10 November 2023 to 20 January 2024
Tickets from £15
10 November 2023 to 20 January 2024
Tickets from £15
Hi and welcome to Liverpool’s Royal Court and this performance of Boys From The Blackstuff.
We reopened this beautiful building for theatre back in 2006 and this year we celebrated our 100th production. Many of those shows have been highlights in their own way. From respected writers like Willy Russell and Jonathan Harvey through to talent that has had its first stage productions here at the Court such as Gerry Linford and Joe McNally. And along the way we’ve bricked up tunnels, had Scousers in the Antarctic and discovered Liverpool had the first ever female rock band in the shape of the Liverbirds.
Of all the 100+ shows we’ve now produced, Boys From The Blackstuff is the one that I wanted. We’ve produced two of Alan’s plays previously, On The Ledge and Down The Dock Road but Boys meant a lot to me. I wanted to see it here at the Court and it wasn’t even a theatre piece.
Like most of us I knew Boys from the BBC Play For Today and the subsequent short series. What an impact that had on me, signing on with my Dad and uncle in the same line. In fact there were so many queuing back then, my uncle was in a second line of D-F’s. Coming out of the dole office was like leaving the match. The streets of Walton were rammed. The 80’s hit Liverpool harder than most cities, that was a Liverpool story.
The Royal Court is a theatre that has Liverpool voices and Liverpool stories at its heart and it didn’t take a degree in rocket science to realise that Boys might be a play for us. With that in mind I approached Alan and asked him if we could do a stage version. He said ‘No.’ He didn’t want to go back to it and ‘it was best left in the past.’
Ever the optimist, I’m a theatre producer, and for as long as I can remember, I have contacted Alan on 1 January each year to see if he had changed his mind. His answer was always ‘No’ to which my response was ‘I’ll leave it for a year.’ Alan never did say yes to me. But Kate Wasserberg at Stockroom approached Alan with the idea of James Graham adapting the TV scripts to create a stage piece. That’s better than rocket science, that’s genius. Alan and James met, they got on and here we are. And on the way Alan asked Stockroom to co-produce the play with us. Proof that annoying great writers can pay off!
Nothing I say can really articulate how grateful the Royal Court is that we have this play, this collaboration between Alan and James. They have both been a real pleasure to work with. Alan and James, thank you.
Great pieces of theatre start with the script. But then it takes a quality cast and creative team, led in this case by our remarkable director Kate Wasserberg, to take that script and do it justice on the stage. In my opinion this team do that rather well!
Boys From The Blackstuff was of its time back in 1982. Although this performance is true to the original and is set in the 80’s, its characters and its themes speak to today. In a society that has people dependent on foodbanks and zero hours contracts being the norm for many, you could say that in 2023, 40 years on, Boys From The Blackstuff is very much a Play For Today.
Kevin Fearon Executive Producer Liverpool’sRoyal Court
Liverpool’s Royal Court in association with Stockroom Productions Ltd present Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff by James Graham
Directed by Kate Wasserberg • Associate Director Francesca Goodridge • Set and Costume Design Amy Jane Cook •
Lighting Designer Ian Scott • Composer and Sound Designer Dyfan Jones • Associate Sound Designer Kate Harvey Movement Director Rachael Nanyonjo • Fight Director RC Annie • AV Designer Jamie Jenkin A Stockroom Commission
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
The Elizabeth Rathbone Charitable Trust
Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust
The John Rayner Charitable Trust
TheLiverpool’s Royal Court continues on its journey to work with all communities across the city
There is no doubt Liverpool is renowned for its wealth of talent but we, along with the rest of our city’s theatre organisations and institutions, recognise we need to do more to ensure we are accessible, engaging and aspirational if we are to be truly representative and inclusive of the communities we serve. It is a long-term continuing process and funding is key as is working together with the theatres across the region.
Over the past three years we have laid down the foundations, initiating our plans for meaningful and real change. This includes the theatre’s programming, engagement, accessibility and relationships with artistes, communities, creatives, individuals, institutions, organisations, Schools/FE. We are working towards ensuring our talent development programmes are applicable, realistic and robust.
Listening and engaging in the first instance to a wide cross section of creatives and communities – recognising and taking ownership of our failure to be fully inclusive and to take a proactive approach to ensure there is inclusivity and diversity across the sector
A brief look at a few of our talent development projects so far:
Community
Music AAA (Access All Areas) is a partnership project together with three grassroots organisations: Positive Impact, Capoeira For All, and Catalyst performing arts supported by funding from Youth Music. Children and young people aged 6 – 25 can access free musical instruments, musical theatre, hip hop, dance, singing, drama and performance
Raw Talent
Young people from our youth theatre continue to have access to auditions and employment opportunities – during the past 3 years, 6 young people have been cast in Terriers, written by Maurice Bessman touring to schools and venues across the country.
More recently working with Fury films, 120 young people aged 15 – 25 from across the city took part in audition workshops for the film of Terriers at Fire Fit in South Liverpool, MYA’s Space in Bootle and The Vibe in Huyton. 8 young people will be working with the Director to support the script development.
This is a pilot programme supported by PH Holt Trust and Curious Minds – eight mentors from the creative industries have been paired with mentees – providing support, guidance and shadowing opportunities in acting, marketing, production, directing, writing, set design, and music skills. This talent development initiative will support eight young black, asian and minority artistes and creatives develop their skills as they progress through the industry.
Our Boisterous Theatre strand of programming brought us a main house production of Bouncers, introducing four new actors to the main house stage – and new audiences to the theatre.
The Alternative Black Cabaret Showcase – now a regular bi-monthly show presenting some of the best black comedians and singers on the circuit and with a platform to showcase emerging and existing local talent.
Stagewrite – our new writing classes/workshops to encourage and support new writers to develop their work to full production.
We continue on our journey with a number of other talent development initiatives in progress as a matter of priority to ensure we remain accessible, adaptable and continually listen and learn. It will take time and investment and with your continuing support for all we do. We will make a difference.
