The RABBLE

After raising a family,  Ania returned to the accountancy profession (formerly she was a Chartered Accountant at Grant Thornton) and when offered the opportunity to join RABBLE as their bookkeeper in late 2019, Ania was delighted to join the team.

Ania is an avid theatre-goer and has attended all of RABBLE’s productions since moving to Reading and has enjoyed learning about Reading’s rich history in such an entertaining way, with the performances taking place in some of Reading’s amazing spaces.

Over the years, Ania has held a number of voluntary positions, often accountancy related. Currently, she is involved with Friends of Caversham Court Gardens and Reading Amateur Regatta as well as some of the local environmental groups.

Ania feels it is very important to support such groups who do so much valuable work in our community.

Ania’s other great loves are playing tennis and travelling.

Dani was painfully shy as a child and spent her school life masking ADHD. She struggled at school, falling into the ‘good-at-art-and-not-much-else’ category. Girls with ADHD in the 80s were basically classed as ditsy-unorganised-dreamers, and Dani more than lived up to expectations, drifting through GCSEs in a daydream of late homework assignments and last-minute revision cramming. But teenage Dani was passionate about two things: Romeo and Juliet and Grease the Musical.

Born in Spain to a Mexican father and Irish mother, Dani grew up in Woodley, where her Mum worked in the local supermarket to make enough money to pay for her to ‘get some confidence’ by attending a local am-dram company. Little did Mum know that the decision to plunge her daughter into the world of theatre would irreparably alter the direction of her life. After starring in Annie as Orphan Number 23 alongside Kate Winslet (Miss Hannigan), Dani well and truly had the theatre bug.

Upon leaving school, she went to the prestigious Arts Educational School of Musical Theatre, then toured the UK with numerous Number 1 musicals until finally, she began to consider whether Musical Theatre was where her real passion lay. Her parents thought she was going to see sense and get a real job… but instead, she went back into education to study her other love, Shakespeare, at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After touring the UK playing lots of lovely Shakespeare roles and starring in some pretty dubious pub theatre, Dani conceded that she was too old to play Juliet. It was then that she began to ponder the question, ‘Why does Reading not have a large-scale professional theatre company?’… Fast forward ten years or so, and RABBLE Theatre is now a gem in the cultural life of Reading.

As RABBLE’s Artistic Director, Dani is passionate about giving creative opportunities to underrepresented communities, particularly neurodivergent young people who struggle to engage with the school system. She is particularly proud of RABBLE’s paid internship scheme that offers a pipeline into the creative industries for neurodivergent young people.

Dani has produced, directed, written and acted in over a hundred productions for RABBLE, is a qualified fight and intimacy director and has an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University. She has taught thousands of young people, worked with hundreds of community partners, and given birth twice to three children (work it out).

Dani wants her little ninjas to grow up in a world where everyone is treated with respect and equality, where we can all experience the thrill of live theatre and where it’s not weird for a forty-something-year-old woman to play Juliet.

Photo © One Life Studio 2023

Emma first met RABBLE back in 2012 whilst working at BBC Radio Berkshire. An instant fan, she supported the company first as a member of the audience and then regularly volunteered to help front of house and on the in-house bar.

In 2017 Emma joined the team as front of house manager and since then has taken on a variety of roles including coordinator of our wonderful team of volunteers, bar manager, production manager and box office manager.

She brings with her 10 years experience working in live events with The Big Chill Festival, 18 years honing her organisational skills at the BBC, a love of working with audiences and is passionate about helping people access theatre.

In 2020 Emma left her scheduling role at the BBC to join RABBLE full time as General Manager.

Born and bred in Reading, Hannah attended Maiden Erlegh School, going on to study English and Drama at Royal Holloway before embarking on her Broadcasting journey at the University of Leeds where she honed her skills and passion for the industry.

Hannah enjoyed a fulfilling career in Television production for many years predominantly at the BBC. She gained a wealth of experience working across a range of programming including French and Saunders, CBBC and Panorama.

After taking a few years out to be a full time child tamer to her two amazing daughters, Hannah’s deep rooted love for the theatre meant she couldn’t resist joining the RABBLE back in 2022. Her pride in her home town and dedicated commitment to ensuring equal access to the arts for all has allowed her to thrive in her role as Head of Education.

Toby is committed to helping RABBLE create world-class theatre that builds community pride and incites a reaction.

Inspired by his mother, a single parent with Multiple Sclerosis, Toby enjoys working for equal opportunity and representation in the arts.

After a bursary education at Christ’s Hospital School, Toby attended St Andrews University to study English Literature. He acted in 32 productions in 4 years, including plays at the Edinburgh Fringe and Kenya’s National Theatre, winning the ‘Contributions to Theatre’ award. He then went on to train at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2008.

As an actor, Toby’s credits include The Mousetrap (West End), Hampstead Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal, Tobacco Factory, both The Hexagon and South Street, and UK Tours.

In 2012, with his wife Dani, Toby committed to developing a local theatre company based on education and local pride for the diverse community of Reading, which, at the time, was labelled a high-priority town by the Government.

The awards and national recognition of RABBLE’s impact on the cultural status of Reading, now recognised as one of the most desirable places to live in the UK, give our co-founder the confidence to take the company’s ethos forward.

Toby was a board member of Theatre & Arts Reading, playing a pivotal part in the campaign for Reading Gaol to be transformed into an arts centre for over 10 years. He is also on the Education Sub-Committee of The Worshipful Company of Grocers.

Away from theatre, he cooks, enjoys rugby, running (usually for RABBLE) and the outdoors.