To Build a Fence is about the first formal invention of the fence. But it is also about our human responsibility to embrace things we don't understand.
Production Photos, Drayton Arms Theatre, November 15th, 2021
Photos by Amelia Oliva
Creative Team
Ciarán Myers, Playwright
Ciarán Myers is a playwright, dancer, director, and pedagogue who lives with his wife and mighty five-year-old in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He is richly privileged with an MFA in Script Writing from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Selected writing credits include, TOUCH (2018, GreenLight Arts), House of Fun (2017, GreenLight Arts), Hamburger (2018, Informal Upright), Emergency Only (2018, Theatre of the Beat and performed by women+ incarcerated at the Grand Valley Institution), and The Adding (2015, Backstage Forward). Ciarán has two small independent collections of poetry, InSight (2013) and The Cave and Other Works (2007). He is an alumnus of the Stratford Festival Playwrights Retreat and, this season, developing new work with GreenLight Arts, Kitchener's Registry Theatre, and Toronto's Driftwood Theatre.
Ronja Siljander, Director
Ronja Siljander is Finland born and London based theatre director, drama instructor, pedagogue and performer. Her visual, powerful and movement-based directing is often conducted with witty, arrogant and sincere spatial and emotional understanding of contemporary theatre meeting classical text. Her core strengths as young practitioner are in devised and physical theatre as well as work with youth and emerging artists.
She holds a BA in performing arts and drama instructing (drama-based pedagogy) at Turku Arts Academy in Finland and recently graduated with distinction from Masters program of theatre directing at East 15 Acting School. She’s worked as a theatre director, assistant director and ensemble member in Finland, UK and internationally, including a study residency at GITIS, Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, and a half a year at Zurich University of Arts ZHdK. She’s studied acting of Russian and Nordic theatre tradition and has for years deepened her understanding in physical performance through dance, circus, clowning, mime and puppetry work, focusing on the skills of movement and ensemble-based directing and facilitation.
Her most recent directing credits include Mio, My Son (Teatteri Ulpu 2021) The Workman’s Wife (The Corbett Theatre 2020), Mayhem – A Post-Punk Apocalopera (Assistant to David Glass, The Clifftown Theatre 2019), The Lord of the Rings (Assistant to Mikko Kouki, Turku City Theatre 2018) and The Wild Duck (Turku Arts Academy 2017).
Hille is an actor, director and theatre maker, as well as a fresh graduate of the Acting and Contemporary Theatre course at East 15 Acting School. Being a Finn who grew up in Belgium, studied in England and speaks five languages, she identifies as a citizen of Europe. As both performer and director, her areas of expertise and biggest (of many) passions are clown work, physical theatre, performance art and puppetry; she recently performed as puppeteer in "My Grandma's A Walrus" at the Southwark Playhouse. Hille is also a poet, and has a lot of experience in dance and choral singing. She knows only a few things that are better than being part of an ensemble singing a cappella in harmonies - especially if the singing language is Finnish. In addition to theatre, Hille loves experimenting with the medium of film, be it in front or behind the camera and at the editing desk.
Vyte Garriga, Speaker
VYTE GARRIGA is a London based actress and physical theatre performer from Lithuania. She graduated from RADA MA Theatre Lab in 2018. Since graduation, Vyte has been involved in many projects with theatre companies like La Fura dels Baus (Spain), Theatre Re, Babel, Flabbergast and the Little Lion Theatre on devising their new work.
As well as acting, Vyte creates short films that she calls 'visual poems'. Her films tend to follow the Surrealist concept of the 'dream logic', allowing the visuals (as opposed to words) to reveal the story, this way bringing the extraordinary out of the ordinary. As a creator in general, Vyte is fascinated with stories and many different ways of conveying them.
Oihane Rodríguez is a Spanish actress, writer and singer currently based in London. She trained in East 15 Acting School, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Fontainebleau School of Acting and GITIS Institute. She is a classically trained singer and MT nerd, coached by Peter T. Harrison and soprano Pilar Tejero, and she has training in creative writing and as a violinist. She has worked with directors such as Jo Blatchley and Christian Burgess.Her professional background includes her work as an actress and assistant director with the independent Spanish theatre company TGR, where she portrayed Socorro in the new play Madrid 1808 Nosotros. Ellos, among other productions. She was part of various Spanish comedy webseries such as Tuitsketch and short films, both as writer and actress. She was a backup singer in the Spanish funk band Melismática before moving to London to pursue new challenges. Currently, she is passionate about developing her own work. She has written two plays, both in English and Spanish, and she got a Best Actress nomination at the London Shorts Film Festival for her latest short film, The Red Within, based on her play of the same name.
Felix Ryder, Speaker
Felix is a actor from London. He studied at The Brit School, World Performance at East 15, with Philippe Gaulier and Au Brana in France and also in Denpasar in Bali. As well as drama training, Felix has practised martial arts (Kuk Sool Won) for more than 12 years which he is currently putting into practice in a short film/proof of concept set for release in 2022. He plays guitar and saxophone, and sings. Felix makes his own music as Fe Ryder on Spotify. He continues to work in theatre and film as an actor, musical director and foley artist. His recent productions include: A Blue Something, Greenwich Park, and The Workman’s Wife directed by Ronja Siljander. One of his ambitions is to tour as a performer and see more of the world.