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Far left: Andrew Bentley Chief Executive Left: Alex Clifton Artistic Director
WELCOME TO STORYHOUSE’S THEATRE
It’s been too long... I don’t know about you, but I’m zonked. All I need, is a good night out. I need something to make me giggle, an excuse for a bit of a cry and some live music. I need a good story told to me by someone I don’t know, who’s actually in the same room as me at the same time as me. I need to turn off and be turned on to someone else’s problems, someone else’s folly and most absolutely of all – a happy ending. Fortunately, even amongst all the Grim Stuff, we can make that happen here in Storyhouse. We’ve made it for ourselves, because we need it. Honestly. We want to share it with you, because that makes it worth doing – so we’re delighted you decided to come along and see it too. It’s just what we need, and hope it does the trick for you too. Here’s to recovery, reunion, redemption – and above all, joy. Dickens wrote the perfect story to give us the lot, in spades. Thanks for coming out to play. You’re brilliant.
Alex Clifton Artistic Director
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Bringing Scrooge to the stage In a normal year, the cast of A Christmas Carol would gather in the rehearsal room to read the script, rehearse the music and block out their movements in one collaborative whole. But this has been anything but a normal year, and for the team behind this adaptation of Dickens’ festive fable bringing it to the stage has been a different – and challenging - experience. With all but a week of rehearsals taking place remotely online, the artistic team has had to come up with new ways of working. The result has been a carefully conceived, if at times rather convoluted, process. Take what director Alex Clifton calls the production’s ‘banging tunes’ and the accompanying choreography for example. “I send the musical director a song that I want her to arrange,” he explains of the current system of working. “She does the arrangement remotely in her bedroom with her own instruments. She sends that back to me, I send her notes on it, she looks at it again.
“She sends it back and I then send it on to the choreographer with some references to the kind of dance steps and energy I’m looking for. She then choreographs it in her front room and films herself.
“Then the choreographer sends round the dance steps to the song that nobody can hear, which we all then learn, in our bedrooms or front rooms or kitchens or wherever it is, on our own.” In addition to the music and movement, Alex takes the cast through the story, discussing characterisation and relationships as well as rehearsing their lines. Preparation is key, so that when the performers do finally come together in the same room – observing careful social distancing of course – the work they have rehearsed alone in their own kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms can be quickly transformed into a single piece of seamless theatrical magic. And after all, we all crave - and certainly deserve - a huge helping of magic topped with a liberal sprinkling of seasonal storytelling sparkle this Christmas.
“Now rehearsals start online. I rehearse the scene with six little squares staring back at me. We just read it in our own front rooms. “The MD emails across the music for the musicians who then go silent on Zoom because you can’t all play at the same time, so they all mute themselves and play the song together – but none of them can hear each other.
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WRITER AND DIRECTOR ALEX CLIFTON ON
The timely tale of redemption and recovery It’s a tale that artistic director Alex Clifton has long wanted to bring to the Storyhouse stage. And now he has taken the opportunity to visit Charles Dickens’ perennially popular seasonal story and, in these strange times we are living through, invest it with extra resonance. “It’s a story of a man who’s isolating,” he explains of the venue’s choice for this Christmas like no other. “He’s isolating himself from the world, excluding the world, and then he’s brought out from isolation. “And that story of reunion and redemption – and recovery – is a really powerful one at this moment.” Since it was written nearly 180 years ago, A Christmas Carol has been told and retold in a myriad of ways, from classic Victorian drama to toe-tapping musicals and even in Muppet form. But behind the immediate story of Scrooge, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim there is a profound and much larger political message about the gulf between rich and poor and how society’s most disadvantaged are treated. Dickens’ own childhood was overshadowed by his father’s financial problems – which landed John Dickens in debtors’ prison and his family in squalid surroundings, and the early part of the author’s career was also overshadowed by money worries.
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He was inspired to write A Christmas Carol in 1843 after giving a speech in Manchester and seeing the living conditions of some of its poorest inhabitants, although his initial impulse had been to write a pamphlet titled An Appeal to the People of England on Behalf of the Poor Man’s Child. “He was diverted instead to writing a story that would deliver an emotional impact,” Alex says. “And actually, the only way you could express or successfully carry your political anger to an audience was giving them a great tune, or, in the case of Dickens, a great story.” Mention of a great tune is no accident. A soundtrack of pulsing musical numbers forms the backdrop to this adaptation – protest songs from the post-punk era of the 1980s, or what Alex calls “great music motivated by great social and political anger.”
