Habibti Driver

Shamia Chalabi is a London-based writer and actress working in theatre and TV. Her semi-autobiographical play, Burkas and Bacon Butties, based on some of her personal experiences growing up in London and Wigan, was first performed at part of the 2018 VAULT Festival, London. It was later developed as a new play, Habibti Driver, premiered at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, in 2022. Sarah Henley originally trained in law and then as a performer at the London School of Musical Theatre. She was Writer's Assistant to Jeffrey Lane (Tony Award-winner) on the West End production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and was listed on the BBC New Talent Hotlist in 2017. Her play for Delirium Theatre, From Where I'm Standing, received five-star reviews and The Stage's 'Must See' badge in Edinburgh. Writing credits include Getting Out, Getting Away, After the Turn, Cinderella, From Where I'm Standing, Streets (Offie nomination for Best New Musical and Most Promising Playwright), Another Way (Offie nomination for Best New Musical), and Muted (Offie nomination for Best New Musical). She co-wrote Burkas and Bacon Butties with Shamia Chalabi (VAULT Festival, London, 2018), later developed as a new play, Habibti Driver (Octagon Theatre, Bolton, 2022).