the team

Sebastian Armesto

Sebastian Armesto co-founded simple8 and has co-adapted, written and directed all of their work to date. He has also directed opera at the Tete-a-Tete festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. He recently completed his first feature film For Grace. Sebastian trained and works as an actor. He has worked with directors ranging from Sofia Coppola to Roland Emmerich, from Jane Campion to JJ Abrams. His most recent credits include the newest incarnation of Star Wars, Stephen Poliakoff’s Close to the Enemy, Broadchurch and The Terror.

Christopher Doyle

Christopher is a co-founding member of simple8, and has produced all seven shows for the company, also performing in Les Enfants du Paradis, The Four Stages of Cruelty, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Moby-Dick, The Texas Sharpshooter & Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes. He has worked with Druid Theatre Company in Ireland and on Broadway, toured internationally with Riverdance, and is a 4x World Champion Irish Dancer. He has also devised movement with renowned choreographer Jane Gibson, and performed in numerous London shows, including Soho Cinders at Soho Theatre and Playboy of The Western World at The Old Vic.

Hannah Emanuel

Hannah is a co-founding member of simple8, and has performed in many shows for the company, including Les Enfants du Paradis, The Four Stages of Cruelty, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Texas Sharpshooter. She co directed Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes and worked as co musical director on Moby Dick. Outside of Simple8, she has worked as an actor in numerous shows including with The Peter Hall Company, at various regional venues including Theatre Royal Bath, Manchester Royal Exchange, Coventry Belgrade and in many London shows including at National Theatre Studio, Arcola and Park Theatre.

Dudley Hinton

Dudley is a founding member of simple8. He has co-produced all of simple8’s productions to date, co-wrote and co-directed Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes, The Texas Sharpshooter and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and co-wrote Les Enfants du Paradis. Dudley is a producer and general manager with Richard Darbourne Ltd (www.richarddarbourne.com), working on multiple productions including Legally Blonde, Spamalot, Guys and Dolls & Avenue Q. Dudley has produced work for Curve Theatre, LOCOG and CNN and has been Festival Manager with the London International Mime Festival for the past seven years.

Emily Pennant-Rea

Emily is a co-founding member of simple8. She has co produced every production, and performed in Les Enfants du Paradis, The Four Stages of Cruelty and Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes. Outside of her work with the company she has toured extensively to theatres around the country with productions that include Charlie’s Aunt, Private Lives, Joking Apart, Othello, Twelfth Night, a season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Mary Broome at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. She has also recorded numerous audiobooks, and a Radio 4 play The Franchise Affair.

Mat Wandless

Mat is a co-founding member of simple8, and has produced all seven shows for the company, also performing in Les Enfants du Paradis, The Four Stages of Cruelty, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Moby-Dick & The Texas Sharpshooter. Mat has also worked on various films, including World War Z.