On a practical level, the experience of producing a Covid-safe, socially distanced The Comedy of Errors in Grosvenor Park over the summer has directly informed the process of bringing A Christmas Carol to the stage. It’s a process which involves a lot of preparation and some intricate organisational choreography to divide the show into its composite parts, learn and rehearse them remotely in isolation, then fit them back together in seamless fashion to create the final live performance the audience will see. Take the ‘banging tunes’ with catchy melodies and political bite which populate the production. Like last year’s Peter Pan, the show is being performed in the intimate surroundings of the thrust stage auditorium – all the more intimate because social distancing means the 500-seat space has been reduced to a maximum of 200, or 40% of capacity, for each performance.
Storyhouse was one of the first arts venues to reopen its doors in the summer and has been showing films in its well-ventilated theatre along with hosting a handful of live performances, which means it’s well-versed in how to handle both audiences and cast and crew in a Covid-safe way. “We know it’s a safe space,” says Alex. “So I hope the experience will be very similar to coming to see The Beggar’s Opera, or Secret Seven. I hope it won’t feel starkly different to your usual theatre-going experience.” As for A Christmas Carol? “In a way it’s a very simple fable,” Alex says. “But it also deals with complex politics and asks a question which has inevitably got some quite difficult layers to it. “Dickensian Britain was brutal beyond what we can currently imagine. “But we’re now in the second decade of austerity. We’re facing cuts that are impacting on social care, on health care, on all elements of the networks and social structures that act as safety nets. “And so that’s also why the story is one I’ve been wanting to tell - because it’s a story that I think has continued resonance. How can you live empathetically in a capitalist society? How can you live compassionately? How can you earn compassionately?” Of course, Dickens knew how to bring together dark and light, tears and laughter, in one compelling whole and that is what Storyhouse audiences can expect from this new adaptation too. Alex smiles: “What I hope I’ve written is a Christmas comedy. I’ve tried to serve what Dickens presented us with, which was yes sourced from political anger but delivered as social joy. “And that’s all I want an audience to think about and feel. “Open your heart and welcome the joy of the evening, the celebration of communion and the thrill of the shared experience.”
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Ghost Town and the post-punk pop protest song When in 1981 The Specials sang about ‘living in a Ghost Town’ they were thinking more about the physical urban decay around them than the spiritual decay within. The band had been moved to capture on record how they felt as they toured Britain’s run-down towns and witnessed a sense of hopelessness and a frustration which had started to spill over into violence. And they were not the only ones to use song to shine a light on what they saw in happening in the world outside. But harnessing music to make powerful political or social statements wasn’t new to the 1980s. Take John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, premiered nearly three centuries earlier and which was not simply a lampoon of overblown Italian opera of the time but was also a stark comment on the politics – and the poverty – of early 18th Century Britain. Protest songs in the 19th and early 20th Centuries became instruments to try and affect social change to make public statements about war, civil rights, the struggle of the working classes or the fight for universal suffrage. Out of this history rose the punk culture of the late 1970s with its anti-glam, anti-fashion, anti-state, anti-capitalist ethos set against a background of industrial disputes, stagflation, rising unemployment and strikes culminating in the Winter of Discontent which in 1979 swept the Conservatives back to power. And so the scene was set for a decade where the protest song really took centre stage, moving from the musical margins to a prime time slot on Top of the Pops, sitting alongside the optimistic synth pop of the New Romantics.
