sunny side
MEET THE creative team
Anna Holmes and Sam Ford (Northern Rascals)
Creation & Direction
Anna and Sam co-founded Northern Rascals in 2017 after receiving a micro-commission from Brewery Arts Centre. Since then, their work has gained support from Arts Council England, Leeds City Council, and The Royal Exchange Theatre, with projects like The Aftermath, SHED, Reviving Her, and Sunny Side.
Anna, born in Hebden Bridge, trained at Northern School of Contemporary Dance before joining Jasmin Vardimon Company’s JV2. As Co-Artistic Director, Producer, and Writer, she is currently developing her first full-length play and a non-fiction book on Northern Rascals' methodology.
Sam, from Croydon, studied at the BRIT School and Northern School of Contemporary Dance before performing with Rhiannon Faith, Avant Garden Dance, and English National Opera. As Co-Artistic Director, Production Manager, and Outreach Lead, he shapes the company’s creative and engagement work.
Soul Roberts
Dance Artist (K)
Soul Roberts is a northern, working-class, gay man with 29 years of life lived and over six years of professional boogying under his belt. A graduate of NSCD and SEAD in 2018, he has since been gallivanting across stages and studios, collaborating with national and international movers and shakers such as Milla Koistinen (DE), Salzburg Festspiele Haus (AT), Common Wealth Theatre Company (WLS), and Northern Rascals (UK). His facilitation work has taken him from Grimsby to Gibraltar and Finland, while his own choreographic creations – ‘Move Thru You’, ‘Dreaming Awake’, and ‘That House’ – aim to connect and reflect.
Soul’s artistic heart beats for the raw and real. He dives into movement as a form of emotional discovery, transforming memories, imagination, and environments into intimate and unconsumed theatrical worlds. He crafts work that unapologetically asks big questions about how we connect to ourselves, each other, and the spaces we inhabit.
Armed with wit, a passion for humanity, and an uncanny ability to overthink, Soul unapologetically invests in art that champions humility and celebrates the messy, wonderful art of being human. His journey isn’t about finding a place but creating spaces where everyone can belong.
Ed Mitchell
Dance Artist (Danny)
Born and raised in Suffolk, Ed grew a passion for both acting and dance in his youth. He later honed his interest towards dance and studied at Northern School Of Contemporary Dance, where he graduated with a First in 2020.
Shortly after that, Ed toured with postgrad company Verve and left Northern in 2021. Since then Ed has performed and taught in the UK and internationally, working with numerous of companies and artists, Including Avant Garde, Hannes Langolf, Attic Project, Bullyache, Northern Rascals, Tim Walker, Barnaby Booth, Gecko Theatre and Moonwalking Bear.
Ed made his debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company this year in Hamlet which was performed in Stratford Upon Avon.
Sophie Thomas
Dance Artist (B, A, Shadow of Mum)
Born and raised in England’s Lake District, Sophie’s love for dance, art and nature started from an early age. Whilst a majority of her formative dancing years took place in village halls, she furthered this learning by attending Northern School of Contemporary Dance, gaining her degree.
After graduating, Sophie continues to be based in Leeds. Her professional credits include working with Night People, Southpaw Company, and Riptide, performing at a variety of theatre venues, clubs, galleries and festivals.
She has recently been a Guest Writer for Dance Art Journal, and is continuing to explore where her interest in movement and words intersect. Following being an Early Career Artist with The Knotted Project, Sophie is investigating musicality, intricacy and what it means to be human whilst performing.
Grace Ford
Rehearsal Director
Grace is a freelance dance artist from Croydon. She has had the opportunity to work with: John William Watson, SAY, Rachel Clarke recently and many other artists. Grace has loved being involved with Northern Rascals for years now and becoming their rehearsal director also has been a dream. Grace loves being able to teach around the UK with Northern Rascals and NYDC and other companies. She loves being involved in many different on going works as it makes her grow, indulge and meet incredible, passionate creative artists. She has worked with many amazing choreographers and artists and can’t wait to continue on her exciting adventure as a freelancer. Outside of dancing Grace enjoys gardening and baking up some goods.
