Sheer Drop Programme

by Charlotte Coates

by Jon Cooper

Cover design - Rebecca Pitt | Photographs - Francesca Reidy

Sheer Drop Theatre Sheer Drop Theatre develops and stages new plays that tell vital stories about life in modern Britain.

We are a theatre company with a dedication to new writing and an approach that aims to nurture writers of huge potential as they pen their " !

! fully produced. We offer emerging and experienced writers a range of

support.

We produce plays that use language and form in new ways – stories that !

audience.

For more information on the company, how to submit a script, or just to

productions would not have been possible:

! " Julia and Denis Cruse Diana Moss !

Bethan Taylor Cari Turley Anne McInthyre Bill and Naz Steele Saffron Walden Maze Festival

Cast - ‘A Lady of Substance’ Tia Bannon Jasmin Tia trained with the RADA Youth Company and stared as Cressida in their production of Troilus and Cressida.

She is currently working on a play with the Arcola Theatre’s Arcola Academy.

Her work in theatre includes Antigone, Perihelion and Desperately Seeking for the Christmas Scratch (Battersea Arts Centre). Tia is currently applying to Drama School’s for entry in 2012.

Joyce Greenaway Cassandra A graduate of Drama Studio London, Joyce recently appeared in Debbie Tucker Green’s new production Truth and Reconciliation (The Royal Court and Theatre Local, Peckham). Other theatre credits include Jeannette/Josephine in Shore (Riverside Studios); Mary in ERRIS (Theatre503 and The Black Box Theatre, Belfast); actor/musician in Tall Tales (Clwyd Theatre Cymru Theatre for Youth, dir. Tim Baker); Mrs O’Farrell in Twopence To Cross The Mersey (The Liverpool Empire, dir.Ian Kellgren). Joyce has just been cast in a new ITV1 pilot Plastic Gangsters, shooting at the end of March. Other screen credits include Dreadful Bazaar (Alastair Beckett King/ LFS); Winter Escape (MKProductions); I, Schemmings, a new web series by Paul McNeilly.

She recently recorded several chapters of the new edition of No Angel Hotel by Anne Naylor which can be found on the www.barebonebooks.com website and is keen to extend into radio drama.

A Soldier’s Heart

All Thumbs, and is involved in a collaborative project to record the work of new Irish poets and musicians.

A Lady of Substance

By Jon Cooper

The Death of Norman Tortilla

By Charlotte Coates

Tia Bannon - Jasmin Joyce Greenaway - Cassandra

Robert Gill - Norman Tortilla

Morag Sims - Tandie

Samantha German - Director

Tom Latter - Director

Hatty Hay - Stage Manager

Gillian Tan - Stage Manager

_________ For both productions Designer - Moi Tran Lighting Designer - Miles Fisher Sound Designer - Ed Lewis Production Manager - Zoe Robinson Producer - Sheer Drop Theatre Producer - Corinne Salisbury Producer - Tim Johanson Production Assistant - Rowena McIntyre Production Assistant - Matthew Eberhardt

‘A Lady of Substance’ was kindly supported in development by a grant from the Peggy Ramsey Fund. The play would also not exist without the help and support of the fantastic Manchester 24:7 Theatre Festival.

24:7 Theatre Festival is a platform that develops and nurtures new writing. Each year writers are given the opportunity to showcase new work to industry professionals and the general public.

It is open to submissions nationwide.

This play is dedicated to the memory of my father Paul Cooper. Who loved theatre and my love for whom I’ve hidden here.

developed by msft and presented at the Dyspla Festival 2010. msft supports and develops the work of dyslexic artists, presenting an annual festival of plays, music, art and poetry.

Our thanks go to everyone who gave their support to make these productions a reality, especially: Will Young, Ben Monks and all at Tristan Bates Theatre; Reverend Graham Hunter, Adelle Carney, Bryn and St John’s Church, Hoxton; Karen Royce at Cranston TMO; Ryan’s Bar; Lennie Varvarides and msft; Rebecca Pitt, Charlie Dupre (http://soundcloud.com/charlied), Jacek Wytrzymaly, Francesca Reidy, Max Narula, Stressfree Print, Mobius, Giles Faulkner, James Turner-Inman, Richard Rogers, Michelle O’Reilly, Jenni Armstrong, Becky @ StageJobsPro, Beccy Smith, Brian Eley, Diane Moody, John Moody, Elena Stevanoska, PICT, Jane Gauntlett, Andrew Somerville, Sam Miller, James Brazendale, Honour Bayes, Sam Bayes & Bernice Chitnis.