While Harold Wilson and Edward Heath had been name-checked in The Beatles’ Taxman, Jim Callaghan, who as Prime Minister had presided over the Winter of Discontent, somehow managed to remain under the musical radar. But Margaret Thatcher would become as much a subject as her policies did – a figure of hate around whom the most prolific of the post-punk political protest songwriters coalesced. In 1980 not one but two groups – The Blues Band and The Specials – recorded new versions of Bob Dylan’s 60s blues song Maggie’s Farm, with reworked lyrics now alluding to the new PM and her policies. The Beat’s 1982 song Stand Down Margaret intoned “I see no joy, I see only sorrow, I see no chance of your bright new tomorrow” while The Blow Monkeys’ 1987 album was not only titled She Was Only a Grocer’s Daughter but also featured individual tracks like (Celebrate) The Day After You. Merseyside’s Elvis Costello went even further, his excoriating number Tramp the Dirt Down imagining his response to Margaret Thatcher’s death. Elsewhere, the decline and decay of Britain’s old industrial towns and cities, sharpening inequalities, rising youth unemployment and confrontations like the Miners’ Strike all fuelled anger which found a release in some memorable tunes and searing lyrics. Ghost Town, with its talk of ‘government leaving the young on the shelf’, UB40’s One in Ten – a reference to the local unemployment statics, Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding and Billy Bragg’s version of the 1930s Which Side Are You On? all made their own political statements in song. Words by Catherine Jones
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Creatives A Storyhouse Originals Production Adapted for Storyhouse by Alex Clifton Based on the original by Charles Dickens Director Alex Clifton Musical director Jessica Dives Designer Jessica Curtis Sound Designer Ben Harrison Lighting Designer Prema Mehta Choreographer Stephanine Hockley
Accessible Performances Audio Description by Mind’s Eye Captioning by Stephen Burrows BLS by Andy Higgins
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Cast Anton Cross
Cratchit / Ali Baba / Jacob / Jeremiah
Jess Dives
Miss Belinda / Plumface / Fan / Mrs Cratchit
Matthew Ganley
Marley / Mrs Fezziwig / Topper / Old Joe
Natalie Grady Scrooge
Stephanie Hockley Court Jester / Clara / Bolshy / Understudy
Norah Lopez Holden Fred / Bickerton / Fezziwig / Mrs Dilber
Yana Penrose
Clergyman / Rosie / Gradgrind / Belle / Martha / Dora
Seren Vickers
Undertaker / Miss Melinda / Crusoe / Ebenezer / Ghost of Christmas Present / Rosie’s Mum
From Storyhouse’s Youth Theatre, introducing: Nathaniel Clifton, Henry Harrison and Ben Nelson
sharing the roles of Peter Cratchit and The Ghost of Christmas Past
Martha Gambles, Charlie Scargill and Teddy Tindle
sharing the roles of Tiny Tim, Young Scrooge and carol singer
Niamh Byrne-O’Brien, Mia Parry and Isabel Wordsworth
sharing the roles of Mary Cratchit and the Turkey Lad
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In the rehearsal room Images by Mark Carline
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A Christmas Carol
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Cast
Jessica Dives Miss Belinda / Plumface / Fan / Mrs Cratchit
Anton Cross Cratchit / Ali Baba / Jacob / Jeremiah Previously at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre and Storyhouse: A Comedy of Errors (2020), The Secret Seven (2017), Stig of the Dump, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It (2016) Anton studied at Lamda Other credits include: Romeo, Romeo And Juliet, (The Orange Tree Theatre), Celebinus, Tamburlaine, (RSC), Caphus, Timon Of Athens, (RSC), Boy, Good Dog, (Tiata Fahodzi), Frank, No Villain, (Old Red Lion), Robin, Stoney Fruit, (Fine Mess Theatre), Rehearsed Reading, Ethan, Elizabeth (High Tide Theatre Festival), John Blanke, The Low Road, ( Lamda), Louise Hill, Young Marlow, She Stoops To Conquer, (Lamda) Gordon, Rent, The Musical, (Lamda), Earl Of Worcester, Henry V, Part I, (Lamda), Olly, The English Game, (Lamda), Aaron, The Moor, Titus Andronicus, ( Lamda), Sorin, The Seagull, (Lamda), You Are Me The Occupied Times, Ensemble, Emperor And Galilean, (Royal National Theatre)
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Jessica trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has a BA from Royal Holloway, University of London. For Storyhouse: A Comedy of Errors (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre 2020), Twelfth Night, Henry V and The Borrowers (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre 2019) Other theatre Credits include: The Ballad of Maria Marten (Eastern Angles/SJT); Guess How Much I Love You (Selladoor Theatre); The Lost Ones (Bush Theatre/Theatre Royal Stratford East); Skellig (Tin Robot Theatre); Newsrevue (Canal Cafe Theatre); Hamlet and Macbeth (Young Shakespeare Company); Red Riding Hood (Liverpool Everyman Theatre); Blue Stockings and The Commune (Central School of Speech and Drama); Machinal (Royal Holloway UoL)
Matthew Ganley Marley / Mrs Fezziwig / Topper / Old Joe Matthew trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Theatre credits include: The Prince & The Pauper (New Vic Theatre); Around The World In 80 Days (New Victory Theatre, Broadway); The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (Bolton Octagon); Maggie May (Liverpool Royal Court); Bread & Roses, The Ladykillers, Our Gracie (Oldham Coliseum); Around The World In 80 Days (Kenny Wax Ltd & New Vic Theatre UK Tour); Beryl (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Once - the Musical (the Phoenix Theatre, London); The Snow Queen (New Vic Theatre) Blonde Bombshells of 1943 (TEG UK Tour); Much Ado About Nothing (Lancaster Castle); Aladdin, Jack & The Beanstalk (Everyman Playhouse, Liverpool); The Winter’s Tale (Brindley Theatre, Runcorn); Word:Play tour (Box of Tricks Theatre); The Crypt Project, New Depths & Borderline Vultures (Happystorm Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (Shakespeare’s Globe/Sam Wanamaker Festival); Once in a House on Fire (Monkeywood Theatre); The Play That Killed Me, The Lonely Clouds of Guernica, God Wept and the Devil Laughed (Come As You Arts – winner of the Manchester Theatre Award for Best Studio Performance); Macbeth (Pendley Shakespeare Festival); Romeo and Juliet (Royal Armouries, Leeds) and The Laramie Project (Hope Theatre Company).
