Meet our Stage Door 10 Trainees and Partners!
A look back at Stage Door 10, Good Chance's paid traineeship programme placing ten artists from refugee and displaced backgrounds at leading UK theatre organisations, and what happened when the arts sector threw open its doors.
Until 2020, Taras’ life was the opera house. Sets, costumes, stage lighting, the hush of a full auditorium a second before the show begins. Then came COVID, then Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Seeking safety in the UK, suddenly finding a school for his daughter and work to support his family took over everything.
“The Opera stage, and the world behind it, seemed to belong to a different life. I would never have tried to return to my profession here if it hadn’t been for Good Chance.”
Taras spent his Stage Door traineeship at Garsington Opera. On one of his first days, the orchestra finished tuning and the stage lights came up: "I suddenly felt at home," he said. "It seemed that everyone around me were old friends I had been working with for years. It felt rather like a gift. A marvellous return to a familiar and beloved world."
Our 2025 programme Stage Door 10, marking Good Chance’s 10th Birthday, placed 10 artists with lived experience of displacement in paid creative traineeships with leading arts organisations across the UK.
Our Stage Door 10 cohort included: Soria at Jermyn Street Theatre (Trainee Assistant Director), Taras at Garsington Opera (Show Technician), Yalda at Chichester Festival Theatre (Youth and Outreach Trainee), Penny at Bradford Producing Hub (Assistant Producer Trainee), Suat at Norwich Theatre (Trainee Facilitator), Vin at Royal Lyceum Edinburgh (Costume Trainee), Mahshid at Common/Wealth Theatre (Assistant Producer Trainee), Kayvan at Nimax Theatres (Theatre Operations Trainee), Olena at Oxford Playhouse (Trainee Costume Assistant) and Margaret at Theatre Royal Plymouth (Early Years Theatre Trainee).
Suat performing in Three Migrant Women, a physical theatre show devised in the workshops he helped to facilitate at Norwich Theatre, and which has since embarked on a tour to Theatre503 in London, Nottingham Playhouse, Lichfield Garrick and Norwich Theatre Stage Two. Images © @richardjarmy
Yalda in action, directing her shadow puppetry project Her Voice, Her Stage at Chichester Festival Theatre as part of her Stage Door traineeship.
Taras (pictured on the bicycle!) and fellow crew at Garsington Opera on the set of their 2025 production of Elisir.
Alongside their placements, Trainees came together for cohort sessions with guest speakers including Good Chance Ensemble artists Elham Ehsas and Connie Treves, and each accessed a professional development fund to invest in their practice in whatever way that felt personally most impactful. Wellbeing support was a huge part of Good Chance’s involvement in the programme, with our Deputy Artistic Director Elias Matar, a trained and trauma-informed drama therapist, holding one-to-one sessions with every Trainee throughout.
What our Trainees said
"Being a migrant can be lonely, but the traineeship felt hopeful."
"A childhood dream come true."
"It gives me motive and a passion about what I want to do in the UK. It brought light and happiness."
“Being accepted onto the programme restored a sense of optimism and confidence in me. In recent years, I had often received rejections, so receiving a “yes” - especially from respected creative professionals - meant a great deal. It reminded me that my experience and creative identity still have value, even as someone rebuilding a life in a new country. The experience strengthened my belief that I can continue to grow and contribute meaningfully within the UK arts sector.”
Throughout they described a feeling of belonging, of being seen as artists and contributors, rather than defined by their lived experience:
"I genuinely felt part of the organisation [...] II never felt treated differently because of my background."
“I felt very safe and comfortable”
Suat, who trained at Norwich Theatre and went on to facilitate workshops for and perform in a tour of Three Migrant Women, a physical theatre show, said: "What you are doing is very useful, very special. Your existence is truly inspiring to many people. I hope one day to have made enough space for myself to make space for others."
What our Partners said
Partner organisations do way more than host a Trainee: they share their own expertise and insights and reflect on how they recruit, who they're reaching, what their organisations look like from the outside and how they feel on the inside too.
Oxford Playhouse described the experience as "truly transformative," saying it gave them "the confidence and inspiration to support a wider range of applicants to other areas of employment and volunteering opportunities." Bradford Producing Hub said it sparked new conversations with organisations including City of Sanctuary, and led them to re-examine the accessibility of their communications so they can “open up more routes into the arts and cultural sector”. Royal Lyceum Edinburgh said it gave them "cause to stop and think about how we recruit staff and where we might find the next generation of talented theatre makers and craftspeople."
By the end of the programme, every single partner organisation said they would be open to hosting again:
"We wouldn't have been able to deliver this successfully without Good Chance."
"Support feels part of Good Chance's DNA."
These are exactly the kind of partnerships we dream of building across the whole arts sector.
Reflecting Together
In February 2026 we brought all the Stage Door Trainees and their Line Managers together at the National Theatre for a day of reflection, conversation, and celebration. There was a panel discussion with the NT team, a backstage tour and tickets to see Ballet Shoes in the Olivier Theatre.
A few themes that came up in our creative evaluation sessions (one for the Trainees and one for Line Managers) were: hopefulness, connection, a childhood dream. One Trainee summed Stage Door up simply: "It brought light and happiness."
What’s next?
Stage Door 10 marked ten years since Good Chance began in the Calais Jungle, and it's part of something that's keeps growing. Our commitment is to open up the theatre industry for artists from refugee and displaced backgrounds, not just for the people in this cohort, but on a systemic level. We're working on Stage Door 11 in 2026/27, with the goal of offering one more placement each year for as long as we're able. You can find out more on our Stage Door page.
We have also kept in touch and are thrilled to share what a few of our Trainees have been up to since:
Taras has continued working with Garsington Opera as a freelance Technician, and Kavyan has also continued his role at Nimax Theatres:
"I always felt like part of the family, which is a miracle, to be honest with you. The Stage Door program has been a fantastic opportunity for me to find the job that I like, to find the job that I love, actually. I have been able to continue my role with Nimax, gaining more experience so I can later on apply to be the full time supervisor, which that's what I'm aiming for." - Kavyan (pictured here alongside his Stage Door 10 Line Managers!)
Mahshid was the project leader and director of Of Course, Flowers!, an outdoor performance created as part of the Routing/Re:rooting project with Mafwa Theatre and University of Leeds. Working alongside professional artists and members of Kuluhenna Drama, she led the development of a shared movement language shaped by memory, migration and the cultural traditions of women from across the world now living in Leeds. Mahshid also recently developed her new show Torang, which she performed at Camden People’s Theatre with the support of Arts Council England, and is a cast member in Amy Golding's new production, SHUSH.
“The experience has also opened doors to new opportunities, and what makes it even more special is knowing that Good Chance Theatre's support doesn't stop when the placement ends. Their ongoing encouragement and belief in the people they work with has made me feel genuinely supported as I continue my journey in theatre.” - Mahshid
Yalda is currently working as an Assistant Practitioner in workshops at Chichester Festival Theatre. Alongside this, she works as a freelance artist, currently developing upcoming art exhibitions and writing a play. She continues to build on the skills and experience gained during her time with us, bringing her creativity and passion into new and exciting projects across theatre and the arts.
Margaret has since been developing her photography client base and has continued writing the screenplay for her short film, and a play too. She’s been attending writers’ meetings in Plymouth to get to know the local writing community, with the hopes of finding future collaborators. She has also been working on an acting course for Ukrainian young people in Plymouth, which she hopes to launch at the start of the 2026 school year.
