"Our work is human first'
GymJam are a theatrical ensemble based in the South East of England.
We create highly physical, visual and collaborative theatre, on urgent current events.
We seek to amplify under-served community voices.
COLLABORATION
We invite and engage in unorthodox collaborations to fuse unseen connections and spark new ideas. We actively look for collaborators outside of the theatre industry. Interested? Connect with us.
WORKSHOPS
We host regular and affordable movement and creativity workshops to provoke creative professionals and emerging artistic minds.
COMMUNITY AND COMMUNICATION
We facilitate playful and inclusive spaces with communities to hear them, to ignite their stories and to cultivate change.
We help communities to grow and nurture their own ensembles.
We want them to be unafraid to challenge the way things are and how people engage with the arts.
ETHOS
Our work is human first. We believe in responding to current social needs within our team and work.
Our Team
Photo by Stephanie Claire Photography
Gavin is a neurodivergent theatre-maker, performer and practitioner for acclaimed physical theatre company Frantic Assembly. He holds an MA in Collaborative Theatre Making (Coventry University, in association with Frantic Assembly) and a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Theatre (East 15). Performing credits include: The Great (Netflix) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Action to the Word, Latitude Festival) The Last Women (Belgrade Theatre) MySpace (Nightingale Theatre, Kirsty Housley).
For Frantic, he has delivered international residencies, advanced training programs and co-directed the company’s flagship outreach project Ignition in 2019. He has also performed with the company as part of their anniversary celebrations Frantic25 at The National Theatre Riverstage.
Photo by - Bar Groisman
Co-Artistic Director
Gavin Maxwell
Co-Artistic Director
William Townsend
William Townsend is a Theatre-Maker and Performer. The appreciation of 'the whole' is key to his work.
He created ANTHROPOCENE in 2019 with the ensemble and recreated it with GymJam in 2020/21, adapting it for film and interactive play.
William is currently an ensemble member of Babel. He previously toured internationally in Norway, Australia and the UK with Undercover Theatre’s clown show, 'Undercover Refugee'. William assisted the outreach programme at Fourth Monkey for four years, visiting UK & international educational/artistic institutions with physical theatre and clown based workshops.
He is currently devising with Babel Theatre on their project ‘The Fall’ alongside running GymJam.
Photo by - Barley Nimmo
Risha Silvera is an actor and physical theatre artist based in the southeast of England. She graduated from Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company in 2019 and, before that, from UEA with a degree in American and English Literature.
Risha’s recent and ongoing adventures include touring Cornwall with Miracle Theatre’s outdoor show ‘Starcrazy’ in summer 2021, interactive short film ‘Anthropocene: The Human Era’ with GymJam, and working on numerous fringe and regional stage projects, including with dance theatre company State of Flux in ‘(don’t) touch me’ at the Leicester CURVE.
Later this year, Risha will appear in BBC’s ‘This is Going to Hurt’, and looks forward as ever to expanding the community of artists around her, devising and collaborating on more work, and exploring her own storytelling through movement and poetry.
Favourite BREAD: FRENCH BAGUETTE.
Associate Artist
Risha Silvera
Bar Groisman is a dancer, choreographer, writer and founder of company Sababa Co. a young contemporary dance theatre company working with emerging artists. Creating physical and theatrical dance works that push the boundaries between movement, words, music and props. Sharing the struggles of everyday life, presenting to the audience urgent topics in a physical form.
During her training and since her graduation from Northern School of Contemporary Dance, she has also been involved in works by Protein Dance, Ruby Portus, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sharon Watson, João Cidade and others, alongside her own. She has presented her work at the Resolution Festival, The Place, London, Leeds and Cambridge venues, and recently took her work to Lund, Sweden in summer 2020.
She is currently a Dance Company member at the Jerwood DanceHouse, DanceEast, Ipswich, and has continued to create autobiographical work during this time.
Favourite BREAD: White Sourdough with olives and sun dried tomatoes.
https://www.sababacompany.co.uk
Photo by - Patrik Palm
Associate Artist
Bar Groisman
Michael is the artistic director of physical theatre and mime company Project Lockout, and Associate Filmmaker of Frantic Assembly. Having trained BA Physical Theatre at East 15 Acting School, Michael has developed his craft as an artist within cinematography and directing ensemble choreography. Motivated by the shared medium of theatre and film, Michael has directed both theatre (The Maniac Complex, VAULT Festival 2022) and art films (Moving Together by Justice In Motion 2020) including narrative shorts merging theatrical physicality and film (A Creativity Decanter 2020-2021).
Michael has worked as a director and/or filmmaker on numerous digital projects including Frantic Assembly’s Ignition campaign, GymJam’s interactive play Anthropocene and Justice in Motion’s Moving Together project, developing thirty dance gifts and a short film from verbatim narrative and dance.
He is also currently performing in Justice In Motion’s outdoor touring parkour-theatre show On Edge.
Michael continues to develop art for both live and digital mediums.
Favourite BREAD: ALL THE BREADS
Associate Artist
Michael Lynch
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Hannah Moss
"Literally couldn't recommend
GymJam's movement, sweat, devising, amazing, good for the soul, clowny, bloody lovely workshops more, they are SO ACE"
Sophie Kelly
"Such a great workshop! Still buzzing from it! I was physically and mentally engaged throughout. The day let me open up my creative thinking and allowed me to work with some great artists
**Highly Recomend**
Kim Wright
An energising Power-up & Play session was just the start to the week that was needed!