Television credits include: Prey – series two (ITV); Accused – series two (RSJ Films); Emmerdale (ITV); Waterloo Road (BBC); Shameless (Channel 4); Hollyoaks (Channel 4); Bradford Riots (Channel 4). Film credits include: The Violators (Red Union Films); Block and The Lane (Silent Productions). Radio credits include: Peterloo: The Massacre That Changed Britain (BBC); Rock (Dark Smile Productions) and Dreaming of Foxes (BBC).
Natalie Grady Scrooge Natalie trained at Drama Centre For Storyhouse: As You Like It, Merlin and the Woods of Time (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2011), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar (2017)
Other Theatre includes: Tartuffe (RSC/Birmingham Rep) Peter Pan (The Park Theatre); This House (National Theatre); Brassed Off (Oldham Coliseum); Martha, Josie And The Chinese Elvis, Hobson’s Choice, Twelfth Night, The Love Inn, Peter Pan (Bolton Octagon); To Kill A Mockingbird (Barbican Theatre and Tour); To Kill A Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Mother Courage And Her Children, The Daughter In Law (Library Theatre/Lowry Theatre); The Importance Of Being Earnest (Library Theatre); What The Butler Saw (Salisbury Playhouse); RAFTA RAFTA (National Theatre) Galithea (Shakespeare’s Globe); Tiger At The Gates, Wilkinson/Eastman Project (National Theatre Studio); As You Like It (RSC and Sheffield Crucible) See How They Run (West End and tour). Film and Television Credits Includes: The Other One (BBC) Meet the Richardson’s (Dave); Anne (ITV) Coronation Street (ITV) Endeavour (ITV); Hollyoaks (Lime PIctures); Snatch (Sony/Crackle); Trollied (Sky 1); 6 Wives (BBC) Doctors (BBC) Jam and Jerusalem (BBC) Aasha the Street Dog (Newscope Films) Radio includes: Torchwood (Big Finish) A letter to Louis, Brief Lives, Orlando, That’ll be the day, The loneliness of the long distance runner, His Fathers Wife, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Dogs and the Wolves, I.O.U, The Flea, Dead Mans Suit; Love, war and Trains; The Trial; Higher; Silver Street (BBC Radio 4)
Stephanie Hockley Court Jester / Clara / Bolshy / Understudy Stephanie trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Theatre credits include: Malory Towers (Wise Children 2019/2020 Tour), Robin Hood (Watermill Theatre), Return to the Forbidden Planet (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel (Liverpool Everyman), Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Storyhouse, Chester) and Sleeping Beauty (Mercury Theatre, Colchester) Stephanie is also a singer-songwriter and musician. She is so excited to be back at Storyhouse this winter to bring some Christmas cheer!
Awards: MTA 2012 Winner of Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minnie Gascoigne in The Daughter In Law MTA 2014 Nominee Best Actress MTA 2017 Nominee Best Supporting Actress Natalie is also a professional voice and dialect coach and has coached at Storyhouse on The Beggar’s Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wizard of Oz and Blue Stockings.
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Yana Penrose Clergyman / Rosie / Gradgrind / Belle / Martha / Dora
Norah Lopez Holden Fred / Bickerton / Fezziwig / Mrs Dilber Theatre credits includes: Equus (Theatre Royal Stratford and ETT) , Equus (west end transfer at Trafalgar Studios);The Winter’s Tale, Eyam (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Almighty Sometimes, Our Town (The Royal Exchange); Othello (Bristol Tobacco Factory And ETT); Ghosts (HOME, Manchester); Epic Love and Pop Songs (Pleasance Theatre, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Radio credits includes: Assata Shakur – FBI’s Most Wanted Woman (BBC Radio 4), Charles Paris: A Cinderella Killer (BBC Radio 4) The Name (BBC Radio 4) etc,
Yana graduated from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in 2013. Theatre credits include: An Enemy of the People (National Tour, Albany Theatre), Ballad of Rudy (Manchester Exchange), How Love Is Spelt (Southwark Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regents Park Open Air), Jack, Christmas Carol, Hansel and Gretel (Derby Theatre) Emily Rising (Little Angel). Film and Television credits include: Humans (Channel 4) and feature film Carnivore. Yana is also a writer, she is a member of the Royal Courts Young Writers group, and was the recipient of Camden Peoples Theatre Seed Commission for her debut play, Daddy Issues.
