Ruwanthie de Chickera is an Eisenhower Fellow, a playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director, who is deeply committed to the practice, politics, and philosophy of Devised Theatre. She applies these principles not only in her work with adults but also in her collaborations with children and youth.

In addition to her work in theatre, Ruwanthie is a screenwriter for both television and film. Her film Machan has been screened in over 50 countries, and has won multiple awards.

Ruwanthie is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Stages Theatre Group. She is also the Head of Creative Writing; guiding aspiring writers and fostering their artistic development.

Shazna has 15+ years in the ICT domain and has now added a theatre company to her repertoire! She continues to work in the field of Telecoms but she’s also decided to manage a bunch of artists and arts-based projects to keep her sanity (or not).

She holds an MSc in Telecommunications from University College London, none of which prepared her for working with Stages, but here we are.

Lihan Mendis is a theatre artist with a background in both stage and screen. He has worked with several local theatre companies including Stages Theatre Group, Mind Adventures, The Workshop Players, The Broken Leg Theatre Company, The Grassrooted Trust, and the Combined Theatre Company.

In addition to his work in the theatre, Lihan has made appearances on screen, including roles in short films produced by Life Broadcasting Pictures and Tuk Tuk Films. He has also been featured in a minor role in Series 3 of the popular ITV show, "The Good Karma Hospital."

Lihan is a Company Director at STG, where he leads the Youth and Junior acting ensembles, and serves as the director of the Drama Circle at S. Thomas' Preparatory School in Colombo.

Ryan is a writer, lighting designer, graphic designer teacher and actor who was once a documentary film maker and then a creative director in the dodgy world of advertising.

He now dabbles in all of the above as a freelancer in between fatherhood duties and responds to the pronoun – Daddy!

Piumi is a multi-roling theatre artist based in Sydney, Australia and Sri Lanka. She is a passionate and proactive theatre director, artist-teacher, writer, and actor striving to create socially conscious theatre. She holds an MA in Theatre Directing from East 15 Acting School, University of Essex, United Kingdom, Biomechanics actor training from the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts and a BA in English from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Piumi was the Co-Artistic director at Stages Theatre Group and multiroled as an actor-director-writer and arts administrator in the company for over 6 years. She has professional theatre experience inclusive of both local and international exposure; with emphasis on original and research-based devised theatre, improvisation, physical theatre, ensemble acting, community theatre, actor training, workshopped theatre productions, and youth/ children’s theatre.

With her passion and drive to work in making theatre and arts accessible for young people, she is currently working as Program Manager - Children and Young People at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) in Sydney, Australia where she is responsible for the management and delivery of all NIDA's short courses for children and young people aged 2-18 years at Kensington, Sydney.