From HfC Scratch Night
to the National Theatre Stage

Chons da / Good luck to Aisha Naamani as she takes to the National Theatre stage tonight for the national press night of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.  

A Cornwall-based artist on one of the capital’s most iconic stages, sharing the spotlight with Lesley Manville and (yes, Poldark himself) Aidan Turner. This is what HfC’s Husa artist support programme is all about.Aisha Naamani performing on the Cornwall Playhouse stage. © Sean Hurlock.

Meet Aisha

Aisha, a professional dancer who relocated to Cornwall in 2024, joined our Husa community, crafting a fiercely human dance piece and performing it as part of our Made in Cornwall Scratch Nights. The piece - No Idea What I’m Doing - explores the liberation, and loneliness, that comes with leaving your twenties behind. 

Arriving in a new place as an artist can be daunting, but she describes the Cornish artistic community as: 

“Completely sweeping me up into their arms… I feel so much gratitude to be living here. It’s a hard graft… but it doesn’t feel lonely. I feel bound together with like-minded people. Artists here are so generous.”

- Aisha Naamani

What’s a Scratch Night?   

An ongoing partnership project between HfC, Miracle Theatre, Carn to Cove, IntoBodmin, AMATA and Impossible Producing, Scratch Nights offer a safe and curious space for artists to test new ideas with an audience, sharing a short extract of a rough performance and receiving feedback. They’re relaxed, intimate, and collaborative: part underground cabaret, part creative laboratory. For many emerging artists, including Aisha, they’re a meaningful first step into Cornwall’s creative ecosystem.  

Aisha credits Scratch Night as a turning point in her work: 

“It was so well curated… [No Idea What I’m Doing] wouldn’t be the piece it is now without Scratch Night. The feedback, the connection with the audience - it felt safe. Short and sweet in the best way.”

- Aisha Naamani

A Made in Cornwall Scratch Night taking place at AMATA, Falmouth University. © Hugh Hastings.

Cornwall’s artists on the national stage 

Seeing locally-rooted artists transferring to the national stage tells a deeper story about how tailored support can be a gamechanger for creatives living and working in Cornwall. 

Aisha is part of a network of Cornwall-connected artists whose paths have led to the National Theatre. Also working on Les Liaisons Dangereuses are: 

• Tom Jackson Greaves, choreographer: An HfC Youth Dance alumni and proud Bodmin boy, Tom rose through the ranks of our youth dance programme back in the day, as well as working with many brilliant dance schools and teachers in Cornwall, giving him the foundations and the fire that launched his career. Since spreading his wings, he’s achieved outstanding national career highlights, and we’ve been cheering him on every step of the way. And while his career continues to skyrocket, he never fails to share his story - and his talents - with Cornwall-based artists and young people. Tom’s been a guest tutor on the Creative Rise programme for emerging artists in Cornwall, and even took time out of Les Liaisons Dangereuses rehearsals to meet and rally behind our HfC youth dancers during their recent trip to London. 
• Katie Lusby (swing/assistant choreographer): A Cornwall-based creative and a key player in the Cornish dance scene. Katie led the Creative Rise programme – a new artist development programme supporting Cornwall’s early career dance and theatre artists, supported by HfC. Alongside championing and nurturing professional artists across the South West, Katie has choreographed two pieces for young dancers through our HfC secondary school showcase outreach work. Seeing her step into the role of Assistant Choreographer on a National Theatre production is a real testament to the strength and ambition of Cornwall’s dance community. 

Katie Lusby leads a rehearsal for young dancers on the Cornwall Playhouse stage . © Hugh Hastings.

Husa isn’t just a programme, it’s a pathway. The artists we support go on to connect Cornwall to the world, enriching the lives of audiences, artists and young people in Cornwall and beyond. 

It’s about building confidence, careers, and long-term creative relationships, supporting artists living and working in Cornwall and giving them real, practical opportunities to fire up their craft. 

Are Scratch Nights For Me?  

If you’re an artist in Cornwall with a spark of an idea, a Made in Cornwall Scratch Night might be your next step. 

Come and test something out. Share it with a generous audience. See what it becomes. 

And for non-performers, why not be curious and join us for a scratch night to see how new work comes together? Who knows, maybe you'll spy the next National Theatre star.

Cover photo credit Sean Hurlock.