Cast, Doncaster's Kes 2014 Programme by Oliver Eastwood

A Cast and Right Up Our Street production Based on the novel A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines Adapted and directed by Philip Osment and Kully Thiarai Design by Emma Donovan Movement by Lucy Hind

FRI 5 – SAT 13 SEPTEMBER

BUY WITH

5% DEPOSIT USING

Director of Cast and co-director of Kes

Hello and welcome to Cast for our first birthday celebration production of Kes, produced in partnership with Right Up Our Street. It feels particularly fitting that Kes, such an iconic South Yorkshire story marks this moment. Based on Barry Hines’ novel A Kestrel For a Knave, the original premier of Ken Loach’s film Kes took place across the road at the old ABC Cannon Cinema. The story, though set in 1968, still resonates strongly in 2014. It is a story of a young boy who’s failed by the education system and given little opportunity to imagine a different future for himself other than to work in the mines. How do we nurture, educate and unleash the full potential of our young people is as important a question today as it was when the book was written. As debates rage about the inequalities of our nation, about the deserving and undeserving, about the north and the south, about the young and the old, the rich and the poor it is easy to forget that everyone of us is capable of extraordinary things if only given the opportunity and chance to flourish. Our production of Kes is specifically created for Doncaster. It has been developed with the people of this place and 34 community performers are in the final production, ranging from 12 – 76 years old. Their passion, commitment and talent has been extraordinary, and along with our professional company they have helped to create a show that we hope will resonate with you as powerfully today as the original story did. This production is made possible through Right Up Our Street – Doncaster’s Creative People and Places programme, funded by Arts Council England to increase arts participation and engagement. I’d like to thank our consortium partners darts, Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust and Doncaster Voluntray Arts Network as well as Doncaster Council, Doncaster Museum and Higher Rhythm for their support in putting on this production. If you’d like to find out more about Right Up Our Street or want to see how you can get involved in the arts then visit rightupourstreet.org.uk.

A development by

Agents

Co-director of Kes

Kes – is there room for hope? Once we had decided to create a new version of Kes for Doncaster, Kully and I asked ourselves how the play speaks to audiences, young and old, today. In 1968, like Billy, I was fifteen. My memory of the film was of a wonderful gritty realism that chimed with my teenage pessimism and left me feeling that Billy faced a bleak future. At a time when it sometimes feels that there is an emphasis on exam-based testing and subjects that are deemed ‘useful’ one can’t help wondering whether Billy Casper’s talents would be recognized in a modern comprehensive or academy. Whilst staying true to the spirit of the original we wanted to highlight the similarities between Billy’s world and that of present day teenagers. However we also wanted to suggest that it is possible for each of us to actively make some choices that enable us to discover our own personal Kes. It was this thinking that prompted us to cast the 61 year old Billy as the host for the evening.

Cast is a year old on Saturday 6 September 2014 our ambition to be Doncaster’s cultural living room – a place for performance, participation and conversation. Since our opening weekend last year, which attracted over 6000 people, we have put on 168 shows and welcomed 71,784 audience members through our doors. It has been a hectic and extraordinary year. We have been delighted by the enthusiasm, commitment and curiosity of the public who have engaged with us, by the artists and companies who have created such a diverse range of work and the support of partners and collaborators, funders and stakeholders, staff and volunteers without whom it would have been impossible to reach this first milestone. And to you our audiences who have shown that this town has an appetite for engaging with the arts, a passion for st ories that resonate locally and a wealth of undiscovered talent. Thank you. CAST • Kes

Production assistant Michael Cook gives a brief insight into adapting Kes, a new version for Doncaster, the challenges and goals of the production team and the joys of early morning trains to London.

Knaves such as the book’s hero, Billy Casper, for whom school is a drag and the prospect of working down the pit is no better. Such disaffection would have been familiar to Hines... How a young miner went on to become a PE teacher, a novelist and screenwriter thanks to a 15th century falconry manual and a man named Bill Hawksworth. Why A Kestrel For A Knave? Barry Hines’ most famous novel takes its title from The Book of St Albans, a 15th century manual offering advice on falconry. In poem form, it sets out a hierarchy of birds and their handlers: “An Eagle for an Emperor, a Gyrfalcon for a Kin”, descending in status down to kestrels and knaves, who are only worthy of each other. Knaves such as the book’s hero, Billy Casper, for whom school is a drag and the prospect of working down the pit is no better. Such disaffection would have been familiar to Hines, who grew up in the mining village Hoyland Common, near Barnsley. Leaving school early to start work as an apprentice mining surveyor, he himself might have seemed headed along a similar path. However, when a neighbour he encountered down the mine, the prophetically named Bill Hawksworth, expressed disappointment at seeing Hines waste his grammar-school education, he was shamed into returning to study. So he trained as a PE teacher – making you wonder whether the ridiculous Mr Sugden contains an element of self4

CAST • Kes

mockery – and wrote in his spare time. His first novel, 1966’s The Blinder, concerned a footballing A-level student; A Kestrel For A Knave followed in 1968. Around the same time, Ken Loach was making a name for himself in television, bringing gritty, real-life storylines to the BBC’s Wednesday Play, with Up The Junction, Cathy Come Home and In Two Minds tackling abortion, homelessness and schizophrenia respectively. He created Kestrel Films with producer Tony Garnett, his Wednesday Play collaborator, and the pair worked with Hines to bring his novel to the big screen. In pursuit of authenticity, Kes was mostly cast with unknown and non-professional actors, from David Bradley as Billy and his real-life classmates at St Helen’s school, to former wrestler Brian Glover as Mr Sugden. Bernard Atha, who played Billy’s careers adviser, meanwhile, was better known as a councillor in Leeds, and went on to become Lord Mayor of the city. Credit for the artistic success of Kes should also go to Chris Menges’ muted cinematography and John Cameron’s haunting pastoral soundtrack. The latter was only released in its own right in 2007, by which point Kes was recognised as one of the great British films and Hines’ original novel was firmly established on the GCSE syllabus – something that might have fired Billy Casper’s own imagination, had the young knave still been at school.

