Identical Twins R&D

Identical Twins – Ben Wilson’s Artistic Project

Identical Twins is an early work by Caryl Churchill. Two brothers are trapped in a toxic cycle of angry comparisons and a refusal to take responsibility for their own immorality. Lead by Extant’s Trainee Artistic Director Benjamin Wilson and with an ambitious sound design and integrated audio description, Extant are exploring what the casting of two blind actors does to the politics of this dark and shocking hidden gem from one of the UK’s favourite playwrights.

Ableism, misogyny and toxic masculinity were present in 1968, but with Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson gaining traction with a new generation of young men who are bombarded by a diet of vitriol from a right-wing press and the darkest corners of social media Identical Twins feels, unfortunately, more relevant than ever.

Supported by Sheffield Theatres, NT Studio and Arts Council England.

Creative Team:

Co Directors: Ben Wilson & Lucy Jane Atkinson

Assistant Director: Ada Eravama

Sound Designer: Annie May Fletcher

Stage Manager (Sheffield): Louise Pearson

Stage Manager (London): Jane Suffling

Actors: Charlotte Eyres, Lee Farrell & Anita Barzey

Videographer: Lucy Smith Jones

Access worker: Autumn Sharkey

Meet the Team:

Ben Wilson, a white man, with short blonde hair and a beard.

Ben Wilson

Ben is Extant’s Trainee Artistic Director. He is a blind actor, theatre maker and audio description consultant. He trained at Birmingham School of Acting (now Birmingham Royal Conservatoire). Ben spent five years as the Ramps on The Moon Agent For Change at Sheffield Theatres and co-founded both creative audio description company Hear The Picture and theatre company Brick Wall Ensemble. He recently received a commendation at the National Theatre and Sunday Times prestigious Ian Charleson awards. As an actor and creative some of his recent credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Guys and Dolls for Sheffield Theatres; Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Oliver Twist and Rode for Leeds Playhouse; Three Billy Goats GRUFF (Derby Theatre); Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Royal Shakespeare Company) and both Henry 5 and Meic On The Mic for Brick Wall Ensemble.

Lucy Jane Atkinson

From the shoulders up, Lucy is a thin, white woman with very short, slightly messy, bleach blonde hair. She’s looking directly at the camera and wearing glasses with blue frames, a black leather jacket, and a silver locket around her neck.

Lucy is an award-winning director and a graduate of LAMDA’s Post Graduate Director’s course and she was named as number 1 on The Stage’s Top Talents To Watch in 2018. Lucy’s production of Tatty Hennessy’s A HUNDRED WORDS FOR SNOW (UK Tour, Trafalgar Studios) received 4 Offie nominations including Best Director and Best New Play. In 2019 Lucy directed Sheila Atim’s debut play ANGUIS (BBC Art’s, Avalon). In 2022 Lucy directed her National Theatre debut BARRIER(S), the National Theatre New Views winning play by 17-year-old Eloise Pennycott staged bilingually in spoken English and BSL on the Dorfman’s stage. Lucy continued her championing of accessible and fun theatre in 2022 by directing Tatty Hennessy’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s THE SLEEPING SWORD at the Watermill Theatre, created collaboratively with and starring visually impaired actors. She also directed Kieron Barry’s SPY FOR SPY at Riverside Studios, which was met with critical acclaim.

Ada Eravama

Ada, a young black woman with braided hair tied back in a half up/down style. Smiling professionally at the camera. She's wearing a blue pendant necklace with a tree of life design and a black top.

I’m Ada, I’m a black British woman of West African descent. I’m a theatre maker for over 10 years and visually impaired for longer. My sights bad but my vision is fantastic!

I specialise in creative audio description and access consultation. I’m passionate that culture and theatrical experiences are accessible to visually impaired and disabled audiences and artist. I’m especially keen that new work and experimental practices become more widely available for visually impaired audiences to experience.

Theatre is my favourite art form. With a cosomemplete box of sensory tools at our disposal to tell stories in 3D. I envision a theatre experience that goes beyond visual perception – embracing sonic narratives and tactile experiences. My mission is to transform cultural and theatrical projects into multi-layered projects where accessibility integrates with visual experiences.

My artistic reach extends across diverse communities, media, and art forms, crafting a practice to become a worthy advocate for those spaces. I’ve worked as a Creative Audio Description consultant in productions and R&D projects development for artist and organisation such as CRIPtic Arts and Alice Christina Corrigan. Facilitated accessible and inclusive workshops for youth groups and universities such as The National Youth Theatre and Lipa. And developing my practice as a maker in my solo project Fragments commissioned by CRIPtic Arts, and my short story When January visits commissioned by Rope Ladder Fiction.