Boisterous Stage Write Music Access All Areas Maurice BessmanTake a Liverpool legend, one of Britain’s most exciting young playwrights and an iconic slice of cultural history and what have you got? Catherine Jones talks to Alan Bleasdale and James Graham about bringing the seminal Boys From the Blackstuff to the stage.
How would you describe Boys From the Blackstuff the play? And how easy was it to translate the story from screen to stage?
Alan You can spin this word in any way people want – it’s radical. I couldn’t have done it in a million years. One of the big problems I have is that if I get an idea like that I go ‘oh, that’s a film’. The only really serious failing I’ve had with a stage play is if I’ve tried to do something like James does - I can’t do it.
Because all I want is a room, a door, a window, a telephone, and a desk. That’s my play.
James I often struggle to adapt my own work into a different form too. Whereas when I came to Blackstuff I think I could, with Kate’s (director Kate Wasserberg) help, come at it from a distance.
This is going to sound pretentious, but Alan is one of our great dramatists in the same way Arthur Miller was an American epic writer. I see Blackstuff on that scale. The city is a character in it, the community is a character, it’s epic. You have Liverpool as a backdrop, and the 80s and these guys struggling in their condition, and then you just set them off like they’re lightning bolts.
Talking of characters, Alan, is it true you based George Malone on your uncle?
Not the political side of it but the social side, yes. He was basically a citizen’s advice bureau for a part of Dingle. He was a man in his mid-60s with no great education, and the most he ever earned in his life was £9 19s 6d. But he’d have people come to the door asking for his advice.
He wasn’t a political man. But he cared about the society he lived in.
Filming was also a family affair, with your three youngsters appearing as Yosser’s children, while your cousin Gary played Dixie’s son Kevin in both the Play for Today and TV series.
Bernard Hill and I were close friends, and he spent a lot of time in our house. Our kids adored him. They were very young, and he was really sweet and kind with them.
So when it came to getting children in to play his children, rather than go to a stage school and get kids who’d never seem him before, they did it. And with Gary, that was an accident. Our Terry was driving me, and our Gary was around, and the (original Play for Today) director Jim Goddard just said to me ‘your cousin’s really photogenic, we should screen test him’. He’s still acting 40 years on. How does it feel to premiere Blackstuff at the Royal Court?
James It’s really special. There are no pretentions. The thirst and hunger for the work is there, with a sense of a good night out and a lovely meal.
And James, how has your experience of Liverpool been?
I’m so jealous of this city. I come from a mining village in Nottinghamshire – Ashfield - and a couple of years ago, of 650 constituencies it came about 647th for access to the arts and culture. To come to a community like this where there’s no existential anxiety about class and art and the barriers between, it’s just a confident city that goes ‘art is for me’.
Two of Blackstuff’s cast, including Nathan McMullen, were also in Down the Dock Road here in 2016.
Alan I love what Nathan did in Down the Dock Road. It wasn’t a big part; he was fundamentally playing me. He often had long periods in the play where he had to just sit there watching, and I was fascinated, his concentration never faltered. I really wanted him in the part (of Chrissie). And it’s funny, his process for getting prepared is identical to Michael Angelis. He has a right little tiff with himself!
How involved have you both been in rehearsals?
Alan I’ve been in quite a bit. I felt that there wasn’t very much for me to do, so I started inventing things - just to justify my existence! James I’ve been here and there. I often do value being around early on and then stepping away a bit.
It’s always the greatest pleasure when you’re making work somewhere you don’t live, so when you go there you just invest entirely in that story and world and those people.
And what a city to be doing that in. To sit in a rehearsal room with Alan and Kate and this company, it’s a dream. I want to be making work like this with these people.
Alan Bleasdale’s
Workshop Manager
John Kavanagh
Scenic Art Manager
Jen Baron
by James GrahamGeorge Caple
Dominic Carter
Helen Carter
Aron Julius
Oliver Mawdsley
Nathan McMullen
Lauren O’Neil
Andrew Schofield
Barry Sloane
Mark Womack
Snowy/Kevin/Scotty
Molloy/Marley/Landlord/Catholic Priest/ Policeman
Miss Sutcliffe/Freda/Margaret
Loggo
Moss/Clerk 2/Redundant Worker 2/Protestant
Reverend
Chrissie
Angie/Jean/Lawton/Student/Lollipop Lady
George Yosser
Dixie
Carpenters
Mick Gunnigle
Jonathan Defty
Mike Gray
David Davies
Craig Deer
Scenic Artists
Abbie Jones
Chris McCourt
Emma Sharpe
Alan Bleasdale
James Graham
Kate Wasserberg
Amy Jane Cook
Ian Scott
Rachael Nanyonjo
Dyfan Jones
Kate Harvey
Jamie Jenkin
Sean Gannon
Francesca Goodridge
Rachel Bown-Williams of RC Annie Ltd
Ziggy (Paul) Corfield
Marie Jones
Banafa Matea
Flying By Foys
Lizzie O’Sullivan
Steph Carter
Rae Woods
Jake Pendleton
Lauryn Elise
Liam McGrath
Helena Harvey
Meesh Rennie
Abbie Caskie
Fay Rusted
Writer (Original)
Writer (Adaptation)
Director
Set and Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Movement Director
Composer and Sound Designer
Associate Sound Designer
Audio Visual Designer
Production Manager
Associate Director
Fight Director
Flying Director
Wardrobe Supervisor
Assistant Movement Director
Flying Effects
Stage Manager
Deputy Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Crew
Crew
Sound Operator
Sound No.2
LX/AV Operator
Dresser
Dresser
Thank You To
Barry at Colour Create
Steve Eccleson at Theatre Clwyd
Paul and Alf at One Offs
Ken Moses - tarmac raking technique and etiquette
Although technically a wool George has lived in Liverpool for nearly 25 years. He’s very proud to call this city his home, and made up to be on the Royal Court stage for the second time. Since graduating from RADA in 2016, George has worked extensively on stage and in film. He finished filming Doctor Who earlier this year and a career highlight was becoming a member of the Liverpool Everyman Rep company in 2017 & 2018. George has performed at the Royal Court previously in HomeBaked, and is honoured to be a part of Boys From The Blackstuff
Hello I’m Dominic, I will happily be donning a few different hats in Boys from the Blackstuff. I have been an actor for over twenty years and worked on a wide variety of projects, but not many hit home like this one. Like a lot of you here, I grew up knowing these characters like family and I’m delighted to be a part of recreating their stories.