Being from South Yorkshire myself, Kes always has, and always will be very special to me, along with so many people in the area. Working on this project has been an experience like no other – with memories of the film so engrained in my mind being brought into the 21st century and adapted into a new, fresh and exciting version for the stage. There are so many elements in this show that make it special – the 30-strong ensemble; the prologue in the square; the stretch out into the Doncaster community. My role in Kes is fairly difficult to summarise – I had a lot of focus on the professional casting of the show in May/ June, working closely with co-directors Kully and Philip to co-ordinate all auditions, casting sessions and recruitment workshops. It was a relentless job, from constantly being on the phone to agents day-to-day, seeing around 50 professional actors and performers and traveling down to London in the early hours of the morning to hold auditions. I’ve also been coordinating the community ensemble with Ava, Jow and Ryan by holding recruitment workshops at Cast and in schools, and managing their calls and timetables. I’ve also been involved in production meetings where we discuss everything from set design to script changes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every second of it – especially the challenging parts.

Kes rehearsal sketches by local artist, Terry Chipp

Kully and Philip’s intention was to involve as many members of the community as possible to create a community ensemble that will hopefully become a legacy which carries on through Cast’s lifetime and evolves and grows along with our programme of work. So that’s what we’ve done. They are an amazing group of people, with a fantastic attitude towards the goal of creating something brilliant. What’s also quite extraordinary is the fact that a lot of the ensemble have been called in for rehearsals beyond their standard times, and the willingness and levels of commitment demonstrated by these members just goes to show how invested they all are in the show, and how much it really means to them.

Follow You can follow everyone’s experiences of Kes using #KesDoncaster on Twitter – this is for everyone to use: actors, ensemble members, our creative team, and you – our audience – and we’d love to get your feedback on the show. You can also tweet @castindoncaster or me @mikeycook92 to ask us any questions you may have about the show or Cast itself. If you would like to read the rest of our Kes blogs from Michael and ensemble member Elizabeth Stanforth-Sharpe visit castindoncaster.com/whats-on/performance/kes. CAST • Kes

Being part of it We caught up with Kes ensemble members Michael Lynch and Brad France on how they ended up in Kes and the challenges of working with a professional cast for the first time. How did you become part of the ensemble? B: Right place, right time. I was originally going to do some technical work for an amateur production in Sheffield but decided to audition for the Kes community ensemble instead. I then got asked to audition for the role of Tibbut at school later that day – the day after they rang and asked me to be part of the ensemble. That’s it really.

As we’ve moved through our first year our Cast of Thousands has grown from 6000 visitors for our opening weekend to over 70,000 audience members on the completion of our first year. Whether it’s to drop in for a drink at our Café bar, take part in one of our many workshops or to indulge in quality drama in our main space, Cast continues to establish itself as Doncaster’s Cultural Living Room. Some members of our Cast of Thousands have played a bigger part than others with many featuring in our homegrown productions of The Glee Club and Cinderella. For Kes our community ensemble has grown to over 30 local performers who feature alongside our professional cast, we caught up with a few of the ensemble to get their thoughts on being part of our first birthday production. “Loved working with such a larg e cast of amateu and professional r actors and the ch ance to perform at Cast.”

– acting give f o ls il k s e freedom th ith the fun of being g.” w “I love the k tin r o teamw is exhilara disciplined . The camaraderie r che else someone ton playing Maths Tea un Yvonne Br

“Great opportunity to gain experience and meet new people, I love working with the whole cast.”

Harold Armitage playing Custom er

Jordie Smith playing Armitage

“Such a wonderful experience to be part of a professional production after many years in amateur theatre.” Jean Armstrong playing Mother outside youth employment office

s been a munity ha inute and m o c s e K rt of the every m “Being pa erience. I’ve loved nal xp h professio rt of e it c w ti s g ta in k n r fa a wo lcome as p ged to be feel privile ave made us feel we ast.” oh e at C actors wh to everyon u o y k n a h the cast. T s Crossley Mr lt playing Margo Ho

“Kes has given me the opportunity to work with more professional and inspiring performers and it has been an unforgettable experience. I adore being a part of this production.” Mitchell Hone playing Josh

films and getting “Kes is one of my favourite like a dream come involved in the play itself is role and this is a true. I’m very happy with my with more professional great opportunity to work good experience.” performers, this is a really

this is ce for me, atre!” n ie r e p x e stic the ing in this een a fanta “Kes has b econd time perform ys ormer already m ing First F es play Oliver Holm

“Great opportuni ty to imagine yo u are another person and also meeting other pe ople, it has been a fun time and a whole new expe ri ence – one that I will fondly rem ember.” Kay W hitfield playing Customer

CAST • Kes

B: I play Tibbut… it’s challenging. He’s quite quiet, try’s to avoid trouble at school but he’s also part of MacDowell’s gang, which is a bit of a contradiction. We workshop the characters with the directors and explore their different dimensions and then try to put them into one whole package, that’s the challenging part. M: I play MacDowell, he’s like a mini Jud. The school bully if I was to sum him up in a sentence. Basically he’s the ‘hard’ of the school like Jud’s the ‘hard’ of the estate, but like Billy he’s probably badly treated at home – so he’s a angry teenager and not as straight forward a character as you might think. What’s it like working with a professional cast for the first time? B: Good question. M: Fantastic! Doing improvisation with the professional actors I often feel self-conscious but the cast always come up to me and say well done and give me advice. The members of the professional cast and the ensemble cast just all merge together.

Do you want to become actors? B: Considering it. It’s a difficult, competitive industry and this experience has really given me the opportunity to think about it more as a career.

“I thank e very opportunit one at Cast who gav e y to be in Kes. I am e me the attending n joy we profession ekly rehearsals and ing als.” working w Sandra ith 6

What characters do you play and can you tell me a bit about them?

B: It’s one company with one goal – let’s get it done together.

