Paula Garfield Artistic Director Expand Paula Garfield An actor, director, workshop leader and organiser, Paula has worked on a variety of television, film and theatre projects over the past fifteen years. She went on to establish Deafinitely Theatre with Steven Webb and Kate Furby after becoming frustrated at the barriers that deaf actors and directors face in mainstream media. She has produced and directed many plays and worked extensively in TV, including Channel Four’s Learn Sign Language, Four Fingers and a Thumb, BBC’s Hands Up and Casualty, plus appearances in every series of the BBC's deaf drama, Switch. For Deafinitely Theatre she has directed Two Chairs, Motherland, Children of a Greater God, Playing God, Double Sentence and Gold Dust. She has also devised and directed The Boy and the Statue for Deafinitely at the Tricycle Theatre and on a London schools’ tour. In 2012, as part of Deafinitely’s 10th anniversary, Paula directed Love’s Labour’s Lost for the Globe to Globe Festival at Shakespeare’s Globe, followed by Tanika’s Journey at Southwark Playhouse. Paula directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe in 2014 and a national tour of children’s production Something Else and Grounded at the Park Theatre in 2015. Paula’s production of Contractions for Deafinitely Theatre won the off West End Award (Offie) for ‘Best Production’ 2017.
Frankie George Executive Director Expand Frankie George Frankie studied at the University of Kent at Canterbury and graduated with a Masters in Creative Producing in 2008 before going on to work at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre under Michael Grandage and later with Josie Rourke. In 2012, she moved to the Michael Grandage Company and worked on such productions as Privates on Parade, Peter and Alice, The Cripple of Inishman, A Midsummer Nights Dream and Henry V in the West End. In 2014 she moved to the Flying Music Company where she worked as Senior Production Coordinator on shows such as Thriller Live - West End, on tour and globally. In 2015, she decided to move away from the commercial sector and return to her roots in subsided theatre and specifically for community arts. Deafinitely Theatre was the perfect opportunity and she now works closely with the company’s Artistic Director to deliver the artistic, operational management, social inclusion aims and the delivery of the Theatre’s activities.
Tyron Woolfe Executive Director (Maternity Cover) Expand With a keen eye on good research, Dr Tyron Woolfe studied social cognitive development in Deaf children at the University of Sheffield in 2002. In 2007 Tyron joined the National Deaf Children's Society as its Deputy Director Children, Young People and Partnerships for 11yr achieving milestones in its child-centred work, before taking a long break to travel South America for 8months in 2018. More recently Tyron has been a Project Manager at UK Deaf Sport with a focus on the wellbeing of deaf people via sports and physical activities. Voluntarily Tyron has always been doing something with Deaf people. He used to run youth exchanges, has been a trustee of Royal Association Deaf, British Deaf Association, and Signhealth. Tyron is currently the Chairperson for Deaf Rainbow UK. He is a trustee of University of Greenwich Students' Union. He is a volunteer for SHOUT, a crisis support service via texts. Tyron is a huge fan of musical theatre and has long-winded dreams of a mega production of Deaf Billy Elliot, having seen that show 39 times in 10yr. This maternity cover is a great opportunity for Tyron to extend his leadership skills and experience into the world of community arts and to continue to develop the operational and strategic connections to support the growth of Deafinitely Theatre's work.
Alex Turner Producer Expand Alex Turner Alex Turner is a freelance producer and general manager. His career has spanned producing premières and revivals of plays and musicals at theatres including Sheffield Theatres and the Bush Theatre, as Interim Producer for both; project management, including TheatreCraft 2018; theatre PR, with Kate Morley PR and the RSC; and working on the general management of internationally acclaimed plays and musicals at Playful Productions. He has worked for some of the most prestigious theatre companies in the UK including The Barbican, RSC, Frantic Assembly, non zero one, Bush Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and Soho Theatre. His recent independent Producer credits include: God’s Dice (for Soho Theatre), A Prayer for Wings (King’s Head Theatre), Clybourne Park and Gently Down The Stream (Park Theatre – Olivier Award nomination), Homos, or Everyone in America and Adding Machine: A Musical (Finborough Theatre) and One Arm (Southwark Playhouse – Off West End Award).
Ian Street Programme Manager Expand Ian Street Ian started his career in theatre as an actor. After graduating from East 15 Acting School, Ian worked successfully in the business for 12 years, and spent three of those years living and working in the USA. Once back in London, Ian started learning BSL and became the Social Group Co-ordinator at Stage Text. Ian went on to work at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, where he had the opportunity to utilise his skills in Sign Language and decided to focus on theatre and accessibility for deaf audiences. Ian joined the Deafinitely Theatre team in early 2015.
Jasmine Whipps Adminstrator Expand Jasmine Whipps A deaf YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers, Jasmine has worked on a variety of television, projects and presentations over the past five years. She was involved with the "Life and Deaf" project for three years, undertaking tasks such as filming, publishing a book, creating poems and lots more. She also was on a BBC documentary "My Deaf Life: Feel The Beat" - about three deaf YouTubers who take on the challenge to perform at the UK's biggest deaf club night. Deaf rapper SignKid is their guide as they prepare for their big moment on stage. Jasmine has collaborated with Samsung to deliver a solo presentation about "How to become an Influencer" and has also collaborated with grime artist Akala to talk about the music that he has created for the deaf community. Jasmine has achieved a silver play-button for hitting 100k subscribers on her YouTube Channel in August 2019. Working at Deafinitely Theatre, Jasmine is an administrator, undertaking a variety of tasks; editing videos (using her experience editing videos for the past five years), and general administrative tasks on an ad-hoc basis.
Dilara Earle Youth Coordinator Expand In 2007, Dilara won the Young Film Critic of the Year (sensory-impaired category) - founded by filmeducation x National Film Schools Week Award - and promoted the competition at the House of Commons during publicity campaigns. She went on to study a BA in Digital Film and Television at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly RSAMD). During her university years, she volunteered for the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) and also wrote for Cochlear Implanted Children’s Society (CICS), British Association for the Teachers Of the Deaf (BATOD) and other publications. After extensive solo travels in Asia and Australasia, when she worked for Deaf Aotearoa and wrote for travel blogs to champion travelling with a disability, she moved to Bristol in 2018 to work at the BBC with See Hear, as a researcher. She now splits her time between Bristol and London.