TV and Film: Ozzy in Going Off Big Time (Feature film); Janos Slynt in Game of Thrones (HBO); DC Hooch in Coronation Street (ITV); The Responder (BBC); Around the World in 80 Days (BBC); Crossfire (BBC); Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4); The Children Act (Feature film); Endeavour (ITV); The Irregulars (Netflix); Casualty (BBC); Together (Feature film); Moving On (BBC); Bed Bugs (Channel 4); Murdered for Being Different (BBC); How Many Miles to Bagra? (BBC); Charlie Noades RIP (Feature film); Guilt (HBO); The Case (BBC); Drop Dead Gorgeous (BBC); Eyes Down (BBC); Holby City (BBC); My Family (BBC); Derailed (BBC); Black Books (Channel 4); The Message (Channel 4); Swing (Feature film); Doctors (BBC); Dream Team (Sky); Dalziel and Pascoe (ITV); (Sky); Dockers (Channel 4); Merseybeat (BBC); No Bananas (BBC); Pie in the Sky (BBC);. Soldier Soldier (ITV); The Bill (ITV).
Theatre: Macbeth (Tricycle Theatre London);. The Chance. Shopping and Fucking (Prime Cut Productions Belfast);. The Dumb Waiter (Lee Strasbourg institute Los Angeles);. From Bombay to Santa Fe (Arcola theatre);. It’s Now or Never (Chester Gateway);. The Channel 4 Sitcom Festival (Riverside Studios London);. Blue Remembered Hills Edinburgh Festival); Chalk and Talk (Edinburgh festival); If There Was a Time (FMBM Unity Theatre);
Training: RADA
Helen is thrilled to be back at The Royal Court and honoured to be involved in this retelling of the iconic Boys From The Blackstuff. Helen trained at LAMDA. Her theatre credits include:
Bingo Star, The Scousetrap, (Royal Court Theatre Liverpool) Offered Up (Liverpool Royal Court Studio), Love Liverpool, A Christmas
Carol (Liverpool Playhouse Theatre) Merry Christmas, Carol (Royal Court Liverpool Studio) My Fairfield Lady (Royal Court Liverpool); The Last Testament of Lillian Billoca (Hull Truck Theatre) The Star (The Liverpool Playhouse Theatre); Father O’Flaherty Save Our Souls (Royal Court Liverpool); Mam I’m ‘Ere (Royal Court Liverpool) ; The Sunshine Boys (Epstein Theatre;/Life in Theatre Productions); Word:Play Tour (Box of Tricks Theatre Company); The Last 5 Years (Life in Theatre Productions); The Gatekeeper (The Royal Exchange Theatre); Dead Heavy Fantastic (Liverpool Everyman) ; No Wise Men (Liverpool Playhouse); Hatch (Bolton Octogon/24:7 Theatre Festival);
Dad’s Army Marches On (Calibre Productions Tour); Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi (Liverpool Playhouse); The Flint Street Nativity (Liverpool Playhouse) Top Girls (Royal Court Theatre London 50th Anniversary performance); The Honest Whore (William Poel Prize; The Globe Theatre; London).
TV Credits include:
G’wed (ITV) Ruby Speaking (BBC Television),The Last Testament of Lillian Billoca (BBC Television); Wallander (Left Bank Pictures); Doctors (BBC Television);Beaten (Coastal Productions);Judge John Deed (BBC Television); A470 (S4C)
Film:
Through the Dunes (Empire Street Productions), 96 Ways to Say I Love You (Daisy Aitkens and Georgia Moffet)
I hope everyone enjoys the show.
I’m Aron Julius, I graduated from RADA in 2019 and I was born and raised in Toxteth, Liverpool.
Its great to be back! My professional career started right here, 14 years ago with Willy Russell’s Our Day Out, Dir.Bob Eaton and couldn’t be happier to be at the Royal Court once again.
My theatre credits include, Northern Broadsides production of Quality Street & As You Like It, Dir. Laurie Sansom, A Christmas Carol & Love Liverpool, Dir. Gemma Bodinetz.A Raisin In The Sun, Dir. Dawn Walton, Choir Boy, Dir. Dominic Cooke.
TV credits include Death In Paradise (BBC), Moving On BBC, DCI Banks (ITV), Puppy Love (BBC).
Film credits include Death On The Nile directed by Kenneth Branagh. Credits whilst training include Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, Romeo And Juliet, Linda and Into The Woods
Moss/Clerk 2/Redundant Worker
2/Protestant Reverend
Oliver trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatre: The Comedy of Errors – More or Less (Shakespeare North Playhouse & SJT), Around the World in 80s Days (Blackpool Grand), Astley’s Astounding Adventures, The Snow Queen, The 101 Dalmatians, & A Christmas Carol (New Vic Theatre), Miss Nightingale (Hippodrome, West End), Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty & Peter Pan (Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds), Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell & The Cowardly Porter (Frinton Summer Theatre), Gatsby (Southwark Playhouse & Cadogan Hall: Live Stream), By Jeeves & Where is Peter Rabbit? (Old Laundry Theatre), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Arts Theatre, West End), The Princess and the Pea (York Theatre Royal, UK and International Tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (South Mill Arts), Forever Oz & The Revellers’ Society (OSO Arts Centre), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Red Rose Chain).