For their help in development of ‘A Lady of Substance’ - Claire Howden, Martin Thomasson, Matthew Dunster, Esther Hall, Jenna-Louise Coleman, David Slack, Kathryn Worthington, John Roberts, Laura Kriefman, Matthew Lloyd, Will Young, Ben Monks, Steve Harper, Kenneth Emson, Ellie Rhode, Sheer Drop Theatre, Tom Latter & Sam German.

Cast - ‘The Death of Norman Tortilla’

Robert Gill Norman Tortilla Robert trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

Theatre includes Calendar Girls (National Tour); The Years Between (Royal Theatre, Northampton); Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Barons Court Theatre); Edward II (Battersea Arts Centre); Next Door’s Baby (Orange Tree Theatre); Measure for Measure (The Peter Hall Company, Bath/Stratford); Habeas Corpus (The Peter Hall Company, Bath/ National Tour); Mouth to Mouth (Albery Theatre); Dick Whittington and his Cat (Theatre Royal, Norwich); The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy (Comedy Theatre, London/National Tour); Tartuffe

(Tour); The Cub (Traverse Theatre); When We Are Married (Savoy Theatre).

Films include Hugo (director: Martin Scorsese); Nitrate; Salsa Guy; The Wreck of the Mary Celeste; Big Enough for Three; Oliver!; Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.

Television includes Venus (Revolution Films/Channel 4); Emmerdale (Yorkshire Television); Ocean of Fear (Discovery Channel); Silent Witness (BBC); A for Andromeda (BBC); Derailed (BBC); Eastenders (BBC). Musicals include The Boyfriend; Cabaret; Guys and Dolls; Jesus Christ Superstar; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Leave Him To Heaven; West Side Story; The Wizard of Oz. Robert is a trustee of the JMK Trust; which was set up in memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, a young theatre director of thrilling promise. Each year, the trust gives an award in his name to an emerging young director. For more information, and to support the work of the trust, visit www.jmktrust.org.

Nicholas Ruben Jarek

Nicholas trained at East 15 Acting School. Recent theatre includes Red Letter Day (Theatre 503); The Corner Fence (Charing Cross Theatre); Taleblazers (Southwark Playhouse);I Made You A Mix Tape (Jacksons Lane).

Film includes W/E (dir. Madonna) and The Long March (dir. Stephen Saunders).

Morag Sims Tandie

Morag graduated from The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and was Spotlight Prize Nominee in 2009.

Theatre credits include The Corner Fence (Charing Cross Theatre); The Winter’s Tale (The Space); Printed Linen (The Courtyard); Play the Game (24 Hour Play, Counter Culture Tunnels); Death of the Unicorn (Camden Etcetera); The Wizard of Oz (Tour). Film & TV credits include Man At War (BeardyBoy Productions) and The Execution of Gary Glitter (Channel4). For Sheer Drop, Morag also appeared in Lost & Found (Saffron Walden Maze Festival).

Samantha German Director A Lady of Substance Samantha German is a freelance theatre director.

Previous productions include The Interview and Do Not Call (Hen and Chickens Theatre); Vivien (The Space on the Mile, Edinburgh and Theatre 503); Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass (C Venues, Edinburgh); Colder than Here and A Streetcar Named Desire (New Theatre, Nottingham).

Tom Latter Director The Death of Norman Tortilla Tom trained in Directing at Mountview Academy in 2008/9. He is a founder member and current Artistic Director of Sheer Drop Theatre.

Directing credits with Sheer Drop include: Lost and Found by Alex Everard (Saffron Walden Maze Festival); Pallbearings by Giles Faulkner (Rosemary Branch Theatre); Mythogastronomy and Let’s Blitz: Your Country Feeds You with Artforeating; Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco by Gary Owen (New Wimbledon Studio).

Other credits as director include The Art of Concealment by Giles Cole (Brighton Fringe Festival); Health and Safety by Rebecca Walker (Southwark Playhouse); Reeperbahn by Paul Murphy (Theatre503); TheWisdom of the Den

by David Christopher (msft / The Oubliette).

Credits as an Assistant Director include Snap Catch Slam by Emma Jowett (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).

