Ludovica Brocchi is a curious and enthusiastic 25 year old from Pisa, Italy. She has always been interested in what being human means and in the vision that all art can emerge from human life. With this perspective, her theatre skills come from attending drama workshops for young people in her city for 14 years. She has also participated in the intensive acting international workshop for "Prima del Teatro" -- European School of the Art of the Actor in the summer of 2015.

Since then, she has graduated in Philosophy and, later, she got a Master's Degree in philosophical science with a thesis in Performative Anthropology at the University of Padova.

Ludovica is in Ireland as part of our European Solidarity Corps  prgramme, and she is excited to grow as an educator and as a workshop acting facilitator for the youth theatre.

All of our volunteers, including Ludovica can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Dario Rapiti, 22 years old is from Rome, Italy.

Dario has studied Statistics and Economics as well as acting. He graduated a few months before coming to Ireland as one of our European Solidarity Corps volunteers. In the last few years, Dario has had many experiences in the fields of youth activism and youth representation. He is interested in youth work, informal education, and in European projects and opportunities.

Dario describes himself as curious and easygoing and will be co-facilitating some of our workshops and participating in plays.

All of our volunteers, including Dario can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Adam Abu Rok is from Gaza, Palestine. He has a degree in Project Management, Project Coordination and Facilitation. He leads a team of youth volunteers in Gaza, where they work through drama and theater to address the effects of war on the mental health of young people and children. He is also a climate activist. 

Adam applied to join us through the European Union's European Solidarity Corps programme. He has been very excited to join us from the moment he first got in touch. He is looking forward to a rich experience where he will get to go deeper into the world of drama and theater, and where he will work closely with the youth and volunteers in the Kildare Youth Theatre family. He hopes to share this experience with the youth in Palestine after the end of the project period.

Adam's volunteering will be around theater management, facilitation, creating workshops and participating in plays throughout the 2021-22 season. 

All of our volunteers, including Adam can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Polina was born in a small Russian town, where she for the first time fell in love with acting and music. She then moved to Saint Petersburg to study political science but also became a member of her university student theatre. She was an actress for four years, performing in many plays. Moreover, for the last two years she was chosen to be the director of the theatre and the head of that studio. There she worked with young people aged 18-22, who were interested in theatre.

She also works online as an English language tutor, helping Russian kids and teenagers improve their skills in English.

This year Polina will be volunteering as a facilitator and an actress in the Kildare Youth Theatre.

All of our volunteers, including Polina can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Ola Al Mamlouk is a passionate, curious 26 year old from Damascus, Syria. She believes in art and its impact, and her greatest concern is human beings and humanity.

Since 2016 she has been engaging herself in social activities, many Initiatives and projects with NGOs including those of all ages. She also managed to create an interactive theatre team that makes plays to discuss many social manners. Ola is also engaged in many art and film projects as an assistant director, and she has participated in many training and workshops in areas such as the film industry, script writing, editing, acting.

During the months she will spend with us, Ola will be helping in facilitating drama workshops and with producing some of our film content. She is really excited to explore more cultures, work and share her experience with Irish people and people from different backgrounds.

All of our volunteers, including Ola can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Esperanza is a 23 year old actress from Spain. She graduated from the School of Dramatic Art in Sevilla (E.S.A.D) and has done acting workshops both in Sevilla and in Madrid aswell as in many different theatre plays.  Esperanza has also worked for more than 5 years with kids aged 4-15 as a teacher in many fields (drama, English, and tennis coaching). She has also done a few dancing workshops, as it's one of her hobbies.

She discovered Kildare Youth Theatre during her last year of university thanks to the Erasmus+ programme and since she's always loved to travel and to discover new cultures she wanted to be a part of this project.

All of our volunteers, including Esperanza can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Carmen Ortiz Victorino was born in Seville, Spain. At the age of thirteen she became interested in acting when she was offered to take classes in a theater workshop. In this Company she discovered that it was possible to have a regulated training in Dramatic Art, so she was quick to study at the E.S.A.D. of Seville. 

At the same time, Carmen dedicates herself to writing plays and directs several shows at her school. As part of her studies offered by the school, she decided to begin at the same time her training in acting in front of the camera at the Laboratorio de Interpretación de Sebastián Haro. Simultaneously, Carmen made several short films and a medium-length film for the E.U.S.A., where she gained experience acting in film shoots.

Carmen will be using these skills during her time at Kildare Youth Theatre as part of our 2022-23 season of volunteers.

All of our volunteers, including Carmen can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Pavel Mikhailov is our ESC volunteer from Moscow, Russia. He is 24 years old, and has recently obtained a master’s degree in Linguistics and his field of studies is language policy within multicultural societies. His Bachelor’s Degree is also linguistics, but it is mostly connected with the theory and technology of teaching foreign languages and cultures that gives him a capability of working with children of all ages.

Besides studying, Pavel has always been interested in acting and theater-making. In his childhood he studied at the theatre school where he was taught acting, oratory and directing skills. He also had a great chance of participating in different plays and theatre workshops.

One of Pavel's dreams is to successfully integrate theatre techniques into the teaching of languages and cultures in an educational environment. 

Like all of our volunteers, Pavel can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie. 

Bilal, 21 years old is from Baku, Azerbaijan. He got his first degree in Petroleum Engineering at French-Azerbaijani University. Throughout his senior year, he participated in short-term theater programs and workshops where he took up acting and contemporary dance classes and was involved in several independent local theaters. He graduated a few months before coming to Ireland as one of our European Solidarity Corps volunteers. 

Bilal has participated in several contemporary plays and collaborated with different local artists on various projects. He was invited to France to present his original mono performance to the French public at the Emergence Festival in the summer of 2022. Bilal aspires to be a professional actor and is aiming to receive academic education as an actor.

Like all of our volunteers, Bilal can be contacted at volunteers [at] crookedhouse [dot] ie.