Invited Unknown Productions

Aim

We’re raising funds to research, create, and share immersive theatre that’s lived, not just watched, while building a sustainable company.

WELCOME TO THE INVITED UNKNOWN PRODUCTIONS CROWDFUNDER!

Where does our story start?

Well, it’s quite simple really.
Our story begins with a group of actors on a year-long course studying the work of a practitioner by the name of Nikolai Demidov. Very quickly, we realised this work was something special. Through it, we formed a unique bond, shaped by a powerful and fascinating approach to performance.

Time and time again, we watched people drop fully into worlds and characters with deep embodiment and truthful performances. Each time felt different, yet consistently alive. 

As we looked around the room, everyone’s talents, individuality, and skills- beyond just acting- began to shine. We knew then that this was only the beginning of something very exciting!

CUT TO

Invited Unknown Productions came alive! 

We want to create intimate, truthful, and boundary-pushing theatre that explores what it means to be human and connected: to each other, to the unknown, and to the present moment. Our foundation is rooted in Demidov’s technique and the power of the subconscious. Although developed in early 20th-century Russia, the Demidov method remains largely unmapped in contemporary Western acting practice. We are among the first contemporary practitioners to actively explore and apply the method, positioning our work at the forefront of this groundbreaking approach. Our work transcends the purely conscious mind, accessing deeper intuitive and collective layers of human experience.

Okay, okay, let us translate.

You know that feeling when you’re looking at a piece of artwork, watching a film, or experiencing a piece of theatre and then it ends. You walk away and you have to remind yourself that, yes, you’re still in your body. You haven’t actually crossed over into the world you were invited into.

But something has shifted.
You’ve experienced something you can’t quite explain.
For a moment, you didn’t just watch it- you lived it.

Well, we love that feeling. And we believe there’s more to it, and more potential in how it can be shared with others. We’re only just scratching the surface. With your help, and with you involved, we want to explore it much deeper.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

By supporting this crowdfunder, you become part of Invited Unknown Productions at the very beginning of our journey. Your contributions will directly support the foundations of a new and independent theatre company and help us grow sustainably and creatively.

Let's explore how far your contribution can go to help us:

• Rehearsal spaces and creative development for current and future projects
• Legal advice and administrative costs to officially establish the company
• Covering petty cash and out-of-pocket expenses already invested in our debut production, 'Something Like Remembering'
• Website fees, hosting, and securing our own domain
• Seed funding for our next production, allowing us to continue creating bold, truthful work
• Essential production costs we may not yet know we need- but inevitably will.

Whether you donate, share our campaign, or simply follow our journey, your support helps make this work possible. You’re not just funding a project, you’re helping build a company, a community, and a space for brave, human storytelling.

WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED SO FAR AND WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE THIS YEAR?

Our FIRST show, 'Something Like Remembering', is our very first work-in-progress piece, created and performed as part of Fresh Fest in January 2026. It marks a huge milestone for us.

This play has been entirely devised as a company. Every voice contributed, every idea mattered, and the whole piece was built together from the ground up. We’re incredibly excited to share this work with an audience for the first time and to invite feedback that will help the show grow, evolve, and deepen.

It’s our first piece of work as a collective, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time. This is just a glimpse of what we’re capable of, and we can’t wait to get it out there and share it with you.

This is only the beginning.

What’s Next?

Big things are already in motion!

We’re heading into the year with momentum, lining up more performances and setting our sights on something even bigger.

We’re expanding into The Invited Unknown Lab. A creative playground where workshops, talks, and experimental performances collide. This is where science meets storytelling. We’ll be working with research into the subconscious, exploring how it shapes performance, presence, and process and applying it directly to Demidov's acting practice.

Alongside this, we’ll be running mindfulness workshops for communities and also workshops for young people entering the acting world and creative industries. It’s about expanding not just our performances, but our minds, our knowledge, and our understanding of the science behind the work we do and how it can benefit everyone around us.

CONNECTION IS KEY

 
We’re actively building relationships with directors, writers, and theatres to explore bold narratives, collaborative storytelling, and devised work. And with a strong team of filmmakers already within the company, our work doesn’t stop at the stage. It will move fluidly between theatre, film, and new creative forms.

This next chapter is about curiosity, collaboration, and pushing into the unknown- together.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ ABOUT US AND WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD FOR YOU TO YOU JOINING US ON THIS JOURNEY, 

LOVE ALL OF US AT INVITED UNKNOWN PRODUCTIONS...

AND BEFORE YOU GO...

We are a company of actors, writers and directors but we also have all taken on specific roles to ensure the company runs efficiently . Here's a little bit more about the team and our roles...