Floyd Michael Houghton playing

Berry play ing

M: Mine was the same, a happy accident. The production team auditioned people for the ensemble at school I then got put forward for the part of MacDowell and here I am.

M: I’d love to! But I don’t want to restrict myself to just that. I’d like to write and direct as well in the future, but I love what I’m doing now. I’m currently writing a play at the moment so after Kes I’ll see what I can do with that.

Nellie

Photos © Harold Armitage and Ryan Harston

CAST • Kes

ABC Cannon Cinema, Doncaster. © Doncaster Local Studies Library

Frequently presumed to have been set in Barnsley, Barry Hines’ novel places Billy’s story in South Yorkshire, however a location is never given. One thing is for certain though – Ken Loach’s film Kes definitely premiered in Doncaster.

ABC Cannon Cinema, Doncaster. © Doncaster Local Studies Library

Kes isn’t set in Doncaster but it could easily have been. It’s not actually set in Barnsley either: Barry Hines’ original novel A Kestrel For A Knave places Billy’s story in South Yorkshire, but the location is never actually named. Yet in most people’s imaginations the story is intrinsically linked to Barnsley through Ken Loach’s 1969 film version, Kes, shot around Hines’ home turf of Hoyland, and Athersley South, where its young star David Bradley attended St Helen’s secondary modern, both on Barnsley’s fringes.

Billy’s environment With just a few miles between them, there wouldn’t have been much else separating Barnsley and Doncaster at the time Hines was writing. Each had communities built largely upon coal, where pit villages and post-war estates housing miners’ families spread over countryside with an older history of farming. Hines’ own father was a miner, and his later novel The Price of Coal, also adapted by the BBC for its Play For Today slot, was set in the colliery-rich surrounds of Elsecar. Anyone growing up around Doncaster in the late 1960s, when Kes is set, would recognise Billy’s environment. Photographed in evocatively bleak tones of brown and grey in Loach’s version, it’s a functional, unsentimental place, with piles of industrial spoil and rows of brick and concrete houses and shops echoing the drabness of Billy’s current life and the future that awaits him if he follows Jud down the pit. Yet it’s easy for a small lad to slip away – through snickets, down cart tracks – and take refuge in green spaces: buttercup-filled fields, leafy woods and the medieval ruins at Monastery Farm where he finds Kes. 8

CAST • Kes

Kes is set just six years after The Glee Club – last year’s homegrown production that depicted mining in Doncaster, and the two worlds are broadly the same. But some things had changed forever. For many in Yorkshire’s working class, the social upheaval of the Sixties brought wider horizons and a more rebellious attitude to the old authorities. As Billy’s headmaster Mr Gryce complains, whilst preparing to cane Billy and his unrepentant schoolmates: “I’ve never encountered a generation as difficult to handle as this one.” Hines would return to these themes of youth, justice and the abuse of power, notably showing how the state might turn upon its people in his screenplay for the Sheffield-set 1984 nuclear war drama Threads.

As Billy’s headmaster Mr Gryce complains, whilst preparing to cane Billy and his unrepentant schoolmates: ‘I’ve never encountered a generation as difficult to handle as this one’

ABC Cannon Cinema, Doncaster. © Doncaster Local Studies Library

If in some ways the 1968 of Kes is a distant land from the 1962 of The Glee Club, however, the two are linked through the dialect and accents that their casts of ordinary people use as they go about their lives. Indeed, it was this proud use of the South Yorkshire tongue that led to Doncaster’s most famous link with Kes. After Loach’s film was completed, it was screened for American executives at the distributor, United Artists, who protested that they understood Hungarian better than Billy and the other characters.

...although the film had one showing in London at a British Film Institute festival in 1969, its official premiere took place in Doncaster, at the ABC Cannon Cinema... Kestrel Films/RGA

Great success As a result, although the film had one showing in London at a British Film Institute festival (BFI) in 1969, its official premiere took place in Doncaster, at the ABC Cannon Cinema, which closed in 1992 but can still be found just down the road from Cast in the Waterdale area of the town centre. Showing to stars, celebrities and a public who were clearly less troubled by the dialogue than the UA execs, the screening on 25th March 1970 at the 1,277-seater cinema was a great success – even if the passionately left-wing Loach couldn’t resist arguing about politics with a local MP. Kes went on to be selected for the prestigious Critics’ Week at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival; these days its cult status has grown to the point where the BFI now ranks it as the seventh best-ever British film. And Doncaster can claim some part in that success.

CAST • Kes

Cast

Jacob James Beswick Billy Ben Burman Jud Sally Carman Mrs Casper Ray Castleton Older Billy Craig Conway Milkman, Caretaker, Mrs Casper’s new man, Jud’s friend, Security Guard, Miner Simone Lewis Teacher, puppeteer and assistant movement director Jim Pope Mr Gryce, Mr Sugden, Mr Farthing Jow Rose Librarian, Mrs Macdowell, Youth Employment Officer Mark Whitaker Mr Porter, Puppeteer, Puppet Design Adapted and directed by Based on the novel A Kestrel For A Knave Design by Movement by

Act One

In present-day South Yorkshire, Old Billy tells a group of teenage lads about his younger self. Aged 15 in 1968, everyone is against him: his school teachers, the police, and his bullying older half-brother Jud – who he has to share a bed with in the small house where they live with their uncaring mother, Mrs Casper. Jud sets off early for his job down the pit, where Billy dreads ending up in a few months’ time. After being caught daydreaming in school assembly, Billy is sent to Mr Gryce, the headmaster to await punishment – the cane. Wearing borrowed and too-large shorts in his games lesson, Billy’s poor goal-keeping ruins PE teacher Mr Sugden’s fantasies of being Bobby Charlton. Later, Billy goes looking for birds’ eggs in the woods, but finds something better on a farm: kestrels looking after their young. Back home, Billy devours a shoplifted book on falconry as Jud laughs at his dreams of raising a bird. When Jud comes home blind drunk after a night at the local club, Billy escapes and heads to the farm, stealing a kestrel chick and naming it Kes.

