upcoming shows 🐞
🎨 Karl Gilbert
"if they love me and I love them, surely they will love each other..." sometimes friends shouldn’t meet, especially when they're scattering your ashes in the welsh countryside.
ladybird's presents kindling at the Park Theatre
22 oct - 15 nov
kindling, written by our very own ladybird, sarah rickman, follows five perimenopausal women as they embark on their friend Mei’s final wish; scattering her ashes in a forest in south Wales. if only they knew, let alone liked one another. connected only by their shared grief, what begins as an opportunity to bond, quickly descends into chaos. lost, without shelter or signal, drenched by a sudden storm, surrounded by strange noises and celtic beasts, and fuelled only by soggy baguettes, warm wine, forgotten HRT and 90’s club classics; unspoken rivalries and secrets, old and new, soon come to the surface. kindling is a hilarious and poignant story of friendship, loss, resentment and ultimately hope.
cast announcement 🐞
SUE
credits include eastenders (BBC), smothered (Sky) and draining the swamp, UK Tour)
JASMIN
credits include a museum in baghdad (RSC), therese raquin (National Theatre) and supacell (Netflix)),
CATHY
.jpeg)
credits include good karma hospital (ITV), pramface and eastenders (BBC) and radiant vermin (Soho Theatre and New York 59E59)
JULES
ROSE
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
credits include 3-body problem (Netflix), blue jean (BBC Film) ballet shoes (National Theatre)
credits include mrs harris goes to paris (A24) dog hair, (The Vaults) and the existence formula (The Bunker and NYC Fringe Festival).
VOICE OF MEI
credits include measure for measure & Julius caesar (Shakespeare North Playhouse), the wetsuitman (Arcola Theatre & Rose Lipman Building). robot lady & surgeons (Double Yellow).
📸 Jennifer Forward-Hayter
production team
emma gersch
director
emma is founder and artistic director of award winning Moving Stories Theatre Company. she trained at theuniversity of hull and the royal welsh college of music and drama.
directing credits include sonnet sunday (Shakespeare’s Globe), colder than here (Maltings Theatre), vanessa and virginia (European Tour, Riverside Studios), orestes re-examined, (Southwark Playhouse), agamemnon (BAC), heresies (Bristol Old Vic), judith’(Etcetera), the bald prima donna (Kings Head and UK tour), the tempest (Franklin Stage, New York), Wuthering Heights the musical (Turbine Theatre).
emma is a regular director at the minack theatre in cornwall, where credits include hamlet, the comedy of errors (USA and Canada tour), west side story, twelfth night, the tempest, the winter’s tale and romeo and juliet and measure for measure. emma has worked at the watford palace theatre on the moving museum of motherhood and the one woman comedy Congratulations?
emma has directed and taught at drama schools, including central, lamda, e15, and artsed, and for the higher education faculty at shakespeare’s globe, and the growing tudio New York.
emma founded the band of mothers company at shakespeare's globe, which supports and develops the work of artist mothers.
esther fernández guerra
associate director
esther fernández guerra is a theatre director and writer from the canary islands.she started her artistic career as a dancer and has over 16 years of training as a ballet dancer. after that, esther studied acting in the escuela de actores decanarias , where she learned a very physical approach to theatre and character construction. this combination of drama and dance makes her a very versatile and creative director, with a strong movement approach to theatre.
esther has recently graduated from LAMDA, ma directing.
professional credits include:- borderline (Lion and Unicorn) - director, crazy gary’s mobile disco, (Landor Space) – associate director, the white plague (Greenwich Theatre, 2020) – associate director, alice (Landor Space) - assistant director, property, (River Studios) - assistant director, poor clare (The Orange Tree Theatre, 2025) – assistant director
victoria rose
stage manager
victoria trained in stage management at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (FDA) and completed her BA top-up at LAMDA.
her recent credits include the empire strips back at Riverside Studios, room 13 and constellations at The Barn Theatre, Cirencester and disruption at the Park Theatre.
She is delighted to be returning to the Park Theatre with another thought-provoking, new production.
chloe kenward
lighting designer
lighting designs include cratchit (Park Theatre), kes and random (Leeds Playhouse), carmen and a midsummer night’s dream (Isango Ensemble), bedtime stories (Upswing, Stratford Circus), crowning glory (Theatre Royal Stratford East), la boheme, aesop’s fables and the ragged trousered philanthropist (Isango Ensemble, Hackney Empire), in the mood, boy,
girlfriends, dogfight, grandfathers and prince of denmark (Mountview Academy), who cares (GSA), K.R.U.M.P. macbeth (Artists4Artists), the clockmaker’s daughter (Trinity Laban), layla’s room (Theatre Centre), orator, (Vaults Festival), light falls and the lady from the sea (RADA), what
happens in the winter (Upswing, Stockton Arc then touring), the first thing that ever ever happened (Lyric Hammersmith), you can still make a killing (Southwark Playhouse).
chloe has re-lit many productions around the world, for companies including Hofesh Shechter, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Headlong, and English TouringTheatre.
she teaches, mentors and designs on a freelance basis and is also a lecturer in lighting design at Goldsmiths, and previously for Rose
Bruford College.
esther kehinde ajayi
sound designer
elizabeth lewis
costume supervisor
esther is an interdisciplinary sound artist born in West London. she combines highly conceptual sound design with interactive technology and custom sound system design across various formats, including film, music, contemporary art and fashion. since 2021, she has worked extensively in sound design for theatre in London, emphasising the spatial presentation of sound through hybrid systems that merge software, hardware, and visual elements for narrative purposes. following research during her Sound Arts BA (2024), she describes her practice as "sonic cultural technology design," highlighting sound as a psycho-cultural tool for personal empowerment and community building when applied beyond the frame of music.
