Robin Hood

Sat 5th Dec 2015 - Sat 23rd Jan 2016

About

‘the go-to pantomime this season.’
Morning Star

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Lime Magazine

Join Theatre Royal Stratford East this Christmas for lots of laughter, brand new songs and a sack full of festive fun in this dazzling new version of the classic tale brought to you by our Olivier Award-nominated team.

Robin Hood, the prince of thieves is on a mission! Join him and his swashbuckling merry band of men as they get robbin’ the rich to feed the poor. Along the way they must undertake a quest to save good King Richard and the poor people of StratEastHam from the evil Prince John who is plotting to steal the crown. Will Robin and his motley crew save the day? Or will the feisty and fearless Maid Marion (and her devoted Nurse) get there first? And just what is the secret Marion is hiding?

The perfect Christmas treat for children of all ages, this action-packed panto features a whole host of magical surprises and plenty of joining in… oh yes it does!

Writers Trish Cooke and Robert Hyman reunite with director Kerry Michael for the first time since their brilliant production of Dick Whittington in 2013.

Press on Robin Hood:

Time Out

The Guardian

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‘The home-grown panto team at Stratford East rarely disappoints, and this year's Robin Hood is one of the best ever’
WhatsOnStage

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‘A riotous, fun-filled celebration of a British legend that flies in the face of convention’
The Stage

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‘Strong performances from every single cast member, great music, catchy songs and epic set design certainly make Robin Hood one of the better choices of panto this season.’
The Upcoming

‘Stratford East’s annual panto returns with a bang this year’
Reviews Hub

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West End Wilma

‘Robin Hood is an absolute riot.’
LondonTheatre1

‘tasty cake of a pantomime’
Newham Recorder

‘I promise it will give anyone a good time.’
British Theatre Guide

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Creative and Cast

CREATIVE
Writer TRISH COOKE
Writer / Composer ROBERT HYMAN
Director KERRY MICHAEL
Associate Director MARCUS ELLARD
Designers HATTIE BARSBY
& JENNY TIRAMANI
Lighting Designer DAVID PLATER
Sound Designer ANDREW JOHNSON
Choreographer OMAR OKAI
Fight Director IAN MCCRACKEN
Animation Design ROBIN FULLER
Special Effects by SCOTT PENROSE

CAST
Nadia Albina MARION
Michael Bertenshaw PRINCE JOHN
Ashley Campbell KING RICHARD
Alex Chang TUCK
Rebecca Derren HERMAN
Geraint Rhys Edwards TITCH
Derek Elroy NURSE
Ashley Joseph RED
Richard Sumitro SHERIFF
Oliver Wellington ROBIN

BAND
Musical Director ROBERT HYMAN
Drums PERRY MELIUS
Bass Guitar WAYNE NUNES

Cast Biogs

Nadia Albina
Marion

Nadia trained at LAMDA.

Theatre credits include: Hecuba, Othello and The Merchant of Venice (The Royal Shakespeare Company), A Stab In The Dark and 5 shows for Sean Holmes (Secret Theatre), Secret Theatre (Lyric, Hammersmith), Reasons To Be Cheerful (Graeae/Southbank Centre and New Wolsey), Woyzeck, A Streetcar Named Desire, Chamber Piece, Glitter Land and A Stab In The Dark (Secret Theatre.)

Film credits Include: The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Othello and The Merchant of Venice, Making It (Making It Productions.)

Television credits include: Coronation Street, Come Fly With Me, Whites, Doctors, Beautiful People and the Paralympic opening Ceremony.

Michael Bertenshaw
Prince John

Michael trained at RADA.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Beauty and The Beast, Dick Whittington, Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Queen, Martina Cole’s Two Women, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Just Frank, The Public, Wild Justice, Not Fade Away, Revolting Peasants, Fattie.

Other Theatre credits include: McQueen (West End), Merchant of Venice, Taming of The Shrew, Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VIII, Measure For Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Curve Leicester), Taking Care of Baby (Hampstead Theatre), Absolutely Frank, Inglorious Technicolour (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Long Time No See (Talawa), The Rivals, The Relapse, Last Carnival, My Father’s House, Noises Off, The Real Thing (Birmingham Rep).

Film credits include: Little Things, Another Life, Intimate Relations, Fly Boys, Da Vinci Code, Paper Mask.

Television credits include: Doctors, Milliband of Brothers, Culshaw and Stephenson Impressions Show, Doctor Who, The Bill, Casualty, Murderland, Criminal Justice, Eastenders, Worst Christmas of My Life, Foyles War, Silent Witness, The Brief, Carla, Murphy’s Law, Messiah III, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, Sherlock Holmes, Touch of Frost, Oliver Twist, Summer In The Suburbs, Undercover Heart, Oktober, Seaforth, Kavanagh QC.

Ashley Campbell
King Richard

Ashley trained at the Arts Educational School and was the recipient of the Ned Sherrin Award for Most Outstanding All Round Performer. He began his training at the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Gutted, High Heel Parrot Fish and Five Guys Named Moe 20th Anniversary.

