ABOUT
We make theatre.
We produce and commission new plays and musicals. We devise dance and physical theatre. We support debut artists from the Asian diaspora. We recontextualise opera and classical theatre with a decolonised lens. We make experimental art and short-narrative films.
Our work is narrative focused and rooted in human connection. We collaborate, uplift, and prioritise working with East and Southeast Asian artists and British Muslims.
Our work is intersectional. We advocate for and celebrate queer culture. We want to have nuanced conversations about identity with artists and audiences. We are excited by international cultural exchange, interfaith narratives, intergenerational storytelling that challenges harmful colonial legacies, and art which moves minds and bodies.
We want to push past a culture of extraction when it comes to Asian diaspora and British Muslims to make work which isn't solely defined by trauma, fear, or pain. We want to work from a place of silliness, because that is where we began.
“We all want the same thing, to love and be loved”- Kit de Waal
Our productions focus on:
- New writing
- Movement and physical theatre
- Interdisciplinary practice
- Collaboration
- Play
Who we are
Ellandar Productions is a British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) led theatre company. We prioritise platforming work by and about British East & Southeast Asians and British Muslims.
Founded in Perth, Western Australia in 2010, our work has always been ambitious, visual, groundbreaking. Based in London since 2019 we have refined our focus to work with BESEA and British Muslims.
We want to bring audiences from different cultural roots into the theatre. Through our work, we try to offer a window into rarely seen and unexplored worlds. We want to bring characters and stories centre stage that are recognisable and humanise BESEA and British Muslims through increased visibility and celebrated differences.
Our mission
We produce and commission work to challenge harmful stereotypes. To amplify and platform unheard voices. We want to demand space for the diverse lived experiences of British East & Southeast Asians, British Muslims, and a wider Asian diaspora to be considered an integral part of the cultural future of storytelling on stage and screen.
Through our productions we aim to humanise the artists and communities we work with, challenge the culture of erasure of East and Southeast Asians, promote diverse British Muslim narratives which are not rooted in fear and trauma and push against the rise of Islamaphobia in the UK. We want to be a proponent for cross-cultural solidarity between East and Southeast Asian and South Asian communities.
Our pledge
At least 75% of the creative team and cast are People of Colour and / or women and non-binary practitioners for every one of our productions.
Why 75%?
In 2000, Arts Council England agreed that “theatre failed to engage adequately with young people and with multi-cultural Britain”. In 2011, London’s West End audiences were 92% white. However 40% of the city’s population wasn’t.
People from multicultural backgrounds continue to be under-represented in the theatre audience. Only 35% of new playwrights are women. Non-white, non-male leadership of theatre organisations remains rare.
The situation will only improve if UK theatre reframes the work on stage to better reflect the stories, lives and backgrounds of our diverse society.
Sources:
- Analysis of Theatre in England - Arts Council
- UK report reveals 'disgraceful' gender inequality in the arts – The Guardian
Our history
2010: Our company was founded in 2010, in Perth, Western Australia by best friends Elliott Cook and Iskandar Sharazuddin. Their friendship was forged writing sketch comedy and songs together. Our first work was supported by artistic leaders and educators Fern Nicholson and Renae O'Neill.
2011: We developed our first short film, The Life of Cardboard conceived and written by Iskandar Sharazuddin, Luke Brennnan and directed by Wayne Nicholson supported by the Film and Television Institute of Western Australia and Screewest nominated for a West Australian Screen Award and recipient of the IdeasTap Barbican Shorts Award in London.
2012: We were a part of the inaugural Fringe World Festival, Western Australia in 2012, now the third largest Fringe festival in the world with A Night of Deceit written by Elliott Cook and Iskandar Sharazuddin and directed by Ellen O'Connor.
Ellen O'Connor assumes position as Artistic Director.
2013: Our reimagination of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore', Pity adapted and directed by Ellen O'Connor was runner-up for the Martin Sims Award for Best New West Australian Production, presented at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia as part of Fringe World Festival 2013.
2014: We produced the West Australian premiere of Ross Mueller's groundbreaking play, Concussion directed by Sarah Guillot at The Blue Room Theatre, nominated for Blue Room Theatre and Performing Arts Western Australia (PAWA) Awards.
Jessica Messenger assumes position as Artistic Director.
2014 to 2016 Ellandar Productions was incorporated in Australia and artisically led by award-winning playwright and director, Jessica Messenger. We received funding from Australia Council for the Arts and Western Australian cultural funding to present work at leading institutions such as the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PiCA), The Blue Room Theatre, and the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia.
The company was officially dissolved in Australia in 2016 and was registered in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Elliott Cook and Iskandar Sharazuddin and has since been artistically led by Mingyu Lin and Iskandar as a project-to-project company supported by Arts Council England and other partners.
