We’re so excited to announce the addition of four new Associates joining our team from June 2022!
Climate Change Activist Daze Aghaji
Poet and Writer Zia Ahmed
Writer, Director and Performer Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu
and Director and Dramaturg John R. Wilkinson
They will be joining Associate Artist Rosie Elnile and Associate Director Yasmin Hafesji.
They join the Gate over the next few months to work closely alongside Interim Artistic Director Stef O’Driscoll at this crucial time in the Gate’s story. The Associates represent a rich and diverse selection of leading change-makers and each brings a unique set of skills to help the company fulfil its artistic vision, as the Gate progresses in its search for a new physically accessible home.
I am hyped to welcome these incredible humans as part of the Gate’s new artistic team. Each of these brilliant mindscare passionately about social justice, talent development and how an arts venue can tell global stories that speak to its local community. They value the role of culture in mitigating the climate emergency and want to interrogate the relationship between race and class in some of the UK’s most deprived multicultural areas. This team will be pivotal in steering the direction of artistic output at the Gate through collective thinking. We are excited to support them to nurture their ambitions, pilot new processes and push creative boundaries. And this is just the beginning. We look forward to more partnerships with international artists. Watch this space.
Meet our new Associates
Daze Aghaji – Environmental Artistic Consultant
Daze is a London based Youth Climate Justice Activist who centres on Regenerative Cultures, Intersectionality, Radical Social Justice and Youth Political Engagement in her work. Described by The Guardian as “a ball of energy, conviction and warmth”, Daze’s advocacy for racial systemic change has led her to work with many leading charities, institutions, governments, and grassroots change-makers globally. In 2019, she became the youngest candidate to stand in a European Parliamentary election and ran under the banner of a Climate and Ecological Emergency Independent to bring awareness to the need for political will in addressing the climate crisis. (she/they)
Zia Ahmed – Associate Artist
Zia is a poet and writer hailing from North-West London. He is part of the London Laureates, having been shortlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate 2015/16. He is a former Roundhouse Slam Champion and a Writer in Residence at Paines Plough as part of Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme 2017. In 2018 he was chosen to be a part of the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group. In 2019, Zia’s stage debut I Wanna Be Yours premiered at the Bush Theatre. He is a recipient of the Royal Court Theatre Jerwood New Playwrights Programme 2021. (he/him)
Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu – Associate Artist
Tristan is a Queer Black British-born Ghanaian cultivated by South London. He is a writer and director with a practice that specializes in storytelling, physicality, manipulation of music, breaking the fourth wall and exercising the imagination of both actor and audience. He has made work for the Royal Court, Young Vic, Bush Theatre, Guildhall School of Music & Drama among others, and performed at the National Theatre. In 2019, he won the JMK Award for directing and presented the 5-star revival of Arinze Kene’s Little Baby Jesus. He is the co-director of the trailblazing For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy by Ryan Calais Cameron. (he/him)
John R. Wilkinson – Associate Artist
John R. Wilkinson is a director and dramaturg with interests in new writing, modern classics, and international work. He is the tenth recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award at the Young Vic and trained on the National Theatre Directors’ Course. In February 2022 his production of Mugabe, My Dad and Me by Tonderai Munyevu transferred to London as the inaugural show at Brixton House. He is an Associate Director at York Theatre Royal and for NT Connections and was previously Agent for Change at Leeds Playhouse. He is a trustee of several organizations including Middle Child and Stage Directors UK. (he/him)
They are joining…
Rosie Elnile – Associate Artist
Rosie is a performance designer. Rosie has led the Prayer workshops over the last year, a 10 week workshops for early career designers.
Credits at the Gate include: The Ridiculous Darkness, Unknown Island and The Convert. Further credits: The Wolves (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Mysteries (Manchester Royal Exchange); Three Sisters (Manchester Royal Exchange/Yard Theatre); Abandon (Lyric Hammersmith); Returning to Haifa (Finborough); Goats, Prime Time (Royal Court); BIG GUNS (Yard Theatre). Awards include: Stage Debut Award for Best Designer.
Yasmin Hafesji – Associate Director
Yasmin Hafesji has been Associate Director at the Gate Theatre since 2020 and was a member of the Young Vic Introduction to Directing Programme 2017, led by Natalie Abrahami. As a freelance director Yasmin has directed new plays, reimagined classics, and youth theatre across London. Theatre credits include: The Maladies (Almeida Young Company/Yard Theatre); Kick (Lyric Hammersmith Studio, Bill Cashmore Award Winner); The Letters Project (Gate Theatre Online, Co-Director); George (Gate Theatre Online); Letters (Gate Theatre Online, Co-Director); Rhinoceros (Lyric Evolution Festival, Lyric Hammersmith); Rashida (Fresh Direction/Young Vic Directors Program/Young Vic/Maria). (she/her)