CAST • Kes

Harold Armitage Jean Armstrong James Aveling Georgia Batterley Sandra Berry Charlotte Bleything Ben Blunt Yvonne Brunton Hannah Carter Ben Cook Dominic Creed Olivia-Grace Davies Brad France Charlotte Gaylor Oliver Holmes Margo Holt Mitchell Hone

Michael Houghton Joel Lambert Michael Lynch Daniel McKay Alex Oliver Chris Palmer Jordie Smith Elliot Sparkes Elizabeth Stanforth-Sharpe William Stanforth-Sharpe Paula Stevenson Ellen Stones-Ryan Charlotte Tonkinson Lauren Townsend Maia Weerdmeester Kay Whitfield

Philip Osment and Kully Thiarai Barry Hines Emma Donovan Lucy Hind

Production team

Act Two

Billy’s bond with Kes has grown strong, but things are still as bad at home, where his mum has a new boyfriend. In his English lesson, Billy reluctantly tells his class about training Kes, impressing the teacher, Mr Farthing. Jud asks Billy to place a bet on some horses for him but Billy spends it on fish and chips instead, then feeds Kes and lets her fly as Mr Farthing looks on. Later, Billy has an interview with the Youth Employment Officer but careers are the last thing on his mind – Jud is after his winnings. Back home, he confronts Jud and discovers how terrible his half-brother’s anger can be.

When Jud comes home blind drunk after a night at the local club, Billy escapes and heads to the farm, stealing a kestrel chick and naming it Kes 10

Kes Community Ensemble

Lauren Barcley Company Stage Manager Vanessa Card Puppet Maker Michael Cook Production Assistant Dom Coyote Composer Joanne Davies Assistant Stage Manager Olivia Dudley Deputy Stage Manager Helen Gorton Assistant Production Manager Ben Harrison Sound Designer Kate Harrison Costume Supervisor Ryan Harston Filmmaker Aideen Malone Lighting Designer Simon Moloney Associate Sound Designer Ben Owen Falconer Will Simpson Projection Designer Stuart West Production Manager

CAST • Kes

Jacob James Beswick

Ben Burman Playing Jud

Playing Billy

Jacob trained as part of the 2012 National Youth Theatre Rep company. Theatre credits: Jungle Book (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Whole (National tour); Bluebeard: A Fairytale for Adults (Underbelly: Iron Belly, Battersea Arts Centre, National tour); Inside (Roundhouse); The Block (Southwark Playhouse); Tits/Teeth (Soho Theatre) and Hotel World (Theatre Workshop, winner Fringe Report award for best play) amongst others. Television credits: Casualty; The Musketeers.

Sally Carman

Playing Mrs Casper

Ben trained at Year Out Drama Company from 2010 – 2011. Theatre credits: An August Bank Holiday Lark (Northern Broadsides); Romeo and Juliet (Heartbreak Productions); Miss Julie (Tristen Bates); The History Boys (Loft Theatre); Loves Labours Lost (C Venues); Punk Rock, Dumb Waiter, (both for Comeback Company) and Slap (Small Fish) amongst others. TV and film credits: Emmerdale (ITV); My Spy Family (Boomerang); Neville Rumble; Shop on the Corner; Match Made in Heaven and YABC Knifecrime.

Ray Castleton Playing Older Billy

Craig Conway

Playing Milkman, Caretaker, Mrs Casper’s new man, Jud’s friend, Security Guard, Miner

Jim is the co-artistic director of Playing ON theatre company with whom he recently acted among psychiatric patients from the Maudsley Hospital at the Albany Theatre, Deptford.

Theatre credits: Craig has taken on leading roles such as Macbeth, Winston Smith, George Orwell and starred in the one-man show Fragile, written by BAFTA award-winning writer Geoff Thompson and directed by award-winning director Nick Bagnall.

Theatre credits: Duck by Philip Osment (Z-Arts, Manchester); Cool Water Murder and Car by Chris O’Connell (Belgrade Theatre and tour); The Cherry Orchard, The Black Dahlia and Demon and Dybbuks (all for Mike Alfred’s Method and Madness national tour) amongst others.

TV and film credits: Dog Soldiers; The Descent; Doomsday; FOUR; Romans 1220; The Tournament; Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake; Vera; Wire In the Blood; Eternal Law; The Fades and Our Friends In The North. Craig is due to star in ITV’s Chasing Shadows and BBC’s The Game this Autumn.

TV credits: Casualty, The Bill and Doctors.

Jowanna Rose

Playing Librarian, Mrs Macdowell and Youth Employment Officer

Originally from Sheffield Ray trained in Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds.

Jow graduated from Bretton Hall with a degree in Theatre Arts.

Theatre credits: Beautiful House (Manchester Library Theatre); Smoke (New Vic Theatre Company/Stephen Joseph Theatre); Lisa’s Sex Strike, School For Scandel, Poetry or Bust and Antigone (all for Northern Broadsides). Once upon a time in Wigan (Manchester Contact/West Yorkshire Playhouse); Thick as a Brick and Big Trouble in the Little Bedroom (both for Hull Truck Theatre) and TV Tots (Hammersmith Riverside Studios).

Theatre credits: The Flame-Haired Dynamo (Hull Truck Theatre); Pauline’s Gift (Hull Truck Studio); The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (New Vic Theatre); Lives in Art, Enemy of the People, Confessions of a City (all for Crucible Theatre, Sheffield); The Beauty Inspector, Isn’t War (both for Crucible Studio, Sheffield); Bill (Lantern Theatre); King Lear, The Last Wolf in Scotland (Stage@Leeds) and The Blue Pawn (Experience Barnsley).

Theatre credits: National tour of Face to Face and Pleasure Dome (Fecund Theatre); Macbeth (both Manchester Actors); The Mouse and His Child (Open Hand Theatre Company); A Midsummer Nights Dream (Worden Park Theatre); Out of the Blue and Fable in Sun Stories (Yorkshire Women’s Theatre) amongst others.

