Catapult Programme Artists 2026

Arlo Wilson is a performer trained in musical theatre and clowning. They have been working in cabaret and R&D projects, including GOB – Godexxes of Beatbox at The Hackney Empire, and various cabarets as host extraordinaire!

Project for Catapult

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

“I’m a pirate!”

They’re A Pirate! is an interactive children’s show using clown, song and a whole lot of silliness. Featuring a non-binary Captain whose gender is the least interesting thing about them. You see, they need to locate the treasure – but they don’t know how to read a map, sail a boat OR swim! I think our Captain is going to need the help of a very special crew – can you help Captain?

Inna Cebotari is a London-based writer, performer and theatre-maker working internationally, with a growing focus on Theatre for Early Years and physically driven performance.

A migrant artist from a working-class background, her practice centres on storytelling as a tool for empathy, imagination and connection. She creates work that explores belonging, identity and emotional literacy, with a particular interest in how very young audiences experience narrative, movement and play. Her approach combines physical theatre, sensory dramaturgy and playful reimaginings of familiar worlds, placing care, curiosity and access at the heart of her practice.

In 2025, Inna was awarded an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant to develop her work as a physical theatre artist, with a specific focus on Theatre for Early Years. As part of this research, she is undertaking international professional development, including shadowing a production by Barbara Fuchs (Tanzfuchs Produktion, Germany), and participating at the International Festival of Performing Arts for Early Years – Visioni (Italy) created by La Baracca – Testoni Ragazzi, funded by Roberto Frabetti.

Inna co-created and performed in The Bobinarium Show, a Theatre for Early Years production produced by Inna’s independently founded theatre company, becoming a significant success within Moldova’s early years theatre landscape. The Bobinarium Show was embedded in access-led cultural programmes, offering free performances for children from children’s homes and Assistance and Protection Centres for victims of domestic violence, supporting children whose mothers were survivors of abuse. These performances formed part of wider charitable initiatives providing children with access to culture alongside essential support such as food, clothing and care, reinforcing Inna’s long-term commitment to socially engaged Theatre for Early Years practice.

Alongside her artistic work, Inna is an experienced curator, mentor and community worker, supporting emerging artists and facilitating international cultural exchange across the UK and Europe.

Project for Catapult

Little Lids, Big Wonders is a sensory and physical theatre experience for ages 0–6 that celebrates mess, trial-and-error, and collaboration rather than correctness. Observing how children are endlessly fascinated by everyday kitchen objects: whisks, lids, jars, spoons, tongs, textures, sounds, and colours the piece unfolds through choreography, sound, and visual composition. Lids become instruments, jars become puzzles, and everyday actions transform into a dance.

KASSNA is an East-Asian, female-led interdisciplinary performing arts collective formed by Namoo Chae Lee (Writer/Director), Minhee Yeo (Performer/Editor), and Suyoung Park (Mover/Choreographer), three Korean artists who collaborate closely. Reclaiming the term KASSNA—a woman wearing a traditional Korean men’s hat (kat)—the collective creates embodied work exploring what exists between cultures, identities, and forms, reflecting on how history, migration, and power shape the body and everyday life.

Project for Catapult

Mira and the Whispering Roots follows Mira, a young sapling, as she discovers the Whispering Roots—an underground network where trees share care and support. With a Korean-inspired soundscape and tactile, sensory materials, the piece invites young audiences into a magical forest world, kindling gentle wonder, sparking courageous curiosity, and fostering a sense of connection to the living world, while also encouraging an early understanding of community and care.

Little but Fierce is a disabled-led feminist theatre collective. We make work that uses humour and character-driven drama to explore socio-political issues in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Our past productions include an all-disabled production of A Christmas Carol for the Royal Shakespeare Company; ZINA (an autobiographical play from a first time Muslim playwright interrogating the role of women within Islamic history); and our award-winning play Batman (celebrating the power of communal grieving) which has been touring nationally and internationally for two years. We are excited to be making our first piece of children’s theatre with Polka. 