Aaron Howell
Digital Artist
Aaron is a digital artist, filmmaker, animator and Director of visual arts company, Howl Creative. Originating from a background in illustration and graphic moving image, Aaron now works across dance, audio-visual installation and theatre to push how digital art interacts with both visual and performative qualities. Aaron is also the Co-Director of Night People, a collaborative arts company specialising in performance events and cabaret theatrics.
Caitlin Mawhinney
Set Designer
Caitlin Mawhinney is a Yorkshire born and bred designer.
She was the winner of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund for Visual Design in 2021 and has continued to gain recognition with a double-nomination for Best Designer at The Stage Debut Awards 2022, finalist for the JMK Awards as well as being a Creative Associate at Jermyn Street Theatre and a Resident Designer at New Diorama Broadgate. She trained in (BA) Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University.
Her work as a set and costume designer has seen main stages, studios and unconventional spaces across the country. Recent collaborations include National Theatre Public Acts, Hull Truck Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Soho Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Northern Opera, Southbank Center alongside many others. She loves to design for shows with a social and political motivation, using her designs to walk a line between reality and abstraction.
Alongside this, Caitlin’s work takes the form of installation design, most notably for the National Trust, and as Associate and Assistant to a number of designers including for the West End, Scottish Opera, Royal Opera House and National Theatre.
Barnaby Booth
Lighting Designer & Production Manager
Barnaby is a lighting designer and choreographer. His lighting credits include work for Sita Ostheimer, DeNada Dance Theatre/Carlos Pons Guerra, Jamaal Burkmar/Extended Play, Andrea Costanzo Martini, National Dance Company of Wales, Marikiscrycrycry, Sebastian Abarbanell, Jack Philp, Northern Rascals, Lisard Tranid and Clementine Telesfort, Akeim Toussaint Buck/Toussaint to Move and Crystal Zillwood, Wilhelmina Ojanen, Abbott Dance Company, Impact Dance/Hakeem Onibudo, Unholy Mess Theatre Company, Feet Off the Ground, Mavin Khoo, Ieva Kuniskis, Tora Hed, Staatstheater Kassel and Mala Kline.
As a choreographer Barnaby won a number of prizes at the Stuttgart International Solo Festival and at the Gdanski festival tanca in Poland in 2017. From there, he went on to complete successful commissions worldwide, notably working for English National Opera, and Poetic Disaster's Club of Club Guy and Roni in The Netherlands. His commissions include work for Trak Dance Ensemble (Austria), Folkwang Tanzstudio of Folkwang University of the Arts (Germany), NSCD Verve (UK), Los Little Guys (US/Mexico), Dantzaz Dance Company (Spain) and Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK).
Wilfred Kimber
Composer
Originally from North Yorkshire, Wilfred is composer & sound designer now based in Leeds. Since studying Film Music at Leeds Conservatoire he has scored numerous independent films, working with directors Michael Jung, Ai Narapol, Connor Orton, Jacob Breen, & Daarya Serji. Wilfred also began collaborating with choreographers & dance artists in 2020, culminating in a successful ACE ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ project in 2022 to further these collaborations in the live performance industry, working with choreographers/ companies Northern Rascals, Sylvie Holder, Katy Hewison, York Dance Space, Rees Dance, & YDT Studios. Wilfred’s passion for organic sound generation & recording comes from his own genre-spanning love of music & story-telling & is hardwired into all of the creations & collaborations he undertakes.
Geoff Colman
Dramaturg
Geoff has worked extensively in Film, TV, Theatre and Dance. From London's West End to the film sets of Hollywood, his phenomenal range of coaching skills has been developed through over 30 years experience in the performance industry.
