Bianca Mastrominico is a performance maker, author/director and scholar currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Born in Naples (Italy) she received her first apprenticeship in her theatre family through the artistic work of her parents, Pina Cipriani and Franco Nico, alongside studying for a degree in Letters and Philosophy. In 2002 Bianca founded Organic Theatre with actor John Dean, a cross-cultural performance laboratory rooted in ongoing training and research for innovative practice and pedagogy. Bianca is currently Programme Leader for MA Digital Performance and BA(Hons) Performance at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, where she also teaches Theatre Anthropology as well as Theatre Laboratory and Devising Practices. She is a member of the Centre of Communication, Cultural and Media Studies and is an active member of the Practice Research Cluster: Finding and Understanding Creative Knowledge. Bianca has published for The Open Page, Journal of Theatre Anthropology, Total Theatre Magazine, New Theatre Quarterly, International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, and Body, Space and Technology, amongst others.
John Dean is an actor and performance maker, who co-founded Organic Theatre with Bianca in 2002. He had his initial classical theatre training in London and worked for many theatres and companies in the UK, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre Studio and Shakespeare’s Globe, whilst pursuing further training with the Gardzienice Theatre Association in Poland, which led him to learn with Odin Teatret in Denmark, Milon Mela in India, and Keith Johnstone in Canada, amongst others. He is currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland where he works at Queen Margaret University alongside Bianca, teaching and leading the Performing Arts team. He is a member of the Centre of Communication, Cultural and Media Studies and is actively involved in the Practice Research Cluster: Finding and Understanding Creative Knowledge, where he also develops practice research projects based on Organic Theatre’s creative work.