for Tangled Feet, Boots on The Ground (Salisbury/Dulwich). She is also developing a new idea with Tangled Feet (Rave New World), and is currently under commission with NYT. Katie’s acting television credits include Manhunt; Bluestone 42; Call The Midwife; The Crimson Petal and The White; Boy A and Green Wing, and plays at the National Theatre and the Bush Theatre.

Anna Meredith, Sinemis Buyuka & James Bulley

Original Compositions

Anna is a composer, producer and performer of both acoustic and electronic music. Her sound is frequently described as ‘uncategorisable’ and ‘genre-defying’ and straddles the worlds of contemporary classical, art pop, film and TV soundtracks, electronica, installations and experimental rock. Her music has been performed everywhere from the Hollywood Bowl to BBC Last Night of the Proms to flashmob body-percussion performances at the M6 Services. It has been used in numerous fashion campaigns, adverts, films, TV shows, installations and pop festivals, clubs and classical concert halls worldwide and is regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6. She was voted Number One in The List’s Hot 100 (of Cultural Contributors to 2016), made the 2018 BBC Woman’s Hour Power List and was awarded an MBE for services to music in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She was awarded Honorary Doctorates of Music from Napier University (2022) and Coventry University (2023) and was recently awarded a Fellowship to the Royal College of Music.

Caro Murphy

Co-Writer

Caro is a Game and Interactive Experience Designer. Currently a Visiting Associate Professor at Northeastern University, Caro’s career includes a notable tenure as Immersive Experience Director for Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. They co-lead the Playable Theatre nonprofit, promoting interdisciplinary creators in interactive live performance art. Caro serves as Executive Creative Director of Incantrix Productions, crafting independent interactive experiences globally and collaborating with writers and designers worldwide. With a rich background in education, they have taught everywhere from leading institutions such as Harvard and MIT to small nonprofits arts organizations targeting children in underserved communities. They are also proud of their ten-year leadership of BostonFIG, fostering the next generation of game creators and producing the world’s largest independent games festival.

Rhik Samadder

Co-Writer

Rhik is an actor, writer and journalist. He has worked for the RSC, HBO, BBC and Channel 4. He created the popular ‘Inspect A Gadget’ column in the Guardian, and several other long-running columns. He writes features for GQ, The Sunday Times and Observer Magazine. He is currently writing the screenplay for the screen adaptation of his Sunday Times bestselling memoir, I Never Said I Loved You, and co-runs a writing retreat in Italy.

Sophie Drake

Dramaturg

Sophie Drake is an award-winning theatre director and dramaturg. Sophie won the 2024 Stage Debut Best Director award for her production of Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree at Southwark Playhouse. She works as a freelance dramaturg on theatre projects with playwrights and production companies.

Julie Belinda Landau

Costume Designer

Julie studied History of Art at Sussex University then went on to train at Central School of Speech and Drama in Set and Costume Design. Her work remains rooted in her training and passion for theatre. She’s worked extensively with Punchdrunk, with Silverpoint winning a Breakthrough in Storytelling award and Lost & Found being nominated for the Best Production in English at the Wales Theatre Awards. Other work includes Lost Origin for the Almeida Theatre, Wishmas for Secret Cinema, Somnai an immersive show combining real world sets with VR technology and shows for Les Enfants Terribles and at The Saatchi Gallery.