Nola Rae

Originally hoping to become a dancer, at 16 she began training at the Royal Ballet School in London and then danced professionally at Malmö Stadsteater and Tivoli Garden's Pantomime Theatre in Copenhagen.

Nola and Joseph Seelig were the original instigators of the London International Mime Festival, which is held in January each year, and has been running since 1977.

In 1990, Rae radically changed her style and began to present full length comic dramas where one wordless character is developed over an evening.

Directed by Carlos Trafic, from Argentina, And the Ship Sailed On explored the clash of two women of different cultures who are forced to share a small cabin on a nightmarish voyage of immigration.

She began with The House of Bernarda Alba by Garcia Lorca, performed by the Swedish all-women clown group Teater Manjaña.

Her directing work in Norway includes Doña Quixote by Coby Omvlee and Ibsen's The Wild Duck for the Oslo Nye Teater.

They include a BBC Playhouse Special After You Hugo, where she played a French dancer who impersonates the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in variety theatre.