Film: Mike Leigh’s Peterloo, L’annonce (BFT), Crossing the Line (LFS & National Portrait Gallery), Chancery Lot (Haligonian Films).
Radio: GF Newman’s The Corrupted for BBC Radio 4.
Nathan trained at The Manchester School of Theatre Theatre credits Include: Wagatha Christie: Rooney v Vardy (Ambassadors Theatre); My Tiller - Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer (RSC); Our Lady Of Blundellsands (Everyman): Hushabye Mountain
(Hope Mill Theatre): Love Liverpool (Playhouse): Blood Knot (Orange Tree): The Big I Am (Everyman): A Clockwork Orange (Everyman):, Paint Your Wagon (Everyman): Down the Dock Road (Liverpool’s Royal Court); The Hudsucker Proxy (Playhouse): Darkness at the Sun Court (Slunglow); Jack And The Beanstalk (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Worm Collector (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
TV credits include: Doctor Who Christmas Special and Casualty (BBC); The Driver (BBC / Red Productions); Misfits Series 4 & 5 (E4 / Clerkenwell Films) and Shameless (Channel 4 Productions).
Film credits include: Rose (Mini Productions); Headless (37 Adventures); The Circle Of Trust (Rankin Films); Kelly + Victor (Hot Property Films) and Coronation Street: A Knights Tale (TV).
Lauren O’Neil Angie/Jean//Lawton/ /Student/ Lollipop LadyThis is my first opportunity to work in Liverpool and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be home. Especially for this, one the most exciting projects I have ever had the honour to be part of. When I was asked to do a workshop for the play back in 2019, my mum was beyond excited. She grew up in Liverpool 8 and Boys from the Blackstuff was hugely important to her, as to so many. I wish more than anything that she was still here to be able to see the show, I know she would have loved every second. For you, Andrea Rogers.
Stage Credits include: Witness for the Prosecution (London County Hall), The Twilight Zone (Ambassadors Theatre West End), This House (Chichester and Garrick Theatre West End), Reasons To Be Happy (Hampstead Theatre), Richard III (Trafalgar Studios), King Lear (Chichester and BAM, New York), This House (National Theatre), Travelling Light (National Theatre), Women Beware Women (National Theatre)
Television Credits include: Queens of Mystery, Grace, Casualty, London Kills, Father Brown, Midsomer Murders, Bugsplat!, No Offence, Silent Witness, Phoneshop, Doctors, Law & Order UK, The Bill, Lewis, Being Human
Film Credits include: Property of The State, Deadly Descent, The Domino Effect
Trained at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama
In the U.S. he has starred in many shows including Six, Longmire, The Whispers and Revenge
Andrew has appeared in Blood Brothers in 1983 at the Liverpool Playhouse and in the subsequent transfer to the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. He also appeared as George in Of Mice and Men at the Old Vic, London in 2005.
Theatre credits include: Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels as Dickie Lewis; Smigger in Lost Soul in 2007 and 2008; Brian in Good Golly Miss Molly; Moey in the Alan Bleasdale comedy On The Ledge; Paul Sheldon in Misery; the Traveller in Eight Miles High; Danny in Council Depot Blues; Joe in Night Collar; JJ in The Flags and Mr Briggs in Our Day Out - The Musical. He performed all of these roles at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. Since then he has appeared in A Life In The Theatre, The Sunshine Boys and Mam I’m ‘Ere (Life in Theatre Productions); Dreaming of a Barry White Christmas (Echo Arena) Royal Court Selection Box,Ellen & Rigby and Making It (with Cath Rice) (Liverpool’s Royal Court).
Film credits include: Sid and Nancy, Distant Voices, Still Lives, Three Businessmen, Hamlet, Revengers Tragedy, Under The Mud
TV credits include: Scully in Alan Bleasdale’s Scully. He has also appeared in three more Bleasdale series, as Peter Grenville in GBH in 1991, Jake’s Progress in 1995 and in Melissa in 1997. Other TV credits include Maisie Raine; Sharpe; Murphy’s Law; Boys from the Blackstuff; Liverpool Nativity for BBC Three; Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World; Cilla; Moving On; Loco; Tin Star, Help.
Born and raised in Garston, Liverpool. Barry has worked extensively in Film, TV and Theatre in both the UK and The United States.
On stage he originated the role of Troy Whitworth in Jez Butterworth’s critically acclaimed play Jerusalem in the West End and on Broadway, starred in Blood Brothers and will be playing John Lennon in the upcoming Two Of Us, a play which he has co-written.
He can currently be seen in The Bay and Litvinenko for ITV as well as the upcoming Passenger for Sister Pictures.
He is also known for performing the role of Captain John Price in the Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise.
Barry is proud to be performing back in Liverpool and delighted to be playing Yosser in such a wonderful piece of work as relevant today as it was in 1982.
Mark’s TV and film credits include:
Route Irish directed by Ken Loach, Babylon , Anne, Tin Star, and most recently The Responder for BBC1. Other favourites of his are Hillsborough written by Jimmy McGovern, Under the Skin, The Runaway, Murphy’s Law and Liverpool 1
He also starts shooting series two of The Responder shortly.
Theatre credits include: Romeo and Juliet and A View from the Bridge (Royal Exchange); The Lodger (Royal Exchange and Hampstead Theatre); Hamlet and Julius Caesar ( Birmingham Rep); the first UK tour of Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris and Fast Food by Abi Morgan (Royal Exchange) directed by Marriane Eliot. This will be his third appearance at the Royal Court.
I’m very excited about this show, and to get back on the Royal Court stage. The script is brilliant as are the cast and the whole team behind it. I feel very privileged to be able to share this story with a Liverpool audience.
Alan Bleasdale was born in Liverpool and, apart from three years teaching in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, has always lived on Merseyside. Since leaving teaching in 1975, he has written two novels, a feature film, numerous short stories, eleven stage plays, six television plays and eight television series.