credits:
anansi the spider (Unicorn Theatre); the promise (King’s College London); positive (Southwark Playhouse); watchtower (Tentastic festival); twist the fantasy (E.K.A.sounds); hansel and gretel (The Big House); pitch (November Theatre); under the blanket (The Big House); wordsong collection (The Big House); possession (Arcola Theatre); hot In here (The Gate Theatre and Camden People’s Theatre); the dry house (Marylebone theatre); my brother's keeper (Theatre 503); cash money (The Big House); talking about a revolution (Lyric Hammersmith); yellowman (Orange Tree Theatre); would you bet against us (Birmingham Rep); when the long trick's over (High Tide); all of the conversations (ArtsEd); athena (The Yard Theatre); STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT (Orange Tree Theatre); alice (Landor_Space); invisible light (Tristan Bates Theatre); dana is her name (E.K.A.Sounds).
Having trained at RADA and performed in theatre and TV, Elizabeth moved into hair, make-up and costume over 30 years ago, notable credits all the Harry Potter films, Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, Othello, Frankenstein and Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Merchant Ivory's Jefferson in Paris. More recently she has worked on Fast & The Furious series and Dr Doolittle.
abi groves
set designer
Abi is a highly accomplished Film and TV set decorator with over 20 years experience. Credits include; The Agency ( Paramount + /101 productions/ Smokehouse Productions) Series 1 & 2, Varsity (Apple TV, New Regency, Scott Free), Citadel (Amazon), Death on The Nile (Fox), Artemis Fowl (Fox) and The Martian (Fox). Kindling is her first theatre production.
erin lavin
assistant stage manager
erin is in her third year of Stage-management and Technical Theatre at Central School Of Speech and Drama.
her recent credits include you are what you eat at The Little Angel (Camden Fringe), macbeth at The Courtyard Theatre, and big god, little me at Central School of Speech and Drama.
collaborators and support
Diane Danzebrink is the founder of the community interest company Menopause Support https://menopausesupport.co.uk/ and the national #MakeMenopauseMatter campaign.
Menopause Support provides one to one support for individuals, menopause awareness training for employers and lots of free resources. the campaign has been instrumental in ensuring that menopause has been added to the curriculum in schools in England and that all medical students are now taught about menopause (from september 2024). it continues to call for menopause education for all GPs, menopause workplace support for all and a public health campaign for menopause.
diane is regularly invited to comment on menopause and mental health in the media. she has appeared on This Morning, Good Morning Britain, Loose Women, Lorraine, BBC Breakfast, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky News. she can regularly be heard discussing menopause and mental health on the radio and has written about menopause for both the Telegraph and the Guardian and has featured in Japanese Vogue and on japanese and australian news, helping to take the menopause conversation global.
diane has contributed to several books about menopause and mental health and wellness. Her first book, Making Menopause Matter, was published, to critical acclaim, by Sheldon Press in 2024, the podcast of the same name, began in july 2025.
When Dani Binnington received her cancer diagnosis at 33, her initial focus wasn't onsupporting fellow survivors through a better menopause journey. Her primary drive wasensuring she'd see her three little girls stepping through the school gates. however, today, she stands as a passionate advocate for patients navigating menopause as aresult of cancer treatment. As the founder of the UK’s only non-profit dedicated to menopause after cancer and author of the bestselling book Navigating Menopause After Cancer, she sheds light on this vital yet overlooked intersection.
“many people tell me they feel as if they have no options — that managing menopause after cancer is harder than chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery combined. they often describe themselves as the “forgotten tribe.” HRT may be widely discussed, but for many cancer patients it isn’t a straightforward choice.”
dani, founder of the growing non-profit Menopause and Cancer, is dedicated to supporting and educating women about their choices. Her organisation is the UK’s only one of its kind, reaching millions through workshops, digital resources, andhealthcare training. As host of The Menopause and Cancer Podcast, she leads conversations with leading experts and survivors, ranking in the top 1.5% podcastsworldwide.Her first book, Navigating Menopause After Cancer, became a #1 bestseller and brings together expert guidance, lived experiences, and evidence-based strategies toempower survivors.
“we become a woman’s thinking partner. helping to navigate the medical system,reviewing the evidence, exploring belief systems, and finding ways to move forward. every woman deserves to know her options. to know she’s not alone.”
dani is an impactful speaker, combining professional expertise with her deeplypersonal journey through breast cancer at 33 and sudden, early menopause. Her talksmix compassion with knowledge, leaving audiences infused with hope and energy. she has been widely featured in national press, is a sought-after podcast guest, and has appeared on ITV’s This Morning, where she shared her compelling story.
Rosemary spent most of her nursing career working with cancer patients, first of all as a Palliative Care Home Care Nurse in different Hospice settings. After a spell of Health Visiting she spent the next 25 years working mainly as a Clinical Nurse Specialist with breast cancer and briefly with gynaecological cancer patients. She developed an interest and enthusiasm for running cancer support groups, and trained as a Group Analytic Psychotherapist. Although retired, she continues to facilitate some support groups at King’s College Hospital Healthcare Trust. Conversations around death, bereavement, relationships, sexuality and menopausal symptoms are frequent hot topics, often negotiated through humour as a way in to tackle frightening issues.