Annie May Fletcher

In a black and white photo, Annie is a white woman, with long hair. She wears glasses and is holding her arm up, looking away from the camera.

Annie is a Yorkshire-based sound designer and composer. She was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award 2023, shortlisted for the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund 2021, and was the 2018-19 Laboratory Sound Designer at NST.

Theatre credits include: TELL ME HOW IT ENDS (Liverpool Everyman Theatre), ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST (Theatre Royal Haymarket/Lyric Hammersmith/Sheffield Crucible), HOPE HAS A HAPPY MEAL (Royal Court), WE COULD ALL BE PERFECT and ROCK (Sheffield Crucible), HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH (Leeds Playhouse/HOME Manchester), A PASSIONATE WOMAN, and DECADES (Leeds Playhouse), NT PUBLIC ACTS’ THE ODYSSEY: THE CYCLOPS and CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT (CAST, Doncaster), BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Theatre by the Lake), A CHRISTMAS CAROL, AN ADVENTURE and IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Bolton Octagon), ENDURANCE (Battersea Arts Centre/HOME Manchester), SPLINTERED, AD LIBIDO and THE ARC (Soho Theatre), BRILLIANT JERKS (Southwark Playhouse), THE SURVIVORS’ GUIDE TO LIVING (Manchester Royal Exchange), SOME PEOPLE FEEL THE RAIN (The Den – for Royal Exchange), THE UNDERSTUDY LIVE (Palace Theatre).

Louise Pearson

Louise is a white woman with dark mid-length hair with a side fringe wearing a pink blouse, smiling at the camera against a white background.

Louise is an East-Midlands based Stage Manager and Prop Maker. She enjoys making work in regional theatres that is accessible and inclusive for everyone. She has worked at Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Crucible and Leeds Playhouse, and is also proud to have been involved with two Ramps on the Moon productions: Our Country’s Good (2018) and Much Ado About Nothing (2022). She also worked as a Personal Assistant access worker on Nottingham Playhouse’s The Real & Imagined History of the Elephant Man (2023). She was recently part of Nottingham Playhouse’s The Children (2024) which was the theatre’s first main stage show to incorporate the Theatre Green Book, making shows more sustainable. After picking up some BSL on Our Country’s Good she went on to get her Level 1 in 2019, and any time not at work is spent learning something new, most recently giving wood carving and 3D modelling a go!

Charlotte Eyres

Charlotte is a white woman with ginger hair wearing a blue jumper.

Charlotte is a performer, songwriter and theatre maker, with a visual impairment, who trained at Goldsmiths, Mountview and the National Youth Theatre. Professional credits include Tinted (Theatre503, Vaults and Gilded Balloon), Pericles R+D (National Theatre in partnership with NYT) Memories of The Marshland R+D (Zoo Co), Otto Weidt’s Brush and Broom Workshop for the Blind R+D (Leeds Playhouse), The Musical Life Of… (BBC Radio Wales) and sung on the score for A Child of Science (Bristol Old Vic). Credit whilst training: Cassius in Julius Caesar (dir. Anna Girvan) and The Grain Store (dir. Oscar Toeman). Charlotte is currently developing a new musical comedy which they have written and composed; Dani’s Inferno explores the relationship between human desire and the climate crisis.

Lee Farrell

Lee Farrell, a man in his early 30s with platinum blonde hair, Blue eyes, wearing a dark green T-shirt with an intense, vulnerable expression to the camera.

Lee, is a West Midlands born actor with Ocular Albinism. His super-power. A movie buff, who loves to travel and explore. An old soul, with shy charm. Lee has great strength and vulnerability.

Theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing.(Sheffield Crucible), Misfits. (The Space Theatre), Lessons In Love And Violence. (Royal Opera House), Common. (National Theatre) and Blood and Diablo. (Belgrade Theatre Coventry)

Anita Barzey

Anita is a black woman, with braid and she is looking and smiling at the camera.

Anita Barzey is a visually impaired performer, writer and tutor who enjoys working with diverse groups to create untold stories that inspire and motivate. She has performed in various mediums from radio, theatre productions and short films.

She has worked on a variety of creative projects In the UK and aboard and loves travelling and exploring new cultures through the medium of art. Anita has worked extensively with Extant on various projects over the years.