Chiara Lari – Actor, Executive Producer & Artistic Director 

Chiara Lari is an actor, producer, poet and filmmaker trained at the BRIT School and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her work is deeply visual and visceral, often rooted in ancestry and womanhood with a strong emotional core. Her credits span stage and screen, including the Twelfth Night (Young Vic), Innocent Means Not Guilty (Theatre Peckham) HEAT (Royal Court Theatre), FBI: International, and a supporting lead role in the upcoming indie film Fantastic. She made her debut short film Choir of Catharsis in 2025, which she co-directed, co-produced and edited.

Alexander Uzoka – Actor, Associate Artistic Director & Outreach/Partnerships Lead

Alexander Uzoka is a multilingual actor, writer and director whose practice bridges performance, movement and community. Trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he has toured internationally with Complicité on the award-winning Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. He is committed to working in collaborative spaces that centre lived experience and collective exploration.

 Salla Sihvonen – Actor, Producer

Salla is a London based actor from Helsinki, Finland, where she trained. She’s multilingual (English, Finnish, Swedish, German), which shapes her sensitivity to rhythm, timing, and how meaning presents itself. For her, acting is an exploration- allowing something to arrive, where uncertainty turns performance into creation.

Sophie Baker – Actor, Producer

Sophie is an artist of storytelling, passionate about exploring human behavior and existence across all storytelling formats. With over 10 years in theatre, film, and radio, she has performed Off-West End, on UK/Europe tours, and at Edinburgh Fringe, and has credits in award selected short films. She has worked in production, producing short films and working in Production most recently at Lucasfilm specifically editorial.

Jackson Hughes – Actor, Supervising Producer & Design Team

Jackson is a Kent/London-based actor from England, trained in Meisner and Demidov techniques. He brings a youthful, creative energy, drawing from diverse genres and disciplines. A multi-instrumentalist and singer, he also produces music and creates digital graphic artwork.

Rebecca Hyde –  Actor, Finance Lead

Becs is an actor and artist from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. She trained at RADA and then went on to train at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her credits include The Last One (Arcola Theatre), Call The Midwife (BBC), Death of England: Closing Time (Voiceover, National Theatre) as well as work with the Almeida, SOHO and Orange Tree theatres and companies such as Papatango.

Amar Singh – Actor, Finance Assistant 

Amar Singh is an actor working across stage and screen in the UK and internationally. Alongside his creative practice, he supports the company as Finance Assistant, assisting with budgeting, expense tracking and financial organisation.

Mitch Corrigan – Actor, Marketing Lead

Mitch Corrigan is an actor, writer/director and filmmaker with a strong interest in psychologically driven work and formally ambitious storytelling. He is drawn to material that interrogates power, intimacy and emotional inheritance, working across film and theatre, ultimately to explore the nature of being. Alongside this, he has a deep interest in kinetic action filmmaking and performance, and has taught screen combat at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His acting experience spans stage and screen, and his filmmaking work is award-winning.

Yazmin Kayani – Actor, Social Media & Marketing Lead

Yaz is an actor/writer from Manchester, who had a military career for 5 years before becoming an artist. She took her lived experience and trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (2019-2022) Since graduating her acting credits span across: The National (Dixon&Daughters), BBC, ITV, BFI & BBC Radio 4. Most recently she had a recurring role on Coronation Street. She is driven towards collaborating & producing her own work. She is particularly drawn to turning trauma based stories on their head through absurdism. ‘A Thousand Lives Productions’ is her company following this pursuit.

Evie Hargreaves – Actor, HR & Safeguarding + Outreach/Partnerships Assistant

Evie Hargreaves is an actor from Darwen, Lancashire.  Training: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, National Youth Theatre. Theatre credits include: Too Much World At Once (HOME Manchester and UK Tour); SCRUMPTIOUS! (Beggars Belief Collective tour); Clomping About, Box Of Tricks (Goofus), The Merchant Of Venice 1936 (West End and UK Tour)Television credits include: Vera (ITV); Virdee (BBC); Doctors (BBC). Radio and Audiobook Credits Include: Miss Nobody (Radio 4), SAGA (Radio 4), The Wonder Brothers (Audible), The Maid Of Lindal Hall (Audible), Rewitched (Audible), Uncharmed (Audible), Penance (ID Audio), The Extraordinary History of Witches (Penguin)

Ajani Cabey – Actor, General Support

Ajani is a London-based actor from Reading. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 2019-2022. His credits include Alex Rider S3, The Gathering (Channel 4), Pickney (short film), Hamnet (RSC/West End) and The Fence (2022). Upcoming projects include Hamnet US Tour and World On Fire (film).

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT US OR INVITED UNKNOWN PRODUCTIONS DO NOT HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH.

This project successfully funded on 13th April 2026