Project for Catapult

Roy and Silo the Penguins is a joyful celebration of love, family, the right to be different, and penguins. Based on the true story of the Central Park gay penguins, this animal-focused show teaches young children that love is love, and that love comes in all kinds of forms. 

Jeanzia Guan is a writer, puppetry director and composer with a background in film directing.She
is drawn to creative writing and visual storytelling, and continually explores how different media
can shape their own distinct narrative forms.

Izzy Jiang is a puppet designer and puppet maker with a background in stage lighting design. Her
practice focuses on puppet making, and material exploration, with a particular interest in
mechanical movement and atmosphere on stage.

Yunshu Jiang is a stage designer and puppet maker with a stage designer background. Her
practice centre on the structure and movement of puppets, using materials and mechanisms to
shape how they move and are perceived on stage.

The three met during the MA Puppetry course at Wimbledon College of Arts (UAL), where they
began a close and ongoing collaboration.

Project for Catapult

“All humans were once fish who traded their tails for legs.”

Heimer, who has loved sea voyages since childhood, believes the legend. After being diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s, his mind drifts back to the ocean. In his final journey, will Heimer hear the call of
the sea or has he forgotten how to listen?

HEIMER is an original puppetry work adapted from real-life experiences, exploring themes of
memory, family, and farewell. Using puppetry as the storytelling medium, the piece approaches
the question of how we find the strength to move forward through loss in a gentle and imaginative
way.

Beginning with Alzheimer’s disease, the story turns toward intergenerational relationships and the
transmission of memory and emotion. “In the ebb and flow of memory, love is never truly
forgotten” remains the heart of the work.

The sea serves as a central metaphor throughout the performance, symbolising the origin of life,
the fluid nature of memory, and the inevitability of farewell. Everyday objects are transformed on
stage into elements of a maritime journey, becoming extensions of memory and imagination.
Through this poetic voyage, the work invites audiences to reflect on loss, remembrance, and the
cyclical nature of life.

Layla Madanat is a director, producer, dramaturg and researcher. Working across theatre, film and social justice, she is drawn to work that interrogates the world we are building together. Layla has worked as an Assistant/Associate at the National Theatre, RSC, Shakespeare’s Globe, Young Vic and Watermill Theatre. She has directed work for the Rose Theatre Kingston, Theatre503, The Albany, King’s Head Theatre. Her film work has been selected for the BFI LFF and Sheffield DocFest.

Roann Hassani McCloskey is an Algerian-British writer & storyteller and Co-Artistic director of Bet’n Lev Theatre Company. They have just finished their UK tour of Remythed which they co-wrote and performed in. Other work includes their award-winning sell-out, one-person show, My Father the Tantric Masseur (Soho theatre, Edinburgh fringe) & Who Murdered My Cat? (Popcorn award, BBC Writersroom longlisted).

Roann has participated in programmes such as; BBC London voices, SAFAR film school for emerging Arab Filmmakers, The Northwall Catalyst Residency.

Roann’s dabbling in acting saw them at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre starring in Hanna Khalil’s Hakwatis in 2022 and was back again as Lady Macduff in 2025. Roann also co-hosts a monthly Story-telling night in North London; Last Thursday Club.

When not writing, performing or directing, Roann educates anti-oppression education to leaders across the globe as well as being Creative and Community Consultant for the British Arab Writers Group.

Roann was commissioned by Shubbak festival to write for families with the show Home at Grand Junction.

Project for Catapult

Do you want to hear a story?  

It’s a story about a boy called Jawad. Well, it’s a story about many things.  

It’s a story that starts in tower block 99. Just round the corner in Ladbroke Grove. It’s called this because it’s the only tower to have NINETY NINE FLOORS! And in this story, we will go with Jawad on his magical adventure all the way up to the 99th floor. 

Home can sometimes be tough, but home is where the heart is, it’s wherever we find ourselves.  

Developed for a Work-in-Progress in 2025 at Grand Junction as part of Shubbak Festival, HOME celebrates the richness of multicultural London through a child’s eyes, and invites children to connect with and celebrate the complexity of their emotions.