His best known work includes: Boys From the Blackstuff, Scully, G.B.H., Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Having A Ball, Jake’s Progress, The Muscle Market, The Monocled Mutineer, No Surrender and The Sinking of the Laconia
James Graham WriterJames Graham is a playwright and screenwriter.
His screen work includes Sherwood, which aired on BBC One in 2022 to rave reviews, and will return for a second series. James also wrote Quiz (ITV and AMC) in 2020, directed by Stephen Frears, which was one of the most watched UK television dramas of the year; and Brexit: An Uncivil War , which garnered huge public attention and critical acclaim in 2019. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, and a BAFTA for Single Drama. His feature film X+Y was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014.
James’s breakout play This House premiered at the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre in September 2012 and transferred to the Olivier in 2013 where it enjoyed a sell-out run. It garnered critical acclaim and a huge amount of interest and admiration from current and former MPs for his rendition of life in the House of Commons. The play went on to have an Olivier-nominated sell-out revival in the West End in 2017 and it was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010’s for the major theatre publisher Methuen.
His latest play Dear England told the story of the manager of the England Football team, Gareth Southgate and his transformation of the team. After a sold out run at the National Theatre the play, starring Joseph Fiennes and directed by Rupert Goold will transfer to the West End.
Best of Enemies, about the political debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., opened at the Young Vic in 2021, and is currently playing on the West End. It has been nominated for an Olivier for Best New Play, and won a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award.
His new musical, Tammy Faye , with music from Elton John and lyrics from Jake Shears, opened at the Almeida in 2022. Ink - about the early
days of Rupert Murdoch - opened to huge praise at the Almeida before transferring to the West End in September 2017, where it played in the theatre next door to James’ other new play – political romantic comedy Labour of Love - creating theatre history. Labour of Love went on to win an Olivier Award, and Ink transferred to Manhattan Theatre Club on Broadway and was nominated for six Tony Awards. His play Privacy about data surveillance culture premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2014 before moving to the Public Theater in New York, starring Daniel Radcliffe. His first musical, Finding Neverland, ran for 18 months on Broadway in 2015 before touring the U.S.
James received an OBE in 2020 for ‘services to drama and young people’.
Kate is the incoming Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd. She was formerly the Artistic Director of Stockroom where she directed Alice in Wonderland, The Glee Club, Close Quarters, and Rita, Sue and Bob, Too.
She was the founding Artistic Director of The Other Room in Cardiff, where she directed Blasted, The Dying of Today, Play/Silence, Sand and Seanmhair. The Other Room is the winner of the Stage Newspaper Awards Fringe Theatre of the Year 2016.
Freelance work includes,The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Insignificance and All My Sons (Theatr Clwyd), Barnbow Canaries (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Ten Weeks (Paines Plough/RWCMD), The Knowledge (Dirty Protest at the Royal Court) and Last Christmas (Edinburgh Festival).
As Associate Director of Theatr Clwyd, Kate directed Aristocrats, Salt, Root and Roe, Glengarry Glen Ross, Roots, Gaslight, Dancing at Lughnasa, Pieces (also Brits Off Broadway, New York), The Glass Menagerie and A History of Falling Things (also Sherman Cymru).
As Associate Director of the Finborough Theatre, London, she directed Mirror Teeth, The Man (national tour), Sons of York, Little Madam, The Representative, I Wish to Die Singing and The New Morality. Other directing includes The Young Vic 2007 Schools Festival, and Switzerland (Hightide).
Kate is the joint editor (with playwright Tim Price) of Contemporary Welsh Plays, published by Methuen. In the Wales Theatre Awards she has won Best Director for Blasted and Best Production for The Dying of Today
Amy has been working in performance design for over a decade. In this time, she has created set and costume for shows both in the UK and internationally.
Theatre credits include:
Ride (Curve, Southwark Playhouse, Charing Cross); The Swell (Orange Tree); Protest (Northern Stage, Fuel); The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher (Watermill); The Importance Of Being Earnest (Watermill); Wolf Cub (Hampstead); All My Sons (Queen’s); Baskerville (Mercury); The Season (Royal & Derngate, New Wolsley); Jellyfish (National, The Bush); The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (Clywd); You Stupid Darkness (Plymouth Drum); Absurd Person Singular (Watford Palace); The Funeral Director (Southwark Playhouse); Lava (Nottingham Playhouse); Anna Karenina (Guildhall); Barbarians (Guildhall); Our Blue Heaven (New Wolsey); Never Lost At Home (New Wolsey); Not Talking (Arcola); And Insignificance (Langham Place).
Amy has been nominated for a total of four Off West End Awards for Best Set Design and was the winner of Best Design at the Wales Theatre Awards 2017 for Constellation Street (The Other Room).
Lighting Designer
Trained at Mountview.
Productions for the Royal Court include:
Scouse Pacific, Maggie May, The Miracle of Great Homer Street, The Royal, The Scouse Nativity, Lonesome West, Down The Dock Road and in co-production with Lodestar and the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival; Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Other theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Sheffield Crucible and Ramps On The Moon); ¡Carpa!, The Hooley and Xanadu (Giffords Circus); By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records); Up ‘n’ Under and Frozen (fingersmiths); Reasons To Be Cheerful, Peeling and Blasted (Graeae); Duet for One (Birmingham Rep; Lee Dean & Daniel Schumann); A Skull in Connemara and All My Sons (Nottingham Playhouse); Marco Polo and Messiah (Bergen National Opera); Fish Eye (Theatre Alibi); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; National Theatre); Owen Wingrave and Where The Wild Things Are (Aldeburgh Festival); Fawlty Towers Live (Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney); Flat Stanley (Polka; West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Drummer Boy of Waterloo and The Happy Prince (Jubilee Opera); The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre); Our Friends Up North (Northern Stage); The Joke, The Summer House and The Victorian in the Wall (Will Adamsdale; Fuel); My Name is… (Tamasha);
Oh! What a Lovely War and Frogs (National Theatre); Curlew River (White Light Festival, New York; UCLA Berkeley; St. Giles, Barbican); Animal Farm (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).
