Amrit Kaur Lohia
Founder & Director
Amrit founded HUMANISED: in September 2015 and was awarded the ‘Do it’ award from ‘UnLtd’ in December 2015. Born in Tottenham (London, UK) Amrit is a Sarangi player and vocalist in genres of Punjabi Folk, Jazz and Soul. Based in London, she tours internationally as a performer, composer and workshop facilitator. She is a youth worker, mentoring youth offenders and children in foster care. As well as this, she represents young people as an ambassador for several charities including the Holocaust Educational Trust and is currently a Global Youth Ambassador for ‘A World at School’. Notable performances include, New York Town Hall for Unicef at the 70th UN General Assembly and Jaipur Literature Festivals in India, London and Boulder, Colorado (USA). She has represented young people alongside Holocaust and Rwanadan genocide survivors, Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi and before Queen Elizabeth for her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Amrit is also trained as a theatre director at the Young Vic Theatre. She was the Music Director for ‘Tales of 1947’. Amrit studies MA History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where she also received her Certificate in Teaching World Music Performance in July 2015.
Website: amrit-kaur.com
David Gilbert
Theatre Director & Youth Worker
David Gilbert is an director and theatre maker from Zimbabwe. He has assisted many large productions and directed smaller projects in young companies across London for the likes of Tricycle Theatre, Young Vic, Almeida Theatre, Halfmoon Theatre, London Bubble and Company Three (previously Islington Community Theatre). David is currently undergoing research and development with several contemporaries looking to produce young, independent and unusual work exploring unheard or limited voices and stories. He is also a director of ‘Chagos is Calling’.
David trained with Almeida Projects & Central School of Speech & Drama in Applied Theatre: Facilitation with Young People.
As assistant director, theatre includes: Where Will We Live (Southwark Playhouse + Camden People’s Theatre) Ticking(Trafalgar Studios) Kilburn Passion (Tricycle) Chicken Shop (Platform) All Stones All Sides, A Season in the Congo Parallel (Young Vic) Parallax (Almedia) East End Tales (Southwark Playhouse) Fragments of You (Catford Broadway Studio)
As performer, theatre includes: The Dry Nation (Utopia Theatre) tah (Bussey Building Peckham) Imagine You’re Everyone(The Yard) The Arsonists (Southwark Playhouse) Out of Reach(Frantic Assembly)
Yinka Ayinde
Theatre Producer
Yinka has worked in entertainment for the past 6 years starting off as a radio presenter on Jamrock radio fm. He then moved onto event organising and live show presenting in the music industry. In 2012 Yinka began his career as a theatre producer when he created the Afrobeats-Musical Oliva Tweest. He went on to produce the musical as a sell-out concert show at the Lyric Theatre (west end, 2013), a successful run at Hackney Empire (2014) and an industry showcase at St james’ Theatre (West End, 2015). Yinka has also worked as an assistant producer for PW Productions and Nick of Time Productions, and was the Artistic director of A.C.T.S (2014). He went onto to win the ‘Stage One Bursary award for new theatre producers’, which he used to create his production company Ayinde Arts Ltd. Through his company, Yinka collaborates with artists to develop plays and musicals for new audiences. Yinka has just finished producing a show of ‘Oliva Tweest’ at the Lagos theatre festival in Nigeria, commissioned by the British Council. He is currently preparing to produce a development workshop with the Barbican Arts Centre and is producing a showcase at Mercury Musical Development’s musical theatre showcase, BEAM 2016. As an upcoming producer Yinka has made his mark over the last 4 years, which has resulted in him being approached for speaking and educational engagements. He has also just won the Sky Academy Arts Scholarship for Creative Producing, being commended for audience development and innovative creative projects. He is also a co-producer for ‘Chagos is Calling’.
HUMANISED: 