Due to showcase new work earlier on in the year, RUMAH have adapted their festival into an online event – a mixture of spoken word, scratch performances and comedy skits highlighting Asian voices, advocating for much needed representation on our stages. Presenting #RUMAHFest Online, founder and producer Nur Khairiyah talks about how she’s adapted to the current climate as a theatre maker and freelancer, the importance of creating these types of platforms and spaces for artists and her hopes for the festival moving forward.

With the 450th birthday celebrations of one of our most celebrated playwrights well and truly underway, each play serves as a reminder of just how influential Shakespeare’s part has been in the worlds of both the English language and the landscape of theatre making. Founded 2 years ago, Zoe Ford‘s theatre company, Hiraeth Productions has sought to bridge the gap between the Elizabethan/Jacobean era in which Shakespeare thrived, and the technological, forward thinking era in which we now live. Ahead of Zoe’s production of Hamlet, I was able to speak to the Director about her prison inspired interpretation, her inspirations for founding Hiraeth and why being a Text Assistant for Shakespeare’s Globe has proved invaluable!

As founder of Hiraeth Artistic Productions, what inspired you to create the company?

Starting a theatre company was an idea that came to me at drama school; studying theatre performance was the first time I was exposed to the process of theatre creation – production, direction etc. It fascinated me, the thought of starting my own company was exhilarating, so I plunged in head first.