Rachael is a Choreographer, Movement Director and Director working across theatre, film and TV.
Education: BA Honours in Dance Studies Roehampton University & Masters in choreography from Middlesex University. Choreography and Movement direction for theatre: Uncle Vanya (Theater Dortmund); Misty (Trafalgar Studios West End & The Shed New York); The P Word (Olivier Award Winner of Best Production in an Affiliate Theatre, Bush Theatre); Dumbledore is so Gay (Southwark Playhouse Borough); The Tempest for The Globe Theatre; The White Card for Northern Stage & UK tour; Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks at the Abbey Theatre and Royal Court London; Trouble in Mind at the National Theatre; Changing Destiny (Young Vic Main Space), In a Word and American Dream at the Clare Young Vic; The Death of a Black Man and Either at Hampstead Theatre; Pigeon English for Bristol School of Acting; Cinderella at Nottingham Playhouse; Spine on UK tour; Great Expectations for the National Youth Theatre at Southwark Playhouse; Two Trains Running for ETT at Royal and Derngate; Does My Bomb Look Big in This for Soho Theatre and Tara Arts; Babylon Beyond Borders at the Bush Theatre; Macbeth at the Orange Tree Theatre; The Jumper Factory for The Young Vic and Bristol Old Vic; Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Royal Stratford East; Shebeen at Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre Royal Stratford East; Bernstein’s MASS at the Royal Festival Hall / Southbank Centre; Twilight at the Gate Theatre; The Divide and Cover My Tracks at the Old Vic.
Choreography for TV and film: Pact of Lies (BBC & Sister productions); Love at First Sight (Netflix); CBeebies: Christmas in Storyland and Pirates (Netflix).
As a director: Recognition for Talawa Theatre, Recognition for 45North Ltd and Ellie Keel Productions; Bobsleigh for Old Vic Monologues; An Alternative Musical at the National Theatre; Assata – at the Young Vic, for Young Vic fresh direction; and 2:1 for Kansaze Dance Theatre at Rich Mix.
As an associate director: Newsies (Disney & Runaway Entertainment) Troubadour Theatre; Moonlight / Night School at the Pinter Theatre). As assistant director: The Stepmother Caroline or Change at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Dyfan trained at Kingston University and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has over 30 years of experience working as a Composer, Musical Director and Sound Designer. Theatre includes: The Glee Club, A View from Islington North, All That Fall (Out of Joint), Sydney & the Old Girl (Park Theatre), Comedy of Errors, The Provoked Wife (RSC), GALWAD (Collective Cymru), Close Quarters (Out of Joint/Sheffield Theatres), Shakespeare in Love (Theatre Royal Bath & on tour), Amedee, Treasure Island (Birmingham Rep), Travels with my Aunt (Glasgow Citizens), Barnbow Canaries (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Love & Money (Waking Exploits), Before I Leave (National Theatre of Wales), Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage (National Theatre of Wales/Out of Joint), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Insignificance, Cyrano de Bergerac, My People, Little Shop of Horrors, All My Sons, Mimosa, Not About Heroes, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, Season’s Greetings, Sky Hawk, Rape of the Fair Country, Humbug!, A Feast of Festive Fun, Flora’s War, Thinking Out Loud, Tall Tales, Festen, Great Expectations, Yesterday, Twilight Tales, Drowned Out, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Toy Epic, Grapes of Wrath, Tales from Europe, Tales from Small Nations, To Kill a Mockingbird, Song of the Earth, Abigail’s Party, Hosts of Rebecca, The Way It Was, Home Front, Oh What a Lovely War (Theatr Clwyd), Hoof (Theatr Iolo), Robin Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (Newport Riverfront), Contractions (Iain Goosey/Chapter), Still Life (Mappa Mundi), Seanmhair, Play, Silence, Blasted, A Good Clean Heart (The Other Room), The Elves and the Showmaker, The Ugly Duckling, The Magic Porridge Pot, The Snow Tiger, Corina Pavlova, A Family Affair, Say it with Flowers (Sherman Cymru), Jack and the Beanstalk (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre), The Chalk Circle, Merched Caerdydd, Now Sadwrn o Hyd, Nyrsys, Macbeth, Nansi, Blodeuwedd, Pridd, Spring Awakening, House of America, The Caretaker, Esther (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Cider With Rosie, Cyrano, Skylight (Theatre West Glamorgan), Indian Country (Sgript Cymru).
Film, Television and other work includes: GALWAD (Feature Film - Sky Arts), We Stand Together (Children’s Commissioner for Wales), Boj & Buddies (Bait), Vivienne Westwood Autumn/Winter 2019 (London Fashion Week), The Hammer Song, The Magic Flute, The Humming Chorus, Madame Butterfly (WNO), Colour Blocks, Caru Canu, Teithiau Twm, Caru Canu a Stori, Llanargollen (Twt/S4C), Soli and Mo (CITV/S4C/Al Jazeera), Cwm Teg (Dinamo Productions for S4C), Abadas (Cbeebies), Dragon’s Eye, Children in Need, Close to You, Wales Yesterday, A Christmas in Clay, Belonging, Just Up Your Street, The Indian Doctor, Voices, Save Our World (BBC), Teulu (Boomerang), Iechyd Da!, 31/12/99 (Bracan), Cloud Babies (S4C), Pobol y Cwm (BBC), Jara, Pam Fi Duw?, Bydd yn Wrol (HTV/Carlton).
A list of sound credits include:
Corporate/Outdoor : Labour, Conservative, NUT, TUC and many more conferences. Various exhibitions. Symphony in the Park (Hoghton Tower) Liverpool Theatre Festival (Bill Elms Productions).