TV and film credits: Prisoners Wives (BBC); Moving On – The Shrine (BBC); Shameless (Channel 4); Tyrannosaur (Warp Films); Doctors (BBC); Heartbeat (Yorkshire Television); The Visit (BBC); A is for Acid (Yorkshire Television); Holby City (BBC) and The Quest (BBC) amongst others.

TV and film credits: Emmerdale (ITV); Princess Under the Stairs (SG Films); Erebus (SHU); Lilly (Dee Fifteen Productions) and Essential Travel (PB Productions).

CAST • Kes

Playing Mr Gryce, Mr Sugden and Mr Farthing

Craig has worked in theatre, TV and film over the last twenty years, working with top practitioners and artists in stage and screen entertainment.

Sally is a vastly experienced actress with numerous theatre and TV and film credits.

Ray also works extensively as an actor and Living History interpreter for The National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield.

Jim Pope

TV credits: Returning character DC Merrick in Coronation Street (ITV); Donovan (ITV); The Forsyte Saga and See No Evil.

Jim devises theatre among vulnerable groups and specialises in challenging behavior, leading programmes of work for Leap Confronting Conflict, Safe Ground and Cardboard Citizens. Jim has also created shows for young people who are not in education, employment or training at Ovalhouse Theatre, The Roundhouse Camden and the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.

Mark Whitaker

Playing Mr Porter, Reg, Puppeteer and Puppet Designer

Mark has worked as a puppeteer, actor and mask performer for the past 25 years across Europe, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Korea as well as touring extensively across the UK. Theatre credits: Horse and Bamboo Theatre, Playboard Puppets, Norwich Puppet Theatre, Little Angel Theatre, Aardman Animations and Opera North. TV and film credits: Creature operator in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and TV commercials for the Argos Aliens. As well as performing Mark works as a director, puppet maker and workshop leader.

Jow also works as a visiting director for Qdos Creates and performed in Still Seeking their Holocaust Memorial Day production at The Civic, Barnsley. Jow also recently performed in Arabeska, a new writing piece for Shooting Fish Theatre Company in Gainsborough. CAST • Kes

The book was finished, and published in 1968; it had good reviews and went from strength-to-strength and has never been out of print

Writer Barry Hines’ biography written for Cast by his wife Eleanor.

A man in Hoyland Common in Barnsley once said to Barry Hines “you’re world famous round here, you”. Barry smiled whenever he remembered that, it was daft, but it pleased him. He thought the world of the village he was born and brought up in, and where he absorbed the influences of his mining family and their neighbours – the politics, loyalty, dangerous work, pride, and, particularly, the humour. He had a happy childhood playing on the pit tips, the rec. and in the fields and woods around the village. He was born in an old rented cottage on Tinker Lane, the road which led to the Rockingham Colliery where his Dad worked, and some years later they moved a few yards up the lane when his parents bought a semi-detached house. His Mother Annie had been in service and ‘had ideas’ and his home-loving Dad Dick did not drink or smoke, so they were relatively well off and had nice clothes and holidays. Barry adored his Dad and loved to scrub his back, scarred with coal-inked pit injuries. He had plenty of good pals and was unhappy when he passed the 11+ exam and had to go to Ecclesfield Grammar school, parting from his mates who went to the local Secondary Modern school. He never felt like a Grammar School boy and left after his O-levels, to be the same as his friends. He got a job at Rockingham Colliery as an apprentice mining engineer and wore his school blazer, thinking that he was showing class solidarity with the miners. One day he crawled past Bill Hawksworth, a neighbour, on the coal face and smiled at him; Bill did not smile back, he tore such a strip off Barry for wasting his chances and education that it shocked him into some hard thinking; he went back to school, a brave move, given how cocky he had been when he left. He felt foolish, but he knuckled down, worked as hard as he could and got an A-level pass in History, and, what he always said was his greatest achievement, ever, Economics!

Barry adored his Dad and loved to scrub his back, scarred with coal-inked pit injuries 14

CAST • Kes

Barry was outstanding at athletics and football and while in the sixth form, when he was 17, he scored his secondbest achievement, he was selected to play for the England Grammar Schools football team, to play against Scotland. Most of the other boys selected for the Event were from Public Schools, and Barry was staggered by their air of superiority, power, and assurance. For the first time, he saw the class system up close, a valuable political experience which influenced his views and sharpened his lifelong perspective on class politics.

Insurance Several league football clubs were interested in signing him up, and as an insurance policy he decided to be a PE teacher, something to fall back on if a professional football career didn’t work out. Also, he thought it wouldn’t be like work. He gained a place at Loughborough Training College and went there feeling like a bit of a star but was put in his place when he was sent to ‘Remedial English’ classes to get rid of his Barnsley accent! Barry had never read a book in his life, he used to tell that tale- the only book in their house was the Rent Book! One wet Sunday afternoon, bored, he asked his room mate in their lodgings if he could borrow a book. Dave Crane says that he gave Barry the thinnest book he had, Animal Farm, because he had his doubts about Barry’s potential as a reader. However, he loved the book, and, once inspired, read avidly for there after. From Loughborough, Barry taught for two years in London and returned to take a diploma, but, instead of a thesis, he wrote a novel, a first draft of what would be The Blinder, published in 1966 when he was teaching back in Barnsley. Tony Garnett, the television producer, who must be credited with ‘discovering’ Barry Hines was impressed with this new young voice and asked him to write something for the BBC’s ‘Wednesday Play’ slot, it was an amazing offer, financially and critically, but Barry said no, because he wanted to continue work on the novel he had already started, which was to be A Kestrel For A Knave.

