Who We Are
Our Team
Awakening Theatre Company Ltd.
Is a new, vibrant and whimsical, 21 Century, Theatre Company. Based in London and made up of multicultural, multi-talented, bi-lingual, performers who speak and perform in English and Arabic.
The company researches, devises and develops work for chosen venues, and occasions. Their productions aim to illustrate the independence and interdependence of culture, art, and heritage through the exploration of the human condition. Scripted scenes are interspersed with physical theatre, song, poetry and dance, to create theatre experiences which awaken the senses. The company also creates performance art installations for museums, art galleries and other venues.
Jane-Ann Heffernan - Founder
Biography:
Jane-Ann Heffernan, director/playwright
I am an Irish/British playwright, theatre director with over two decades of experience bringing powerful, multicultural stories to life. I worked as a professional dancer and choreographer, theatre director and teacher all over Europe and the Middle East. After a year of physical theatre training in Paris, I set up the Hi-Brids dance company, a three women team which combined dance with theatre and mime we performed shows in Paris, London, Scandinavia, Spain and the U.A.E. After completing a BA in Theatre Arts from Rose Bruford and a PGCE from Nottingham university, I spent 22 years in Amman, Jordan as Head of Theatre Productions at the prestigious International Baccalaureate college where I wrote and directed many original plays and musicals as well as staging Shakespeare, Ibsen, Pinter and Tennessee Williams in a 400 seat Proscenium Arch theatre.
My mother worked as head of ‘Friends of the Museums’ for the North West region and as a theatre critic for BBC Radio Lancashire. I have enjoyed going to museums and theatres all over the UK. As a child, I always felt frustrated as I could not find out enough about the character in the painting, or the owner of a cherished historical object, I wished to meet them in person, get to know their stories. As a teacher, I have seen students really inspired by history when it comes to life in museums, I’ll never forget the effect of an actor in full Roman Costume in a museum, teaching a group of boys his story and how he used his weapons.
I believe the ‘marriage’ between drama and art can really stimulate, inspire and educate the young generation. All this led me to create Awakenings Theatre Company in the UK. We research, write and produce plays for museums. Theatre which is laced with humour and physicality, keeping young minds engaged.
I spent two years writing a full- length play, ‘Art Awakenings’ which is ready for staging after intensive R & D’s in London. The play explores the Arab world’s forgotten contribution to the Renaissance through the stories of four portraits which depict characters from different eras and parts of the world. We are currently seeking funding for this major work.
Sofia Danu - Co-founder
Biography:
Sofía Danu is an actress, performance artist, producer, and co-founder. On screen, she appeared in Mohamed Diab‘s Moon Knight for Marvel Studios and Disney+, the British series Casualty, and stars as Dinah in Terrence Malick‘s forthcoming feature The Way of the Wind. She recently wrapped Palestine 36, directed by Annemarie Jacir, and is currently filming a new series with Channel 4. She is also developing and performing living sculptures and producing her own film, Craving Mangoes, merging her theatrical and cinematic artistry.
On stage, she played Salwa’ in the Olivier-nominated production Two Palestinians Go Dogging at the Royal Court Theatre.
Sofía is the co-founder and producer of Awakenings Theatre Company Ltd, and trained at Rose Bruford College, the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, and Central Saint Martins, with additional training in the Meisner technique.
Sameera Asir - Advisor director producer and actress
Biography:
Majd Eid - Actor/Screenwriter/Producer
Biography:
Majd Eid is an award-winning Jordanian actor and writer whose work spans acclaimed Arab and international productions. He recently starred as Osama in Once Upon a Time in Gaza, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Best Director Award, earning Majd Best Actor honors at the Cairo and Doha Film Festivals. His film credits include Gaza Mon Amour (Venice), Farha (Toronto), The Alleys (Locarno), and the Miramax feature Inheritance. He also wrote, produced, and starred in the acclaimed web series Khairallah Street. Majd is the co-writer (with Rami), producer, and performer in the current play Ya Sahra Ma Tamet, continuing his commitment to powerful, socially resonant storytelling on stage and screen.
Abdelaziz Rashid - Arabic consultant
Biography:
Abdelaziz is a novelist and screenwriter, he currently works as an Arabic Specialist/ teacher trainer for Alef Education company in Abu Dhabi UAE. He has also worked as head of Arabic for schools and colleges in Jordan and Dubai as well as working as a writer for the educational media company Menhaj. He is the Arabic advisor and translator for the play ‘Art Awakenings’ by Jane-Ann Heffernan.
Shaun McEnery - Choreographer
Biography:
Shaun McEnery is a Professional Choreographer, teacher and ballroom dancer. He has appeared on television in Lebanon, in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and numerous times on British TV in various ballroom dance programs. He specializes in Latin American Ballroom Dances and street partner dance styles like the Argentine Tango, Salsa, Mambo, Hustle, Lindy hop & Bolero. He recently choreographed and acted in a new upcoming Bollywood Feature Film 2020, “Time to Dance”.
Kim Tomlinson - Curator and visual art consultant
Biography:
Kim-Marie has worked as a teacher and Head of Visual Art and Performing Arts, internationally and in the UK. She considers the study of the Arts to be integral to holistic learning and supports students to critique the traditional Western narrative to develop global-citizenship through inquiry and intercultural understanding.
As an advocate of classrooms-without-walls, Kim-Marie has enjoyed teaching in a wide range of creative and performance-based curriculum, in a variety of spaces. She has developed post-16 audience-access programs for Brighton and Hove Museums, integrated theatre studies into international school curriculum, designed sets for site specific theatrics, curated diploma students’ exhibitions and expanded global learning through the arts.
Kim-Marie’s journey of creativity and has led her to study batik alongside traditional and contemporary Javanese batik artists and to study dye extraction with Hmong indigo dyers and the fashion house Kilomet108, whilst researching in Vietnam. Currently, Kim-Marie is working on a natural dye fabric commission, 2026.
Kim-Marie holds a BA(Hons) in Three-Dimensional Design and a MA in Museums and Galleries in Education. She has worked with Janeann Heffernan in Jordan and been part of the Awakening Theater’s creative team, from the offset.