Moi Tran Set and Costume Designer Moi trained at The Motley School of Theatre Design. Her theatre credits include Concrete Jungle, a new play by Bola Abage (Riverside studios/Tobacco Factory); Kafka vs Kafka (Jack studio); A bAcchae (The Yard Theatre); A Woman Alone (Tabard Theatre); Napoli (West Yorkshire Playhouse workshop); Imperial Fizz (Jermyn Street Theatre/Assembly Rooms Edinburgh Festival);The Jewish Wife (Battersea Arts Centre); The Whiskey Taster (The Bush Theatre); Swing (Kings Head Theatre); First Lady Suite (Union Theatre); Meat # $ credits include Kolya, a short animation video for Sasha Ilyukevich and The Highly Skilled Migrants;

Healthy $ $ shot in London; Join the Dots (Film London/ British Film Council), showing at SXSW Film Festival, Sapporo Film Festival, Japan, Edinburgh Film Festival. Moi is also a set designer for the Guardian and the Observer newspaper for Editorial.

Miles Fisher Lighting Designer Miles began his career in lighting design in July " $ " on many school productions and since then, he has worked for E Minor, Strip Theatre, Eaton Square School and twice at St Edward’s School, Oxford and he has also worked on Sound for Skyers Productions. Miles is also a member of The National Youth Theatre and helped them with their shows in Glasgow and London in 2011. Miles has been accepted into Central School of Speech and Drama for entry in October 2012.

Ed Lewis Sound Designer Edward studied Music at Oxford University and subsequently trained as a composer and sound designer at the Bournemouth Media School. He has worked on numerous theatre productions, " $ ! theatre work includes Gravity (Birmingham Rep Theatre); On The Rocks, Amongst Friends and Darker Shores (Hampstead Theatre); Slowly, Hurts Given and Received and Apple Pie (Riverside Studios); Measure For Measure (Cardiff Sherman); Emo (Bristol Old Vic and Young Vic); Once Upon A Time in Wigan and 65 Miles (Paines Plough / Hull Truck Theatre); I Am Falling (Sadler’s Wells & The Gate, Notting Hill); Orpheus and Eurydice and Quartet (Old Vic Tunnels); The Stronger, The Pariah, Boy With A Suitcase, Le Marriage and Meetings (The Arcola); The Shallow End (Southwark Playhouse); Hedda and Breathing Irregular (The Gate, Notting Hill); Madness In Valencia (Trafalgar Studios); The Madness Of George III and Macbeth (National Tours). He has recently been nominated for !

" $ he has recently worked on have won several awards at the LA International Film Festival and Filmstock International Film Festival. As a trained musician, Edward is fascinated by the relationship between sound design and musical

composition. He works as both a sound designer and composer in differing styles, as well as a conductor and music critic.

Jon Cooper Playwright ‘A Lady of Substance’ Shortly after graduating from Kent University’s BA Theatre course Jon was invited to join The Old Vic’s New Voices Company 06. Subsequently he was also chosen as a writer for the Old Vic’s US UK Exchange Program to continue development of his full length theatrical drama For Once I Was‌ This production progressed to $ ! # week run at central London venue The Tristan Bates Theatre. Since he has been developing a $ trans-media company The Difference Engine. He is graciously supported by the Peggy Ramsey Foundation.

Charlotte Coates Playwright ‘The Death of Norman Tortilla’ The Death of Norman Tortilla is Charlotte’s $ # " short play God in the machine (Play in a day at Counterculture) and Cold Calling (Jermyn Street Theatre). As a performer she appeared in and wrote sketches for NewsRevue (Canal CafĂŠ Theatre). Charlotte previously worked as a stand-up comedian, notching up around 100 gigs at venues such as the Assembly Rooms and The Underbelly at the Edinburgh Festival and also ran her own comedy night for two years. She " $ " competition.

Tim Johanson Producer Theatre includes Port Authority (Southwark Playhouse); Floyd Collins (Southwark Playhouse); Mirror Teeth (Finborough Theatre); The Tempest (ADC Theatre and USA East Coast Tour); Twelfth Night (Cambridge Arts Theatre); Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Cambridge Footlights); Into the Woods and Hero (ADC Theatre, Cambridge, and C Venues, Edinburgh Festival). For the second year Tim is assisting Julian Bird on the production of the Olivier Awards. He is Director of Tim Johanson Productions Ltd.

Corinne Salisbury Corinne Salisbury is a London-based arts administrator, producer, playwright and poet.

After completing a degree and MA in English # $ ! # she worked for Point Blank Theatre Company

$ ! " for Hampstead Theatre. Alongside her regular duties at Hampstead, she also produced their new writing festival, Dairing Pairings, in 2009.

She now works for an international touring theatre company based in London. Her work as a playwright has been staged at Theatre503, the Roundhouse, Waterloo East Theatre, the Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, and Live Theatre Newcastle among others; and she has taken part in three projects with Old Vic New Voices, including the US/UK Exchange 2010 and the 24-Hour Plays 2010. She is also a script reader for Theatre503, Hampstead Theatre and the Royal Court.