Banner Theatre People

	People	Photographs are available for publicity purposes The performing company in Sweat Shop, 1995 Dave Dale, Dave Rogers, Kevin Hayes (partly hidden) and Jacqueline Contré, circa 1985 Fran Rifkin and Dave Rogers performing in London, circa 1985 Charles Parker and Dave Rogers in Saltley Gate, circa 1975
	Dave Rogers, Artistic Director, was a founder member of Banner in 1973. He has written many of the company's songs and written or co-written several shows, including Free for All (1999/2000), Black and White in the Red (2000/2), Migrant Voices (2002/3), Wild Geese (2005/6) and "They get free mobiles...don't they?" (2007/8). Dave, whose musical roots are in the English folk revival of the 1960s/1970s, has recorded many of Banner’s songs.
	Jilah Bakhshayesh is a musician, storyteller, performer and community artist. She works within a variety of musical traditions, including jazz, gypsy, Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish, Arabic, Iranian and traditional British folk. She is part of the Schalom-Bakhshayesh duo. Jilah joined Banner in 2002 and also performs in the company's 1st of May Band.
	Charlie Davis is a sound engineer, lighting technician and rap artist. He has worked as audio editor on several Banner shows and as sound engineer on a variety of music productions at numerous West Midlands venues. His work as lighting technician includes spells with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Birmingham NEC. He joined Banner in 1999.
	Gaylan Nazhad is a Kurdish refugee who fled Iraq for political reasons and came to England in 2000. He is a Kurdish drummer, dancer and theatre director, and formerly worked as a TV presenter in Kurdistan. Since arriving in England, he has worked as a performer in Merseyside schools, acted in plays and played at music festivals. He has also worked with refugee/asylum seeker organisations and special learning needs groups in Liverpool. Gaylan joined Banner in 2005.
	Tshepe Mukeba played Congolese rumba soukous, jazz and folk gospel blues in one of the biggest Congolese bands BANA OK AND ZAIKO. He came to the UK in 2003, and has been providing musical courses for the Congolese community in Manchester. He plays keyboards and bass guitar, and is a music producer, sound engineer and composer. He joined Banner for the 2007-08 production "They get free mobiles...don't they?"
	Don Bouzek founded GROUND ZERO PRODUCTIONS in Toronto over 20 years ago. Since then, the company has established itself as the major theatre working with organized labour in Canada, touring shows everywhere from small union halls to large national conventions. He has been working with Banner on its "Local Stories, Global Times" project, and has directed Migrant Voices, Wild Geese and the visuals for "They get free mobiles...don't they?"
	Deborah Aston has recently joined Banner as stage manager and has a background in film and television as a broadcast technician before moving into production. More recently she has completed a slate of short films that have been screened at festivals around the world and won awards. Through her production company Deborah has a variety of film, TV and theatre projects in development.
	Stuart Brown directed Strangers in Paradise Circus and “They get free mobiles . . ..don’t they?” He has been involved with Banner since the early 1990s as a writer and former administrator.
	Fred Wisdom is a musician, songwriter and performer. His musical styles include gospel, jazz, reggae, flamenco, blues, rock and folk. Fred has worked with Banner since 1998 and has performed in Free for All (1999/2000), Black and White in the Red (2000/2), Migrant Voices (2002/3) and Wild Geese (2005/6). He plays in Banner's 1st of May Band and other West Midlands bands. He is music director for "They get free mobiles...don't they?"
The company also has support in the office from: Pam Bishop, Stuart Brown, Dave Butler, Jacqueline Contre and Ian Gasse	The touring company, June 2006: Dave Rogers, Jilah Bakhshayesh, Laurent Camara, Charlie Davis, Fred Wisdom and in front Gaylan Nazhad
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