Seren Vickers Undertaker / Miss Melinda / Crusoe / Ebenezer / Ghost of Christmas Present / Rosie’s Mum Seren trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. For Storyhouse: Henry V and The Borrowers, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre 2019 Other theatre Credits include: Gwen, Hail Cremation! (National Theatre Wales); Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, (Barbican Theatre, Plymouth); Gwen, Hauntings & Pork Pies, (Theatr Clwyd); Aneurin Bevan, An Act of Care, (HOME); Storm 3, (National Theatre Wales); MAGS, (Cwmni Pluen); Medea, Highway One, (Wales Millennium Centre); Regan, The King Lear; Two, ‘hang’, Run Amok; Andrea, Dark Vanilla Jungle, (Company of Sirens) Seren is truly excited and delighted to be appearing in A Christmas Carol. Chester became a home from home in the Summer of 2019, when Seren took part in Storyhouse’s Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre Festival, and she is relishing her return to this beautiful city. Seren would like to wish you health and happiness in 2021. Nadolig Llawen!
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FROM STORYHOUSE’S YOUTH THEATRE, INTRODUCING:
Niamh BryneO’Brien
Charlie has been a member of Storyhouse’s youth theatre since it began in 2017. He recently got to the final stages of a national story writing competition and had a lead role in his school play, Rock Bottom.
Niamh Byrne-O’Brien has been a member of Storyhouse Youth Theatre since 2018. She loves to play hockey and netball and in school her favourite subjects are Sport , English and Art. She has been in multiple shows both in London and Chester, including school performances and other productions. In school she has keyboard lessons and is working towards grade 2. She likes to go on holiday with her family and would love to travel the world with her friends. she in particular likes learning languages in school so she can pursue her dream of travelling. She has really enjoyed working with professional actors and can’t wait to perform the show!
Nathaniel Clifton Nathaniel has been a member of Storyhouse’s youth theatre since September 2017. He’s played Billy Elliot in a school show and Doodle in Bugsy Malone at Storyhouse. He loves Star Wars, The Dark Knight and anything with Will Smith. He’s most excited about working with professional actors and debuting his cockney accent.
Martha Gambles Martha joined Storyhouse youth theatre in 2018. She had her first death scene playing Snow White at Gemini School of Dance in 2016 and was a lost boy in Storyhouse’s production of Peter Pan. She loves skateboarding and playing drums. She can’t wait to tell the rude jokes in this show!
Charlie Scargill
Henry Harrison Henry loves acting and has been a member of Storyhouse’s youth theatre since 2018. He has performed in Bugsy Malone and Peter Pan at Storyhouse as well as starting LAMDA at school. Off stage Henry enjoys playing basketball. He is really excited to be a part of Storyhouse’s Christmas!
Ben Nelson Ben Nelson has been with Storyhouse youth theatre since September 2017. He performed last year in the Storyhouse production of Peter Pan and played Henry V in a Shakespeare Schools production at the New Brighton Floral Pavilion. He loves stand-up comedy and cannot wait to work alongside the professional cast.
Mia Parry Mia Parry has been at Storyhouse youth theatre since 2019. She performed in the last two Christmas productions of The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. She enjoys dancing, singing, acting and playing the piano. Mia is really excited to be back on stage in front of a live audience.
Charlie loves reading the Harry Potter series, watching Hamilton and is a Star Wars fanatic!
Teddy Tindle Teddy’s Storyhouse debut was in Castaway’s Oliver! He performed in Bugsy Malone as Babyface and Bishop Heber’s Évita. Teddy plays golf, loves his bed and Xbox! Since 2017, Storyhouse youth theatre has influenced him alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda and his drama teacher Mrs Cawley. He’s excited to spend time with this amazing cast!
Isabel Wordsworth
Isabel has been a keen member of Storyhouse’s youth theatre since 2017, during this time she has performed in several school plays and has appeared in both ITV’s Victoria and The Worst Witch. Isabel was truly inspired by her role in Peter Pan last Christmas and can’t wait to be involved again this year! Isabel also enjoys both ballet and piano as well as playing with her dog Hugo.
