Dr Hongwei Bao is an academic, theatremaker and writer based in Nottingham. He is Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham. He researches queer cultures in Asia and the Asian diaspora. Trained as a cultural historian, Hongwei is the author of Contemporary Chinese Queer Performance (Routledge, 2022) and Queering the Asian Diaspora: East and Southeast Asian Sexuality, Identity and Cultural Politics (Sage, 2025). 

As a writer, Hongwei is the author of three poetry books on ESEA identity and migration experience: The Passion of the Rabbit God (Valley Press, 2024), Dream of the Orchid Pavilion (Big White Shed, 2024), and Self-Portrait as a Banana (Poetic Edge, 2025). Hongwei serves on the advisory board of New Nottingham Journal and is a regular book, film and theatre reviewer for Cha: An Asian Literary Journal.

As a playwright and theatremaker, Hongwei is a Fifth Word Playwright, Nottingham Playhouse Writers’ Room and New Earth Theatre-Birmingham Hippodrome theatremaker. Hongwei’s work was showcased at Nottingham Playhouse in 2025. 

As a cultural producer and community organiser, Hongwei has led Nottingham Chinese Independent Film Festival (2014), Queer Arts in the Pandemic Festival (2022), Queer Zine-Making Workshops (2023), ‘Drag Up!’ Performance Making Project (2023), ‘Queers Across the Waves’ Filmmaking Project (2024), ‘Poetics of Migration’ Poetry Project (2024), ‘Ode to Notts’ Poetry Project (2024), ‘Building an LGBTQIA+ Friendly Nottingham’ Community Arts Project (2025) and ‘A Poetic Response to Nottingham’s Literary Heritage’ Project (2025). Hongwei is a regular host of Queer East Festival at Broadway Cinema Nottingham, bringing queer ESEA films to the Midlands. Hongwei served as a Trustee for UK New Artists from 2021 to 2025.

Grace is a currently the Artist Development and Access Producer at The Lowry in Salford since 2019, and was previously Artist Development Coordinator at Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester from 2017-2019.

She is a highly skilled producer with over twenty years of experience having worked in Singapore’s national arts centre Esplanade Theatres by the Bay in 2004-2006; was part of the team from the National Youth Council that raised $10,000,000 SGD to build a 5-storey youth community hub called *SCAPE Co. Ltd in 2007-2009 as Head of Programmes and in 2014-2016 as Senior Manager for Programmes.

From 2010-2013 in Scotland, she worked in Dance Base Edinburgh, Audience Business, and Glasgow’s Cryptic Theatre delivering its sonic arts festival Sonica in an audience development and marketing capacity and has a record of accomplishment in artist development and multi-disciplinary programming and projects.

Grace is consistently excited by artists. As a leader, she has the emotional courage to be a relationship holder for artists: guiding them with creative provocations to realise what they want to make, and who they are, and to harness that energy.

She has a tremendous ability to turn an artist’s idea into a real, living project and bring partners on board to widen who access the work. Her quiet determination to create space and demonstrate care for underrepresented groups has had an impact on both The Lowry’s artist development strategy and the work of the wider programming team as well as her producing peers in the city.

Her specialism in Creative Access includes championing embedding access at the point of creation to create inclusive theatre enjoyed by everyone equally.

Richard Shannon is Head of Audio, Radio & Podcasting at Goldsmiths, University of London.

He was a founding director of Independent Radio Drama Productions and has produced major series for LBC radio in London and National Public Radio in the USA. His production of Vissi D’arte by Paul Sirett was commended at the Prix Italia and he has won a Silver Sony and several Gold and Silver awards for drama at the International Radio Festival of New York. He has directed the radio work of Martin McDonagh and Simon Beaufoy.

He is the producer of the award-winning podcast, Rainbow Dads and is a judge for the British Podcasting Awards, the Audible Audio Production Awards and the Writers’ Guild of GB Audio drama awards.

Richard is a published playwright and theatre director. His play The Lady of Burma premiered at the Old Vic theatre in London in 2006. In 2012, the Dukes theatre, Lancaster produced his play, Sabbat – the story of the Pendle witches.

His theatre work includes productions at the Young Vic Studio, the Bristol Old Vic studio and the Redgrave theatre. Richard has also worked as a producer on major public events, including the Royal Opening of St. Pancras International.

Yuko is currently the Head of Investor Relations at Tetragon Financial Group, a UK and Euronext listed investment company where she has worked since 2006. Prior to that, she was an executive director at Goldman Sachs International where she held senior roles in the Equities and Human Capital Management divisions. She has been a trustee of Emma Rice Company (fka Wise Children) since 2021, the Harvard Club of the United Kingdom since 2014 and served a three-year term for the Harvard University Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2022-2025. Originally from the United States, Yuko has lived in London since 1992. She and her family are avid supporters of the performing arts. 

Leo is an actor with a longstanding relationship with New Earth Theatre, having appeared in three of the company's productions and has served as a trustee since 2023. He also co-founded Rising Waves, a scheme that offers free mentorship, workshops and collaborative events for BESEA talent in the arts and media industries.

His theatre credits include: The Great Wave (National Theatre); The Mirror and the Light, As You Like It, Taming of the Shrew (Royal Shakespeare Company); Chariots of Fire, Rock/Paper/Scissors, The Good Person of Szechwan (Sheffield Theatres); Macbeth (English Touring Theatre); and Miss Julie, Forgotten, Tamburlaine (New Earth Theatre). For television, he has appeared in Bridgerton (Netflix) and Crashing (Channel 4). He has appeared in over 20 BBC radio productions and was a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, as well as a winner of the Norman Beaton Fellowship.

He formerly served on the boards of Northern Broadsides and Inc Arts, as well as the advisory committees of Brixton House and the Anti-Racism Touring Rider. He was elected and served a term on Equity's Race Equality Committee (2021-23).

He has been an active arts campaigner, having previously lobbied with Freelancers Make Theatre Work, the Freelance Task Force and the Public Campaign for the Arts.