We have presented work in Australia, South Africa, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
MEET THE TEAM
Co-Artistic Director and Producer:
Iskandar إسكندر R. bin Sharazuddin (He/Him)
Iskandar is an award winning British-Bruneian playwright and producer. As an international theatre maker, he formerly lived and worked in Perth, Western Australia where he co-founded Ellandar Productions in 2010.Through Ellandar, he has developed and produced new theatre throughout Australia, the UK and internationally.
As a playwright and dramaturg, Iskandar was awarded the Soho Theatre Young Writers’ Award in 2014 and has been long and shortlisted for the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize, Off West End Adopt a Playwright, and the Old Vic 12. He is an alumnus of the Soho Theatre and Criterion Theatre writing programmes and the 2015 playwriting lab at the National Theatre.
He is passionate about connecting with young people and communities through his creative practice and has led community engagement and education programmes throughout his career. Iskandar is an associate artist and a Community Engagement & Education Consultant for Puppets with Guts and the Communities Associate at Headlong. He has developed bespoke engagement programmes & performances with organisations such as the BBC Proms, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and in secondary schools.
Iskandar has worked as an actor/performer with companies such as DreamWorks SKG, Showcase, and the BBC. Iskandar is a visiting lecturer and creative practitioner with leading drama institutions Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Arts Educational Schools London, and the Oxford School of Drama.
Contact: iskandar@ellandarproductions.com
Follow Iskandar on Twitter at @irsharazuddin
Co-artistic Director:
Mingyu Lin 林铭宇 (She/Her)
Ming is an award-winning Singaporean theatre director and filmmaker based in the UK. Her particular focus is on new writing and advocacy. Ming is currently a Creative Associate at Headlong. She is a reader for both the Bruntwood Prize and the Traverse Theatre. As a director-dramaturg Ming is an alumna of the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and The Royal Court playwriting programme. She is also a recipient of the Living Pictures Director's Bursary 2020-2021.
Throughout her career Ming has supported new writing and has combined her creative practice with advocacy and activism around representation and accessing regional audiences. Ming is a founding member of BEATS, a leading British East and Southeast Asian advocacy group within the performing arts sectors.
Ming is passionate about supporting playwrights and championing new plays. She often combines her work with grassroots community outreach. This includes professional development workshops, skills sharing with young people, and developing new theatre with community participants.
As a filmmaker, her work has received finalist awards for festivals and competitions such as Sundance Shorts, Filming East Festival at the BFI, Pilot Light, and The Pitch Film Fund.
Directing Credits include: Does My Bomb Look Big in This (Soho Theatre), Babel (ArtsEd), Lòng Mẹ (Vaults), Overheard (York Theatre Royal/Nottingham Lakeside), Silently Hoping (Vaults/Applecart), No Bond So Strong (mac Birmingham) and Hear Me Now (Rich Mix).
Contact: mingyu@ellandarproductions.com
Follow Mingyu on Twitter at @Mingyulin
Co-Founder
Elliott Cook
(He/Him)
elliott@ellandarproductions.com
Associate Producer
Renae O’Neill
(She/Her)
renae@ellandarproductions.com
Assistant Producer
Cher Nicolette Ho 何 彩 彤
(She/Her)
cher@ellandarproductions.com
Assistant Producer
Himanshu Ojha
(He/Him)
heman@ellandarproductions.com
Ellandar Productions awards and nominations
[The Cobbled Streets of Geneva] by 杉本 Nemo Martin - Winner: VAULT Festival 2020 Weekly Origins Award - outstanding new work from the Theatre & Performance programme
(un)written•(un)heard by Iona Kirk, Iskandar إسكندر R. bin Sharazuddin, and Jessica McVay - Winner: Dance & Physical Theatre Award (Fringe World Festival 2020)
Multiverse Theory in D by Jessica Messenger - Winner: Best Music Musical Direction and nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Perth Arts WA Awards 2015)
10,000 by Jessica Messenger & Nick Maclaine – Jessica Messenger nominated for Best Newcomer (Perth Arts WA Awards 2015)
Concussion by Ross Mueller – nominated for Audience Development Award (The Blue Room Theatre Awards 2014) and Best Actress (Perth Arts WA Awards 2014)
Pity by Ellen O’Connor - Runner-up Martin Sims Award for Best New West Australian Production – Fringe World Festival 2013.
The Life of Cardboard by Iskandar إسكندر R. Sharazuddin and Luke Brennan – Nominee: Best Production Design Short Form (Western Australian Screen Awards).
The Life of Cardboard by Iskandar إسكندر R. Sharazuddin and Luke Brennan – Winner: Barbican Shorts Brief, Ideas Tap.
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ELLANDAR PRODUCTIONS
Catapulting diverse stories centre stage. Exciting inclusive theatre for the UK and beyond.
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