He had plenty of material, having taught many boys like Billy Casper, and he understood their problems. Always interested in wild birds, he went nesting as a boy and helped his brother Richard with the hawks and other birds they kept in the shed at Barry’s house. Barry also remembered the stories that his pals and Richard used to tell about the goings-on at their Secondary modern schools. The book was finished, and published in 1968; it had good reviews and went from strength to strength and has never been out of print. It is studied in schools all over the world and has been adapted in many ways. Barry was always bemused at the impact it has had, he thought that it would go out of date when Comprehensive schools were introduced. He used to shake his head, smile, and say “That little book”? Tony Garnett bought the film rights before the book was published, and brought in director Ken Loach to create the screenplay with Barry. They had a hard job to finance the making of the film, mainly because of bias against the dialect, but Garnett worked heroically to raise the money, and the film was finally shot in Barnsley during the summer school holidays, mainly using amateurs local school pupils, and club turns, who have Equity cards. Many now wellknown actors had their first roles in works written by Barry Hines and other writers who have worked with Ken Loach, who likes to cast ‘real’ people. They even had a problem finding a venue for the Premiere, but, just a bit late, the World Premiere of Kes as it was titled, was held at Doncaster’s ABC Cannon Cinema.

Full-time This success made it possible for Barry to leave teaching and become a full-time writer. He wrote more novels, screenplays, and stage, television, and radio plays. He had more collaborations with Ken and Tony and others, and won awards including the Palme D’or at Cannes for Looks and Smiles and a Bafta for Threads.

Kully Thiarai

Director of Cast and co-director of Kes Kully took up post as director of Cast in 2012 and has been responsible for the artistic and strategic vision for the new venue. Prior to that she was an Independent Theatre Director and Arts Consultant for several years undertaking a diverse range of creative and cultural projects. She has previously led Contact Theatre, Manchester, Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Theatre Writing Partnership, and Red Ladder Theatre Company, Leeds as Artistic Director and CEO. She has extensive experience of commissioning, producing and directing work nationally and internationally. Kully has been involved in the performing arts for over 20 years working in theatre, television and radio. Her theatre directing credits include: Cinderella (Cast); Obama The Mamba by Kevin Fegan, (nominated for two Manchester Theatre Awards – Best Play and Best Actor 2012); Mandala, a large scale outdoor arts spectacular for the Cultural Olympiad; As The World Tipped by Wired Aerial Theatre, which opened the Sydney Festival in 2012; Soul Exchange (NTW10), created with the communities of Butetown, Cardiff as part of the launch year for National Theatre Wales and Digital Tea Dance for Bangor University. Other productions include: Do We Ever See Grace? by Noel Greig; Salaam – devised show with young Muslim men; Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey; Bogus Woman by Kay Adshead (London, UK, Australia, New York); The Fortune Club and Unsuitable Girls by Dolly Dhingra (London, Leicester); Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince; Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys, Captured Live!, West Side Story, The Witches, Bollywood Jane, Plague of Innocence and Death of a Salesman.

Kully has been involved in the performing arts for over 20 years working in theatre, television and radio

Barry has been writer in Residence at both the Sheffield Universities and has three Honorary Doctorates, one from Loughborough University. He went back to live in Hoyland Common when he retired, and had some happy years back home, but, sadly, developed Alzheimer’s Disease and is now in a Care Home in Rotherham, still ‘himself’ much loved, and remains world famous in Hoyland Common, him. CAST • Kes

Philip Osment

Dom Coyote

Lucy Hind

Simone Lewis

Philip is a playwright, theatre director, dramaturg, teacher and facilitator. His plays have been performed by Gay Sweatshop, Cambridge Theatre company, Method and Madness and by leading young people's theatre companies and have won Writers Guild and Peggy Ramsay awards.

Dom is a composer, performer and recording artist working with bands, theatre companies and arts projects across the UK and internationally.

Lucy trained at Rhodes University, South Africa and currently works as a Choreographer and Movement Director.

Simone is a Cape Town born performer and physical theatre practitioner with a BA Hons in acting, mime, physical theatre, choreography and dance. After arriving in the UK Simone trained in clown at both Ecole Philippe Gaulier, Paris and John Wright, London as well as puppetry and mask with numerous companies across the UK.

Co-Director

He created and directed Mad Blud, a verbatim play about knife crime in East London for Theatre Royal Stratford East and most recently wrote Whole for the Liverpool-based 20 Stories High. His radio plays and adaptations have been broadcast on BBC Radio. Translations include Pedro the Great Pretender by Cervantes for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Kebab, for the Royal Court.

Composer

He works as a composer and performer for companies such as Kneehigh Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, British Council, Art Angel, Cirque Bijou and BAC. He’s also an associate artist with Kneehigh Theatre and studied Performance Writing at Darlington College of Arts, graduating in 2006.

Movement Director

Lucy is an Associate Artist of Slung Low, for whom she choreographed the award-winning Blood and Chocolate, 2013. Slung Low has also made work for many prestigious theatres including The Almeida, The Barbican, The Lowry and The Liverpool Everyman.

Assistant Movement Director, Teacher, Puppeteer

Theatre credits: Beneath the Waves, Space Hoppers, from here to there (Tell Tale Hearts); Forgotten Things (Red Ladder); Suitcase Stories (Sheffield Theatres); Pinocchio (Hard Graft Theatre); STATIK (Action Transport Theatre); Finding Joy (Vamos Theatre) and Whatever the Weather (M6 Theatre).

He is currently developing Gig-Theatre – a series of ambitious projects, mixing music and theatre in unusual ways, closely supported by Battersea Arts Centre. Dom’s work as lead artist/ composer includes Folk in a Box (one-on-one music venue, installed at Sydney Festival, Venice Biennale and supported by Dermot O’Leary) and Vena Portae (alt-folk Anglo-Swedish band, published by Domino).

Theatre credits: Twelfth Night (ETT/Sheffield Crucible); The Sheffield Mysteries (Sheffield Crucible); The Jacobin (Buxton Opera Festival 2014); Enjoy (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Moon Tiger (Stephen Unwin and Bath Theatre Royal); Jack and The Giant (The Theatre, Chipping Norton); Love Your Soldiers (Richard Wilson, Sheffield Crucible); Stuart: A Life Backwards (Hightide); Manchester Sound: The Massacre (Library Theatre); This is My Family (Sheffield Theatres); Refugee Boy (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Wind in the Willows (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (The Theatre, Chipping Norton).

