Who We Are
Dr Tommy Dickinson
Chief Executive/Mental Health Consultant
Tommy has over 20 years’ experience working within mental health services.
He initially graduated as a Registered Nurse and worked in clinical practice across the UK and Australia in a range of settings, where he took up various nursing and leadership roles. In 2006, he moved into academia and has held lectureships at the University of Central Lancashire, University of Chester and University of Manchester before commencing at King’s College London, where he is a Senior Lecturer.
He has undertaken numerous consultancies: Tommy was a Historical Advisor and Script Consultant to documentary drama "Britain's Greatest Code Breaker" (2011) and the documentary "Undercover Doctor: Cure Me, I'm Gay" (2014) with Dr Christian Jessen. Both consultancies were for Channel 4.
He has advised on the redevelopment of the Medical Galleries at the Science Museum, London (2013), The Manchester Museum's "Alan Turing and Life's Enigma: Exhibition" (2012) and has even been interviewed on BBC Breakfast! He has written for "Gay Times" magazine and has published in various academic journals. His award winning book “Curing Queers” was released in January 2015 and is available through Amazon, here.
Craig Hanlon-Smith
Artistic Director/Writer
Craig Hanlon-Smith has performed extensively in Fringe Theatre, including writing, producing and performing work at both The Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals with Continuum Productions.
He has during the past fifteen years taught a wide range of theatre skills in both Further and Higher Education across London and the South East, including directing student work at The Academy of Creative Training in Brighton.
Craig has written a monthly column for Brighton based GScene magazine for more than ten years in support of and sometimes challenging the LGBT community, and is a regular commentator on BBC Radio Sussex.
He is delighted to be working with Mad ‘Ed Theatre on two projects: 'Butterflies' and 'My Brothers and Sisters', alongside working on his own project '28 Days Clear'.
Darren Luke Mawdsley
Artistic Director/Director
With experience in the arts spanning 25 years, Darren is an experienced actor, director and teacher. He has taught extensively in territory education and training - in formal and participatory contexts - and currently lecturers at City of Westminster College, where he is also an Advanced Practitioner alongside being an experienced LAMDA teacher.
As well as being artistic director at Mad ‘Ed Theatre, Darren has been at the helm of Guide Bridge Theatre, and JuJu Theatre and Youth Theatre. He is an experienced standards verifier and examiner, as well as a theatre reviewer and critic, writing for both online and printed publications.
He has directed work which has played at the John Prescott Theatre, Forum Theatre, Axis Arts Centre, Whitby Studio, Zion Arts Centre, Ellesmere Port Civic Hall, Guide Bridge Theatre, Sarah Siddons Theatre, Soho Theatre (Upstairs), Etcetera Theatre, John Thaw Studio and Contact. He has an interest in theatre for young people and educational purposes and has co-authored several academic articles relating to these themes.