TV: Stan James World Match Dartsplay (Sky Sports), Strictly Ballroom (ITV), Danny La Rue (BBC), Spirit of Shankly (Granada DVD).
Cruises : P&O World Cruises, Island Cruises, Celebrity.
Arena : Hot Ice (Stageworks Worldwide Productions); You’ll Never Walk Alone (Alterean Media and Liverpool FC).
Music: The Christians, Chesney Hawkes, Sinita, Slade, Bad Manners, Toyah, Limahl, Cream UK Tour, Petula Clarke, Bobby Crush, East 17, Liberty X, Jane McDonald, Coldplay.
Comedy: Jason Manford, Peter Kay, Roy Walker, Norman Wisdom, Jim Bowen, Brian Conley, Brendan O’Carroll, Paddy McGuiness.
Live Theatre: Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty (King Georges Hall, Blackburn); Mystique (Stageworks); Original TV Comedians (Blackpool Opera House); Paul Zerdin (Paradise Room Blackpool); Flags (Manchester Exchange); Mam I’m ’Ere (Life in Theatre); Eight Miles High, Council Depot Blues, Bouncers, Night Collar, Our Day Out, Shirley Valentine, Reds and Blues, Lennon, Noises Off, Canoeing for Beginners, Lost Soul, Golden Oldies, The Royal, Scouse Nativity, Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Royal Court Liverpool); Twopence
To Cross The Mersey and By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records); Shout! (Max Emmerson Productions); Out of Order and It Runs In The Family (Ray Cooney Comedy Company); Bang Bang (A production for John Cleese at Mercury Theatre, Colchester); Omnibus (Unity Theatre); Judy & Liza National Tour (Produced by Royal Court Liverpool); A Midsummer Nights Dream (Filter Theatre Company/Lyric Hammersmith); Grimm Tales (Dukes Theatre Lancaster).
RC-ANNIE Ltd, established in 2005 by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown, is the UK’s leading Dramatic Violence and Intimacy Company.
Credits include: Great Expectations (Royal Exchange Manchester); The Pillowman (Duke of York Theatre); The Empress, Julius Caesar, Richard III, Henry VI: Rebellion, The Wars of the Roses, King John, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, Tartuffe, The Duchess of Malfi (Royal Shakespeare Company); A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Tempest, Hakawatis, Midsummer Mechanicals, I, Joan, Henry VIII, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Emilia, Othello, Boudica, Lions and Tigers, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe); Linck & Mülhahn, ‘Night Mother (Hampstead Theatre); Noises Off (Theatre Royal Bath/West End); Oklahoma (Young Vic/West End); Newsies (Wesley Troubadour); Baghdaddy (Royal Court Theatre); James IV (Raw Material/Edinburgh Festival Theatre); Never Have I Ever; Crazy for You, The Taxidermist’s Daughter, Plenty (Chichester Festival Theatre); As You Like It (CBBC and Shakespeare’s Globe); The
Scandal at Mayerling (Scottish Ballet); Theodora (Royal Opera House); The Father and the Assassin, The Welkin, Three Sisters, Anna, When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, Peter Pan, The Threepenny Opera, The James Plays (co-production with National Theatre of Scotland/Edinburgh International Festival) and Cleansed (National Theatre); Persuasion (Rose Theatre Kingston); To Kill A Mockingbird (West End).
Francesca is a Welsh theatre director and is the Interim Associate Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd.
She trained at The National Theatre Directors Course and The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). She was the first recipient of the Carne Traineeship for Directors in Wales and was the former Trainee Director of The Other Room Theatre in Cardiff.
Francesca has been a visiting lecturer at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, LIPA, Leeds Conservatoire, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, working with both the acting and design students.
Credits include; Truth or Dare, A Pretty Shitty Love, Once Upon A Christmas (Theatr Clwyd), Sorter (Swansea Grand Theatre), Faustus: That Damned Woman (Storyhouse Theatre, Chester), Carousel (Mountview), The True Adventures of Marian and Robin Hood, The Brothers Grimm presents Cinderella (The Barn Theatre), REVOLT. SHE SAID. REVOLT AGAIN, Philistines, POSH (LIPA), The Future (National Youth Theatre of Wales), The Crocodile (Cornerstone Theatre), Adam Eve & Steve (The Kings Head Theatre), Shout! The Mod Musical (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, Edinburgh Fringe).
She is developing two new musicals; MISS WALES: The Musical Misadventure and WITHOUT YOU: The Badfinger Musical
Having previously directed a show at Liverpool’s Royal Court back in 2016, she’s buzzing to be back making theatre on one of her favourite stages!
Jamie is the in-house graphic and video designer at Liverpool’s Royal Court. Starting as marketing assistant at the theatre in 2005, he has been part of the Royal Court since it’s rebirth as a theatre in 2006. He now designs artwork for all Royal Court productions alongside working on video content for the Royal Court stage and beyond.
Video Designs for Theatre include:
A Thong For Europe, Willy Russell’s Our Day Out - The Musical,
A Fistful Of Collars, Lennon, Ladies Day, Hitchhikers Guide to Fazakerley, Ladies Night, Canoeing for Beginners, The Scouse Nativity, Father O’Flaherty Saves Our Souls, A Miracle On Great Homer Street, Home, Going Halves, The Royal, The Scouse
Cinderella, My Fairfield Lady, Bingo Star, Two Of Us, Royal Court Selection Box, Macca & Beth, The Scouse Sleeping Beauty, The
Menlove Avenue Murder Mystery, The Scousetrap, The Scouse Jack & The Beanstalk and Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Masquerade, Knee Deep In Promises, Hey Bunny Get Loose, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio); Cured (Liverpool’s Royal Court in association with DaDaFest & Unlimited); The Dream Team and VR Family (Liverpool’s Royal Court Youth Theatre); Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Shakespeare Festival); Scouse: A Comedy Of Terrors (Dome Liverpool); Judy & Liza (National Tour); YNWA (Alterean Productions, international tour); The Big I Am (Liverpool Everyman); Celtic The Musical (Alterean Productions, Pavilion Theatre Glasgow and SEC Glasgow); Something About George (Something About Productions, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and national tour); The Salford Docker (Salford Community Theatre, Lighthouse Salford); Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre); and Peter Pan (Storyhouse Chester). Jamie was also Sound Designer on Hey Bunny Get Loose, Offered Up, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio) and Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre).