Emma Donovan

Ben Harrison

Aideen Malone

Simon Moloney

Emma is an experienced costume and set designer with over 20 years experience of designing for national and international touring companies, as well as in-house theatre companies in areas as diverse as Opera to Contemporary dance.

Between 2002 and 2007 Ben was Head of Sound at Leicester’s Haymarket Theatre where he designed: West Side Story; The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe; Hot Stuff – the Christmas Edition; Macbeth; An Illustrious Corpse; Beautiful Thing; The Fortune Club; East; Divine; The Bogus Woman (also Adelaide and New York); The Good Woman of Schezuan; Pacific Overtures; The Happy Prince and The Wizard of Oz.

Aideen has been a lighting designer since 1994 working extensively in theatre, dance and opera. She previously worked with Cast on their first production The Glee Club.

As a sound designer Simon’s work incudes: Stephen Berkoff’s East and Greek; The Happy Prince and The Cripple of Inishmaan (Leicester Theatre Trust); Ghost Boy (20 Stories High UK Tour); Cinderella (Cast) and Dracula (Action to the Word).

With Jim Pope he is co-artistic director of Playing ON Theatre Company and together they directed Philip’s play Inside, which had a sell-out run at The Roundhouse. Philip has a long relationship with Tamasha Theatre Company as a dramaturg and writing workshop leader and recently directed their production of Sudha Bhuchar's My Name is which tours the country this autumn. Philip is currently working on Playing ON’s next play Hearing Things.

Designer

Theatre credits: Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads and Abigal’s Party (Pilot Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Royal York and Pilot Theatre); The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, When We Are Married, Single Spies, Oliver!, The Playboy of the Western World, The White Devil (all directed by Paul Kerryson). Plague of Innocence, The Witches, Death of a Salesmen (Kully Thiarai, Leicester Haymarket); Smiling Through, Cut to the Chase, Forward, Beautiful Thing and Loot (Director Natalie Wilson). Over the past few years Emma has also been a Architectural Designer and Project Manager on the restoration of various properties.

CAST • Kes

Sound Designer

Other sound designs include: Happy Days the Musical (UK Tour); Hairspray (Leicester Curve); Cinderella (Cast); Cabaret; Scrooge; Soul Sister; Dreamboats and Petticoats and The Country Girl (West End and UK Tours); Carnaby Street, High Society, Blood Brothers; Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Dr Dolittle; Jekyll and Hyde; Tommy; Save the Last Dance for Me; The Boy Friend; Half a Sixpence; The Roy Orbison Story; This is Elvis; Laughter in the Rain; Rock and Roll Heaven and The Concert They Never Gave (UK Tours); Starlight Express and Evita (International Tours); Whistle Down The Wind (UK and American Tours); Dancing In The Streets (West End and International Tours); Tom, Dick and Harry and Wolfboy (West End); Hedda Gabler (Northampton Royal) and The Prodigals (Coventry Belgrade and Edinburgh Fringe).

Lighting Designer

Theatre credits: English Touring Opera; Nottingham Playhouse; Theatre Rites; Clod Ensemble; Theatre Centre; Akram Khan Company; Theatre O, Discover Children’s Centre; Salida Productions; Arc Dance; Guildhall School of Music and Drama; Yellow Earth; Mercury Theatre; Cleanbreak; Young Vic; Gate Theatre; Hackney Music Development Trust; Angika Dance Company; Theatre Royal Manchester; Unicorn Theatre; Royal and Derngate; Turtle Key Arts; Sadhana Dance Company; Bush Theatre; Bristol Old Vic; Paco Pena; Yasmin Vardimon Co; Red Cape Theatre; Smith Dance Theatre; Southbank Centre; Flying Cloud; Bristol Old Vic and The Rose Theatre Kingston amongst others.

In 2010 she collaborated with Libellule Theatre as an associate artist, devising and touring their production Just a Bit of Paper that received international accolades from Hand Spring Puppet Theatre Company at the 2011 Out of the Box Festival.

Associate Sound Designer

As an associate sound designer Simon’s work includes: The Lady Killers (Gielgud and UK Tour); What the Butler Saw (Vaudeville); Ben Hur (West Berkshire Playhouse); Piaf (Leicester Theatre Trust); Obama the Mamba (Artbuilding Projects); Scrooge; Evita; Dreamboats and Petticoats; Cabaret; Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat; Save the Last Dance for Me; Starlight Express (Bill Kenwrights Ltd); The King and I, High Society (Music and Lyrics) and Hotstuff (Leicester Theatre Trust).

Aideen has been a freelance lighting designer and tutor at Academy of Live and Recorded Arts since 2006. She is also a director of Junction, who design lighting sculptures and installations.

CAST • Kes

Will Simpson

Stuart West

William is a filmmaker and designer whose filmic abstractions and stories appear on stage, screen and in exhibition.

Stuart has been working in the entertainment industry for 17 years, 13 of which Stuart has worked as a freelance lighting designer, programmer and production electrician.

Projection Designer

Projection credits: Guantanamo Boy (Brolly/Half Moon Theatre); Richard III and Charlie Peace (Nottingham Playhouse); Up and Down (GaGa Theatre); Treasure Island (Mind the Gap); The Noise (Unlimited Theatre); Kes (Derby Theatre); the European stage premiere of The Kite Runner and Diary of a Football Nobody (both Nottingham Playhouse); the award-winning adaptation Of Mice and Men by Mike Kenny (Mind the Gap); Clockwork (National Theatre); Ragtime (LAOS); Mapping the City (Slunglow); The Mamba (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Piano Circus – Trilogies (Kings Place) amongst others. Film, TV and exhibition credits: Soldiering On (Channel 4/ Xenoki); Anish Kapoor Flashback (Arts Council Collection); Born Survivor (BBC3); Its Not Over Yet – Middleman (Universal Records); Talking Transformations (World Wildlife Foundation); Instructions for Films (Zoo Art Fair) and Lear Settings (Hull Sinfonietta) amongst others. William also runs the film and video design studio Omni Pictures and is founder of the internet television channel MITSU.TV.