Recent Film & TV includes: The Luckiest Man in America (Fabula/ Protagonist Pictures); John Wick 4 (Lionsgate); Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 (Paramount); Bruiser (TIFF); Kick Ass 2 (Universal); Vigil Season 2 (Netflix); The Vampire Academy (Universal); Heartstopper (Netflix); Minamata (Metal Work Pictures/ MGM); Tin Soldier (Unified Pictures); Casualty (BBC).
Recent West End includes Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Peacock Theatre / UK Tour); & Juliet (West End / UK Tour); Strictly Ballroom the Musical (New Wimbledon Theatre / UK Tour); Dirty Dancing (2018 /2023 Dominion Theatre); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (Gillian Lynne Theatre); Singing in the Rain (Sadlers Wells Theatre); An American in Paris (Dominion Theatre); War of The Worlds (Dominion Theatre/ UK Stadium Tour); Cabaret (New Wimbledon Theatre/ UK tour); Carousel (English National Opera); Crazy For You (UK Tour); Chicago (Phoenix Theatre); 9 to 5 (Savoy Theatre) and more.
For Northern Rascals: Reviving Her; Sunny Side; Shed.
Adam Goode
Production Manager (Assisting)
Adam is a northern based freelance theatre technician and production manager, passionate about the intimacy of interpersonal story telling.
He has been in the technical industry for 4 years learning during his training at NSCD, where he met the team at Northern Rascals and has had the privilege of production managing both SHED, Sunny Side and Reviving Her tours. He's had the luxury of working and learning from the teams at the Riley Theatre, Leeds Beckett University and CAST Doncaster.
Lamin Touray
Voice Artist (K)
Lamin Touray is a British Gambian Actor from Manchester.
Theatre credits include: Wuthering Heights (East Riding Theatre Hull), As You Like It (Shakespeare in the squares) Bouncers UK Tour (Theatre Royal Wakefield), Up N Under (Hull New Theatre, John Godber Company) This is Not Right (Wiltons Music Hall), Moby Dick (John Godber Company) A View from the Bridge (Headlong UK Tour), Vignettes (Hope Mill Theatre), What If If Only (Manchester Royal Exchange).
TV credits include: All Creatures Great and Small series 2&3, Coronation Street (ITV), Everything I know about Love (BBC), Waterloo Road (BBC), Doctors (BBC) and The Biscuits (CBBC).
Radio credits include: About a Boy (BBC Radio 4), The Hidden Victims of Grooming (BBC Stories), The Contraband Crisis (BBC Radio 4), The Way You Look Tonight (BBC Upload/ Smashing Mirrors), The Aftermath (Northern Broadsides and Northern Rascals), Homecoming (BBC Radio 4).
Brendan Barclay
Voice Artist (Danny)
Born and raised in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, Brendan graduated from Italia Conti in 2022. Soon after finishing his training, he joined Smile Theatre and toured around schools and theatres across Italy. The following summer Brendan joined Say It Again, Sorry? and performed in their comedy The Importance of Being… Ernest? spanning two Edinburgh Fringe festivals (2023 & 2024) and a year long UK tour.
At the end of last year Brendan performed in Dizzy, a co production between Sheffield Theatres and Theatre Centre which began at The Crucible before going on tour. Other works include voiceover work for dance company Northern Rascals, short films for London Film Academy, and a Beavertown Brewery commercial.
Jonathan Aubrey-Bentley
Voice Artist (Uni Friend, Train Conductor)
Jonathan Aubrey-Bentley originally trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) before completing his MA at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) on the MA Theatre Lab course. In addition to performing, Jonathan works as a director/choreographer and has premiered two choreographic works When Trees Fall and TIMOTHY, as part of Resolution Festival 2023/24. In 2022, he co-directed and composed the music for WALD/Forest with Bare Theatre Collective and Theatre Lindenhof in Germany. He has worked in a range of performance settings and recently performed as Banquo and Malcolm in Flabbergast theatre’s The Tragedy of Macbeth at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a yoga teacher and Soft Tissue Therapist, he aims to combine his holistic passion for movement and somatics with the world of performance. He recently co-founded, NUNC. a dance theatre company.