Michelle Barrington

Co-Founder & artistic Director

Michelle has a BA Honours Degree in Creative Performance (Acting). Throughout her studies, she embraced the variety of skills offered and excelled in performance, directing, devising, production as well as completing her degree by producing and performing a show for Brighton Fringe Festival. Whilst training Michelle directed ‘Punk Rock’ and ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ both by Simon Stephens.
Her performance credits during her studies include; Nina in ‘The Seagull’, Marie in ‘The Woyzeck Project’, Amy in ‘San Diego’ and Annie in ‘Sleeping Around’.

With her love of directing, producing and performing whilst training; Michelle wanted to continue making her own work post training. As a friendship and combined work ethic grew with Eleanore during their training together, they came to the decision to join forces, and so Blown Fuse Theatre was born.

Michelle directed Blown Fuse’s production of 'Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons' by Sam Steiner, which was performed at the Clifftown Theatre (Southend) and the Hen & Chickens Theatre (Islington) in 2017. 

After co-devising the piece that came to be known as 'TAPE', she portrayed 'Left' in the regional tour, playing at The Hen & Chickens Theatre, The Clifftown Theatre and The Warren Venue at Brighton Fringe Festival.

Eleanore Frances

Co-Founder & artistic Director

Eleanore is an actor, producer, director and vocalist with a BA (Hons) in Creative Performance (Acting). Her stage credits include: Athena in Woven The Musical (Nine Muses Theatre Co.), Woman 2 in Songs for a New World (Quite Good Theatre), Hamlet in Hamlet in Pieces (Dixon Studio) and Sylvia Plath in Becoming Esther at Brighton Fringe Festival. She has also trained with Scott Williams (The Impulse Company) in The Meisner Technique.

Eleanore is passionate about her creative and professional growth, and is pursuing training in writing for theatre and development in dramaturgy. She is driven in her mission to diversify the arts and is focussed on creative inspiration and inclusivity for all.

Alongside her development of theatre projects, Eleanore's work also involves facilitating arts and culture in the community, and she is a Director and regular collaborator of Elevator Arts CIC, a community company that delivers transformative and life-enhancing arts projects for children and young people.

Previously, Eleanore was Project Manager for the Community Programme at the Royal Opera House, overseeing the development of the Royal Opera House Thurrock Community Chorus and the ROH Thurrock Volunteer Programme.

kate austen
writer in residence

A trained actor, Kate has been working in the industry for over ten years and has been fortunate enough to have worked in many types of theatre in that time, including touring, outdoor, T.I.E and the Edinburgh Fringe, to name a few. Her play was a self-verbatim piece entitled Find Me. It was workshopped with actors and later staged at The Vaults, Waterloo. 

In 2020, Kate was accepted into the prestigious John Burgess Playwriting Group. Whilst on the course she gained experience of writing for radio, mosaic structure plus many other writing skills.

In 2021 she was commissioned by the Minack Theatre, Cornwall to write a site-specific play for their youth theatre. 

Kate is currently a Mercury playwright 2023/24 writing a play about the eviction of Dale Farm.

Sadie Davidson
Poet In Residence

Sadie Davidson is a multi-award winning slam poetry performer and writer. She has published two poetry collections and has lived experience of homelessness, poverty, domestic abuse, substance misuse and the criminal justice system.

She channels these experiences into both writing and into facilitating creative writing workshops to benefit others in similar circumstances. She has worked in schools, recovery centres, with at-risk teens, young carers and many others.

She is a big fan of Terry Practchett, has two children, and spends a lot of her time talking.

Alison Garner
Associate Artist

Ali is a creative producer, theatre maker & director of Elevator Arts CIC. Through imagination, play, and intervention, her work breaks boundaries - making the everyday extraordinary.

Ali’s background is in creating inclusive, accessible and collaborative theatre and visual art outside of the usual confines of traditional institutions. She has a particular interest in site-specific, immersive performance. 

Ali's past work includes roles as Artistic Director of Left Luggage Theatre & First Floor Theatre with Rachael Young and has worked working with companies such as Punchdrunk, Wildworks and in creative learning at New Wimbledon Theatre (ATG).

In 2020 Alison established Elevator Arts, a CIC devoted to delivering life enhancing, transformative & empowering arts projects with young people in Southend & South Essex.