Annie McKenzie (she/her)
Annie is a working-class actor, writer, director, facilitator and storyteller whose practice spans theatre, film, television and live storytelling. Her work is driven by a belief that art can disrupt, heal, and help us find our way back to ourselves.
She is drawn to stories that explore healing, trauma, class, power and belonging. She creates work that doesn’t look away from pain, but rather insists on possibility. She is particularly interested in creative processes as spaces where people can take risks, unlearn shame, and step more fully into themselves.
In 2025, Annie completed The Journey at Embercombe, a residential personal development programme grounded in connection to nature, self-inquiry and collective leadership. This experience continues to shape her approach to facilitation and her commitment to building creative spaces that are rigorous, playful and deeply human.
Velenzia Spearpoint (she/her)
Velenzia is a theatremaker, producer and artist. Born and raised in London, she is Artistic Director of The Bread & Roses Theatre and Co-Director of the multidisciplinary arts festival Lambeth Fringe.
Her work spans direction, performance, production and facilitation, often working across disciplines and artforms. Rooted in a background in fine art, her work is visually driven and grounded in texture, detail and atmosphere.
Velenzia is particularly drawn to projects that centre queer, women-led and working class communities. She’s interested in the edges: the ordinary made luminous, the overlooked made visible, and the small, human signs of life that reveal something bigger underneath.
Now based in sunny Margate, she draws inspiration from nature and the fringes and beauty of the everyday.
Coco Maertens (she/her)
Coco is a writer, actor and filmmaker from Germany, now at home in London. She trained at Goldsmiths and East 15 before founding StarchedTheatre, where she developed the sell-out show Laundry at The Space Theatre. She has since performed in productions across the UK and co-founded Quandary Collective with Annie.
Her current projects include Horses and Detectives, a collaboration with Olivia Baker, in development for stage with plans for a future TV adaptation.
Alongside her theatre work, Coco has written and shot two short films in 2025 and is currently in pre-production on two further shorts and two feature films, one of which was a Miraban Pitch Fund finalist.
Her monologue No One Wants to Be an Artist was featured on BBC Radio London as part of the Upload Festival, and she is a regular contributor to Anti-Paper magazine.
She is drawn to stories as old as time, bringing their wisdom and magic into the present, and leans into the wild and epic in her acting.