Production Manager

Stuart’s career has been a combination of residency and freelance production work, which has given him a wide variety of experience in all forms of live performance from plays and musicals to music festivals and corporate events, and most recently television. Stuart is currently Head of Production at Cast, and is delighted to be a part of the production team on Cast’s second homegrown production. Stuart was previously Head of Lighting and Sound at Royal and Derngate in Northampton. Lighting design credits: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Musical (Theatre Royal Windsor and Bill Kenwright Ltd); Nation’s Best Am Dram, First Round Performances (Sky Arts HD at Royal & Derngate) amongst others. Production credits: Cinderella, Cast (Production Manager); The Glee Club, Cast (Assistant Production Manager); This Morning, ITV Studios (Operator/Programmer); Crackers – Large scale fireworks/pyrotechnics/projection performance art; The World Famous (Assistant Production Manager/Production Electrician) amongst others.

Board of trustees Margaret Hunt (Chair) Joan Beck Richard Byrne Andy Carver Peter Gleadhall Cllr Bob Johnson David Oldroyd Bobbie Roberts Kevin Spence Maureen Sydney Director Kully Thiarai Business development manager Clare Clarkson Office manager Kim Thomas Finance and administrative assistant Julie Bennett Production and programming assistant Michael Cook Head of marketing and communications Graham Whitehead Marketing and communications officer Oliver Eastwood Ticket office manager Adam Hogarty

The Yorkshire Hawking Club is into its 7th year and has grown in this short space of time to having over 130 enthusiastic members.The club prides itself in welcoming newcomers to the sport. We have mentors to help you gain knowledge and hold regular training sessions. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month in the Newton Arms in Sprotbrough at 8pm and welcome anyone wishing to join us for the evening. The Yorkshire Hawking Club is a LANTRA assessment point were members can acquire this qualification. Whilst the main function of the club is to hunt our birds, we do engage in summer events to promote our sport and to introduce our birds to the public. If you are interested in becoming a falconer or just interested in finding out more please visit us at www.yorkshirehawkingclub.org.uk or call Dale Johnson on 07534 530656. Supporters of Kes, a new version for Doncaster

CAST • Kes

Ticket office assistants Ros Free Jane Harris Laura Hibbert Rachel Ryan Amy Smith Laura Webster Head of production and projects Stuart West Technical manager Lee Walker

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway’s

An adaptation by imitating the dog

Wed 29 Oct - Sat 1 Nov Cast, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU

Stage manager Dave Law Flying and rigging technician Dave Griffiths Sound and lighting technician Matthew Sheridan Technical assistant Simon Hirst

Casual technicians Michael Bedford Ross Grant Jake Harrison Callum McRobbie Alexander Powell Tony Powell Gregory Thornton Theatre manager Kevin Johnson Duty manager Steph Rockley Stage door keeper Tommy Savage Housekeeping assistants Stacey Baldry Donna Clegg Front of house staff Natalie Brown Bev Collins Gavin Corden Elizabeth Griffiths Julie Hirst Chris Holt Megan Holt Paul Kelly Anne Lane Kathleen McDonald Samantha Randles Ione Riley Andrew Scott Hayley Shay Ada Smith Adam Smith Charlotte Tonkinson Assistant catering manager Anthony Mclnerney Trainee assistant catering managers Chantelle Cragg Stacey Larner Catering assistant Martin Terry Chef Lee Bradley Bar supervisor Linda Wilkinson

Cast would like to thank the following people who have worked with us: Ben Owen and his hawk Tinx - wetlandsanimalpark.co.uk, Birdsong Production, Christie Young, Ella Quinn, Zak Charnley, Hallgate United Reformed Church, Hayley Shay, Hull Truck Theatre, Lauren Townsend, Jade Richardson, Maia Weerdmeester, Q Division Ltd, Rachel Ryan, Sheffield Theatres, The Sprakes Family and Peter Burke and Dale Johnson of the Yorkshire Hawking Club.

None of this would be possible without the support of: Arts Council England, Right Up Our Street, darts, Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Doncaster Voluntary Arts Network, Higher Rhythm, New Stages.

Cast is a registered charity. The work we do really does make a difference. We inspire new generations, helping them to find their voice and build their confidence, and bring world-class theatre to our town. Now you’ve seen what we can offer, this is the perfect time to show your support.

Become a Member On our first birthday we will be launching our Founder Members scheme. Become a part of our history as one of our very first members. Memberships will start from just £30 and offer exclusive deals and benefits.

Make a donation When you book your tickets we will ask if you’d like to make a donation to Cast. Every £1 you give really will go a long way to help us achieve our ambition.

Claim a seat Enjoy your own little spot in our Main Space by claiming a seat. Attach your name, a message or your favourite line from a play to raise a smile. Enjoy your seat with four free tickets to a show of your choice, before leaving it there for all to see. Claiming a seat costs £500 for three years.

Become a Friend Do you have time to spare? Perhaps you could help us send out mailings to potential audiences, or maybe you could organise a coffee morning to raise funds? If you have time, why not becoming a Founder Friend of Cast? Meet people and help us make a difference. To find out more about the Friends email friends@castindoncaster.com. To find out more about how you can support Cast visit castindoncaster.com/support. Thank you.

Bar staff Sarah Belk Scott Kaihau Shelia Pass

01302 303 959 castindoncaster.com @castindoncaster

CAST • Kes

A Cast Pantomime Created by Matthew Bugg and Kully Thiarai Designed by Ali Allen

FRI 5 DEC – SAT 3 JAN

£17 / £14 concessions* Family 4 ticket £56*

(admits a maximum two full price ticket holders)

01302 303 959

castindoncaster.com Cast, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU * Includes 50p per ticket booking fee, not charged if paying by cash