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Creatives Alex Clifton
Jessica Curtis
Ben Harrison
Writer and Director
Designer
Sound Designer
Alex is Artistic Director of Storyhouse and co-founded Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre. He’s a Cestrian, and a proud alumnus of Christleton High School and the Chester Gateway Youth Theatre. After graduating with a first-class degree in English from Oxford, Alex worked as Assistant Director for The National Theatre. He then became Resident Director at English National Opera for two years, assisting on major international productions and directing new operas with young offenders, local youth groups and with professional companies touring London primary schools. Alex left this to run his own theatre company, touring new plays across rural and disadvantaged communities out of the back of a decommissioned ambulance. For seven years, Alex was a senior acting teacher at RADA, teaching and directing actors in training. This led to a commission to write a book on acting for Bloomsbury, The Actor’s Workbook, which was published in 2016. He’s a Fellow of the Institute of Higher Education and has been heavily involved in community and education projects throughout his career, making plays with children in Soweto, teenagers at Theresienstadt concentration camp, parent asylum- seekers in Surrey and elderly immigrant women in Hackney.
Jess trained on the Motley Theatre Design Course. She was nominated for the UK award for design in 2018.
For Storyhouse: Little Shop of Horrors (2019), A Little Night Music (2018) and The Beggar’s Opera (2017).
For Storyhouse and Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Cyrano de Bergerac (2013) The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, The Secret Garden (2014) Merry Wives of Windsor, The Wind in the Willows, Romeo and Juliet (2015) The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Stig of the Dump, As You like It (2016) Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar (2017), The Beggar’s Opera (2017) A Little Night Music, The Crucible (2018)
Sound designs include; Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Club Tropicana, Dr Dolittle, Rock of Ages, Fame, Hairspray, The Railway Children, The Wedding Singer, The Million Dollar Quartet, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Return To The Forbidden Planet, Happy Days The Musical, Carnaby Street, High Society, Blood Brothers, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jekyll & 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 (UK tours); Cabaret, Scrooge, Soul Sister, Dreamboats & Petticoats and The Country Girl (West End & UK Tours); Starlight Express and Evita (International Tours); Whistle Down The Wind (UK & American Tours); Dancing In The Streets (West End & International Tours); Mame (Hope Mill Theatre); The Stick Maker Tales (National Theatre Wales); The Wizard of Oz & Into The Woods (Leeds Playhouse); Bugsy Malone (Hammersmith Lyric); Five Guys Named Moe (Festival Square Theatre & Marble Arch Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Northampton Royal); The Prodigals (Coventry Belgrade & Edinburgh Fringe); The King & I and Hairspray (Leicester Curve & UK Tour); Obama The Mamba (Leicester Curve & The Lowry); Simply Cinderella, The Pillowman, Hot Stuff, Gypsy, Hello Dolly!, Oliver, Piaf, Sweeney Todd, Chicago and The Sound of Music (Leicester Curve).
Theatre directing credits For Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre and Storyhouse: A Comedy of Errors (2020) The Wizard of Oz, The Tempest, A Little Night Music (2018), The Beggar’s Opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Secret Seven (2017); The Two Gentleman of Verona (2016); Romeo & Juliet, The Wind in the Willows (2015); Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors (2014); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello (2013); Twelfth Night (2012); Merlin and the Woods of Time (2011); Hercules (2010)
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Recent Work Includes: Genesis Inc. (Hampstead Theatre) Loosing Venice (The Orange Tree Theatre) Uncle Vanya (The Almeida) Villette, Dangerous Corner (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Kiss Me Quickstep, Haunting Julia (The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch) One For The Road, Glass Cage, Follies (Royal And Derngate, Northampton), The Holy Rosenbergs (National Theatre), Hotel Cerise (Theatre Royal, Stratford East) Another Door Closed (Theatre Royal Bath), Endgame (Liverpool Everyman), Dangerous Corner (West Yorkshire Playhouse And West End), Frankenstein (Frantic Assembly, Northampton), Burial At Thebes (Nottingham Playhouse/Barbican/Us Tour) And Rhapsody, Fantasy (Royal Ballet At The Royal Opera House).
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, Macbeth, An Illustrious Corpse, Beautiful Thing, The Fortune Club, East, Divine, The Bogus Woman (also Adelaide & New York), The Good Woman of Schezuan, Pacific Overtures, The Happy Prince and The Wizard of Oz.
