Maria Crocker is a theatre director and dramaturg. She has recently directed the west end production of Hadestown (Olivier nominated for Best Revival). She is a runner up for the Sir Peter Hall RTST Directors Award, an MGC Futures Bursary recipient, a Lilian Baylis Assistant recipient and trained on the National Theatre Directors Course. Maria is currently developing several exciting new musical theatre projects.
Her work in theatre as director includes Into The Woods at The Customs House, Dogs On The Metro at Live Theatre, You Heard Me by Luca Rutherford at BAC & UK tour, The Sorcerers Apprentice at Northern Stage, Scarborough Porpoise at Pilot Theatre, Amai Vangu at Live Theatre, Assassins at Mountview, Little Bits Of Light (workshop) at National Theatre Studio; Pronoun at ALRA; Growth at Northern Stage; and Found at Alnwick Playhouse.
Her work as associate director includes Hadestown for The National Theatre/West End; Local Hero, for The Edinburgh Lyceum; Meek for Headlong and Birmingham Rep; Gods Are Fallen and All Safety Gone for Greyscale (International tour); The Gamblers for Dundee Rep.
Her work as assistant or staff director includes Pinocchio at The National Theatre; Mood Music at The Old Vic; Animal Farm at Northern Stage; and Catch 22, UK tour.
Nyasha Gudo is a fearless, self-taught director known for his imaginative and risk-taking approach to theatre. He has worked at the highest levels with leading subsidised and West End theatres, including Chichester Festival Theatre, the National Theatre, and Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
His work spans from major stages to prisons, schools, and mental health trusts, using theatre as a transformative tool for connection and change.
Recent credits include directing Everybody Wants To Be Ronaldo (TECTUM/Birmingham Rep), A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction (Headlong Theatre & Belgrade Theatre), #50DAYS (BYMT) and serving as Associate Director on Bob Marley: Get Up Stand Up The Musical, Spitting Image Live and The Boy With Wings.
Nyasha also runs TECTUM, a Midlands-based production company. Through his work, he champions underrepresented voices and creates bold, engaging theatre that resonates across cultures and generations.
Fionnuala Kennedy is a director and award-winning writer from Belfast whose work has toured to Europe, the US and Australia.
Her work focuses on new writing with an aim to democratizing cultural expression by main-staging underrepresented voices and communities.
Credits include: ‘Snow White’ (Brassneck Theatre Company, 2025), Entitled, Hostel and Sweeties (Macha Productions); Last Orders at the Rough Diamond (Theatre at the Mill); The Place Between (Prime Cut Productions); Laser Lunacy, Shankill Stories, Collecting Cultures,and Wonderwall (Kabosh).
Fionnuala’s time on the Headlong Origins programme was pivotal in her career by building connections between both islands and bringing that learning back to Belfast.