Marie studied fashion and then moved on to theatre costume interpretation at Mabel Fletcher College. Marie’s work as a freelance costumier has included costumes for Oldham Coliseum, The Royal Exchange, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Jimmy McGovern’s film Liam, Beyond Friendship for Mersey Television and the many pantomime dames who have appeared on the Everyman stage.
She has worked extensively at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse and has recently been employed as full time Wardrobe Supervisor at the Royal Court. Most recently Marie’s work at the Everyman and Playhouse has included: Much Ado About Nothing, The Electric Hills, The Flint Street Nativity, The Tempest, Unprotected, Billy Liar, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, Urban Legend, Fly, Breezeblock Park, The Entertainer, Still Life And The Astonished Heart, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Anniversary, Dr Faustus, The May Queen, Cruel Sea and All My Sons
Marie’s other credits include: Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, Lost Soul, Good Golly Miss Molly, Stags and Hens - The Remix, On The Ledge, Misery, Eight Miles High, Council Depot Blues, Night Collar, Dirty Dusting, Shirley Valentine, Our Day Out - The Musical, The Salon, Funny Money, Merry Ding Dong, A Fistul Of Collars, Lucky Numbers, Lennon, Scouse Pacific, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Little Scouse on the Prairie, Reds And Blues - The Musical, Ladies Day, Bouncers, Scouse Of The Antarctic, Pharaoh ‘Cross The Mersey and Down The Dock Road for Royal Court Liverpool, Brouhaha International Street Festival, Working Class Hero on the recent Imagine DVD, Costume Supervisor for many shows at LIPA, The Splash Project at MYPT and Twopence To Cross The Mersey at the Liverpool Empire.
Executive Producer Kevin Fearon
Chief Executive Gillian Miller
Head of Finance & Administration Gary O’Connor
Creative Producer Jess Bolger
Head of Marketing Iain Christie
Executive Chef David Assall
Finance Officer Alison Ward
Graphic Designer & Brand Manager Jamie Jenkin
Assistant Producer Clare Carlucci
Marketing Manager Kofi Ohene-Djan
Social Media Officer Clara Mbirimi
Head of Technical & Production Sean Gannon
Resident Stage Manager Andrew Lock
Artistic Supervisor Jen Baron
Chief LX Jamie Haining
Box Office & Sales Manager Lauren Macauley
Assistant Box Office Manager Laura Lees
Head of Theatre Engagement Miriam Mussa
HR & Wellness Officer Maria Schumann
Participation Project(s) Manager Uma Ramanathan
Costume Supervisor Marie Jones
Finance Administrator Izzie Litwin
Venue Administrator Phil McLoughlin
Production Assistant Stephen Petit
Youth Theatre Leader Zain Salim
Youth Theatre Coordinator Vannessa Park
Later Life Coordinator Jay McWinen
Box Office Assistants
Erica Drummond, Finn Goulden-Jennings, Carl Lees, Scarlet
Lees, Amelia Maguire, Anna Miller, Joe Morris, Pat O’Neill, Susan
Segar, and Angela Simms
Fire Officer Sven Key
Stage Door Allan Dodd & John Evans
Kitchen
Head Chefs Kyle Wardale, Daniel Awotwi
Chefs Daniel Ambrose, Billie Chisam, Jay Quinn, Josh Eglin, Harrison Mclaughlin, Jake Stephenson, Jack While, Nick Watson
Kitchen Porters Debbie Chisam, Louise Dodd, Jackie Kirton, Ellis McNeil, Harry Lawlor, Ryan Charnock, Luke Dunn
Front of House
House Manager Kathryn Heffron
Assistant Manager Kathy Hutson
Supervisors Megan Franey and Calum Norbury
Bar Supervisor Joe Woods
Courtyard Manager Emma Keig
Assistant Courtyard Manager Paul Imrie
Courtyard Supervisor Aimee Kelly
Front of House Staff
Hebron Abraha, Beth Baccino, Hazel Bawden, Jacob Bee, Cameron Brown, Colette Burgess, Louis Carney-Smith, Azize Dia, Carl Dillon, Holly Evans, Kieran Foster, Charlotte Freyne, Bethany Fry, Michael Hall, Michael Hardy, Jennifer Heffron, Aisling Jenkin, Callum Johnstone, Jake Jones, Laura Jones, Elizabeth Kendrick, Charlotte Kendrick Jones, Abbie Kenworthy, Raia Kiernan, Julia Kustosz, Phil Lyne, Amelia Maguire, Sam Massen, Amy McCutcheon, Faye McCutcheon, Phil McLoughlin, Tegan Meek, Eve Mobey, Mia Molloy, Alison Myers, Brea O’Donnell, Matthew O’Keefe, Joseph O’Neil, Kayleigh Oulton, Jamie Peacock, Jake Pendleton, Simone Reddington, Declan Redmond, Katie Sherman, Charis Stead, Millie Tucker, Annie Wardale, Isabelle Wilson, Amy Wright and Hannah Wright
Courtyard Staff
Jordan Barkley, Sinead Cullen-Barret, Stephen Dixon, Faith Dawson, Olivia Harrison, Chloe Thorpe, Millie Quayle, Keira Tann and Jasmin Ward
Cleaning Supervisor: Debbie Chisam, Billie Chisam and Joanne Kinsella
And a big thank you to all of our security staff for their hard work throughout the year.
The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The John Rayner Charitable Trust The Elizabeth Rathbone Charitable Trust