Jessica Dives
Prema Mehta
Musical Director
Lighting Designer
For Storyhouse: A Comedy of Errors (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, 2020)
Theatre credits include: The Comeback (Noel Coward Theatre); A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Trafalgar Studios); Swive (Elizabeth), Bartholomew Fair, Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe); A History of Water in the Middle East, Superhoe (Royal Court); Studio Créole (Manchester International Festival); Things of Dry Hours (Young Vic); Of Kith & Kin (Sheffield Crucible/Bush Theatre); The Effect (English Theatre of Frankfurt); The Hired Man (Queen’s, Hornchurch/Bolton Octagon/Hull Truck); Fame (UK Tour/Peacock Theatre); East is East (Northern Stage/Nottingham Playhouse); The Importance of Being Earnest (Bolton Octagon); Talking Heads (Leeds Playhouse); Chicken Soup (Sheffield Crucible); Holes, Hercules (Nottingham Playhouse); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Leicester Curve); Mighty Atoms (Hull Truck); A Passage to India (Royal and Derngate/UK Tour); The Wizard of Oz (Storyhouse); The York Suffragettes, Murder, Margaret & Me (York Theatre Royal); Love Lies & Taxidermy, Growth, I Got Superpowers for My Birthday (Paines Plough); The Effect (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Coming Up, Jefferson’s Garden, Fourteen (Watford Palace); The Electric Hills (Liverpool Everyman); The Great Extension (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Snow Queen (Derby Theatre); The Canterville Ghost, Huddle (Unicorn); Wipers (UK Tour).
Jessica is a Multi-instrumentalist, Composer/Singer Songwriter and Music Educator in Liverpool. She is a regular performer with the likes of the award-winning, all-female Rock and Roll Band, The Daisy Chains, and a founding member and front woman of London-based vintage cabaret act, The Volstead Orchestra. Musical Director/Composer/ Arranger credits include: The Ballad of Maria Marten, (Eastern Angles/ Stephen Joseph Theatre); Up, Up, Up and Away (Super Stories Theatre); Merry Christmas Carol, (Royal Court, Liverpool)
Dance credits include: Bells (Mayor of London 2012); Spill (Düsseldorf); Sufi Zen (Royal Festival Hall); Dhamaka (O2 Arena) and Maaya (Westminster Hall). Event credits include: A-List Party Area (Madame Tussauds, London). Prema is founder of Stage Sight. She is on the board of directors for The Unicorn Theatre and is the Artistic Associate at The Young Vic. premamehta.com
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For Storyhouse EXECUTIVE
SALES & MARKETING
Andrew Bentley BEM Chief Executive Alex Clifton Artistic Director Ros Thomas Head of Finance Laura Anderton IT Support Administrator Emmeline Coppock HR Manager (Maternity Cover) Emma Hutt HR Manager Nicola Jackson HR Administrator Chelsie Jones Finance Assistant Jade Palmer Executive Assistant Amy Talbot Payroll & Finance Administrator
Jen Chapman Head of Sales & Marketing Alex Atkinson Group Sales Officer Nancy Davies Marketing & PR Manager Ellie Franklin Digital Content Officer Fiona Yates-Dutton Sales Administrator
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Ngunan Adamu Erik Boekesteijn Bense Burnett Geoff Clifton MBE Jane Hyndman Amy Jones Katrina Kerr Sue Leech (Vice-Chair) Dadiow Lin Rio Matchett Peter Mearns (Chair) Professor Allan Owens Louise Towers
DEVELOPMENT Kate Mylchreest Head of Development Emma Wallace Learning & Development Assistant
PROGRAMMING Nicky Beaumont Film & Digital Programme Manager Eleanor Brick Programme Manager Kim Curzon Young Storyhouse Projects Officer Nicola Haigh Communities Programme Manager Hayley Lindley-Thornhill Young Storyhouse Projects Manager Jacob Maudsley Creative Learning Practitioner Si Poole Senior Lead in Cultural Education & Research Alix Rawlinson Young Storyhouse Projects Coordinator Rhianne Stubbs Creative Learning Practitioner Georgina West Communities Programme Manager Helen Redcliffe Associate Producer
Fran Douglas Billie-Joe Kelly Jacob Maudsley Alix Rawlingson Rhianne Stubbs Georgina West Lucy Whitehead
PRODUCTION
OPERATIONS
Lowri Allen Costume Maker Nick Ashcroft Senior Technician (Lighting) Tommy Biglin Deputy Technical Manager Ryan Bird Technician
Storyhouse partners, funders and corporate sponsors:
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Sarah Clarke Technician Ellen Commack Wardrobe Assistant Cath Cullinane Technician Therese Denis Costume Supervisor Suzie Foster Head Chaperone and ASM Lee Hopkins Technician Liam O’Neill Technician Andrew Patterson Technical Manager Oliver Price Lighting Programmer/ Technician James Roberts Senior Technician (Sound and AV) Dave Skelly Carpenter Alec Stokes Technician Nathan Storm Senior Technician (Stage) Andrea Tynan Technician Matthew Willars Technician
CHAPERONES
Oliver Hill Head of Operations Ian Anderson Service Manager Matthew Byrne Housekeeper Nassera Chaalane Assistant Restaurant Manager
Donna Collings Customer Service Operations Manager Matthew Cooke Security Steward Matt Cowell Chef de Partie Dimitar Durchov Chef de Partie Sebastian Durko Commis Chef Ian Fawson Service Manager Hannah Fisher Service Supervisor Alison Francis Housekeeper Ana Gjikopulli Service Supervisor Joel Hodgkinson Housekeeper Jez Houlbrook Head Chef Nathan Houlbrook Kitchen Porter Anna Jasinska Service Supervisor Emily Jones Security Manager Elliott Minshull Service Supervisor James Robinson Kitchen Porter Taylor Sanderson Housekeeper David Speed Service Assistant Noel Tegg Venue Manager Sean Thomas Kitchen Porter Kevin Thompson Housekeeper Michael Williams Kitchen Porter Stephen Wilde Housekeeper Sharon Wilson Head Housekeeper
SERVICE ASSISTANTS Isaac Brennan Joshua Browne Luke Bush Jack Docking Alex Goldsmith Maeve Haggerty Kavanagh Elisa Ippolito Billie-Joe Kelly Denise Oxton Katherine Rios Moncayo Aiden Smith Nicky Wood Emily Yeardsley-Price Grace Lindsay-Austin Mark Reed Claire Prosser Andrew Houghton Max Hutchinson Charis Hayden Emma Hall Spencer Drummond Jake Stewart Tomaz van der Merwe Maria Hughes David Bartley Iwona Tonia Robert Brookes
LIBRARY TEAM Linda Tyson Library Team Leader John Cooke David Fowler Katie Gilliland Carol Hanson Adam Haycocks Jane Hockenhull Nikki Jennerway Naomi Kelly Rosie Marubbi Louise Nesbitt Claire Oxley Lucy Peake Cari Roberts Janet Salisbury Jo Shepherd Maike Schoeppner Annette Starmer Jenny Stokes Isabel Fielding-Walliss
THANK YOU! The amazing Storyhouse team of volunteers for their unflinching dedication. The Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Theatre Clwyd, CSP Audio Visual, Liverpool Scenic, Samantha Hatton
Save Storyhouse, Save Christmas, Save Tiny Tim Christmas is back on of course (yet again!) and we are still in the fight. It’s a great time to bring some Christmas joy back into our lives, and save Storyhouse, Christmas and Tiny Tim along the way. We’ve been saying as loud as we can that we think theatres should be open for their communities, and we have been doing just that. Storyhouse was the first UK theatre, first cinema and first library to open in after the first lockdown and will be the first to re-open this Christmas. This has been made possible only by you. Over 5,000 of you have become Storyhouse Members and the buoyancy you’ve provided is keeping us afloat. So many others have donated, cajoled and corralled. We’ll have the chance to not only survive but maybe even thrive. Thank you. Here are some great ways to help us, and for us to help you, this Christmas: Thank you to each and every one of you.
Gift Membership Storyhouse Card is the perfect gift for film or theatre lovers and gives them 10% off all tickets, priority access, and no booking fees. Choose a six or 12 month subscription and send to someone you love with a personalised message. Or, become a Member yourself for just £4 a month with no commitment.
Buy a Gift Voucher Everyone needs something to look forward to. Storyhouse Gift Vouchers can be used for any event at Storyhouse, Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Moonlight Drive and Moonlight Flicks. Choose any amount to give, and personalise your message.
Donate Make a one-off donation or become a regular giver and help to Save Storyhouse. Every penny raised will go towards our New Story Campaign, which will fund our new events and Covid-safe activities in 2021.
Pay it Forward Support us by buying tickets for yourself or treat someone else. In the event of any further lockdowns, we’ve pledged to move all tickets to a new show and keep going until everyone has had a wonderful night at the theatre. The show will go on.
We need your help this Christmas – but with your support, we’ll emerge even stronger for 2021
Give the gift of Storyhouse p i h s r e b m e m t f i G s all ticket 10% off fees g n i k o o No b king o o b y t i r Prio ths n o m 2 1 or Choose 6
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d at e re s t u a e e b h T n r a i C en A p O k r a P or cks i l F Grosven t h g i l or Moon ount m a y n a Choose
Make someone’s Christmas Buy now at storyhouse.com