Other Theatre credits include: Heartbreak Hotel (Greenwich Jetty), Sunny Afternoon (Harold Pinter theatre) The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory), Street Scene (The Young Vic/Theatre Du Chatalet), Tick Tick Boom (The Union), Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic), Little Fish (Finborough), Jack and The Beanstalk (Barbican), Sammy Davis Junior in The Rat Pack (UK/European and American productions), Bomb-itty of Errors (New Ambassadors, West End), Gutted (Tristan Bates,) The Ruffian On The Stair (Baron's Court), Fame The Musical (West End and UK tour), Little Shop of Horrors (Edinburgh), Carousel (Royal National Theatre), Regina (Scottish Opera.)

Recent Television credits include: Circles (Short), Scott and Bailey (ITV), Hollyoaks/Hollyoaks Later (Lime Pictures), Ultimate Force (ITV), William and Mary (ITV), The Mysti Show (BBC), Holby City (BBC), From Bard 2 Verse (BBC3), The Gorgon's Head: Let's Write A Story (BBC), My Town (independent) Pride Park (independent.)

Radio credits include: Mogadishu (BBC Radio 4)

Alex Chang
Tuck

Alex trained at ALRA.

Theatre credits include: From Shore to Shore (Freedom Studios), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ALRA), A Pierre Dream (Aldeburgh Festival), The Forgotten of the Forgotten directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair (The Bush Theatre) and Coram Boy directed by Melly Still (Bristol Old Vic).

Other credits include: Commercials for DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change), Sky Movies and Snickers.

Rebecca Deren
Herman

This is Rebecca’s fifth pantomime for Theatre Royal Stratford East; the last time she was here was 2002-3.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Blaggers, Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Aladdin and Jack and The Beanstalk!

Other Theatre credits include: Room At The Top, The Arcadians, The Rose and The Ring (The Kings Head), News Revue/ Best of News Revue (The Canal Café/ Edinburgh Festival) Mr. Melancholy (Theatre Les Dechangers, Paris), As You Like It (Northcott Theatre Exeter), New Comedy Writers Festival (Hammersmith Riverside Studio).

Film credits include: Princess in Love, Treacle JR, Remainder and The 13th Kitten.

Television credits include: The Bill, Crime Traveller, Casualty, Nighty Night, Coupling, Mile High, Simpsons Night, The Baddiel Syndrome, Jo Brand’s Anything’s Possible, Big Top, Holby City, Heston Blumenthal’s Feast, Eastenders, Get a Life Harry.

Documentary Voiceover credits include: The Princess Spy, When Daddy Became Mummy.

Rebecca also provides the voice for a wide variety of commercial and corporate ventures ranging from The National Trust and John Lewis to Suzuki and Virgin Atlantic.

Geraint Rhys Edwards
Titch

Geraint trained at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.

Theatre credits include: Joey in Saturday Night Fever (English Theatre Frankfurt/ No.1 UK Tour), Garyn in Pan Oedd y Byd yn Fach (Workshop, Theatre Genedlaethol Cymru), Wishee Washee in Aladdin(Roses Theatre), Aladdin in Aladdin Tour (Chalkfoot Theatre Company), The Tailor-Made Man (Musical Workshop, Charing Cross Theatre), Boyan in Under a Foreign Sky (Unicorn Theatre and UK Tour), Aqua Springs (Musical Workshop, Hazlitt Theatre); A New Brain (Musical/Fresh Cut Productions).

Film and Television credits include: Flick (Directed by David Howard); Lancelot in Herio’r Ddraig (Directed by Sue Jeffries/Calon S4C.)

Geraint also received the Dorothy L Sayers Award for Best Newcomer in 2012.

Derek Elroy
Nurse

Derek trained at The Rose Bruford College.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Kingston 14 (2014), Little Red Riding Hood (2010), Aladdin, The Harder They Come (2007)

Other theatre credits include: One Man, Two Guvnors (The National Theatre, West End and UK Tour 2014/15,) The Harder They Come (The Playhouse Theatre & UK/International tour 2009/10) 6 Mics No Luggage (Edinburgh Festival 2007,) Dick Whittington and his Cat (The Barbican), The World Cup Final 1966 (Battersea Arts Centre), The Gruffalo (Tall Stories USA & Canadian Tour), The Blues Brothers (German Tour), ‘666’( The Riverside Theatre & European Tour), I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky (The Southwark Theatre & The Royal Opera House), Big Nose & Mother Goose (The Belgrade Theatre), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Theatre Royal Northampton), Foe (Theatre de Complicite Tour), Carmen Jones (European Tour), Dirty Reality & Forgotten Heroes (Black Mime Theatre).

Film and Television credits include: Rev (BBC), Buried Treasure (ITV), If (BBC), Casualty (BBC), Crimewatch (BBC), Hope and Glory (BBC), Noel's House Party (BBC), Backup (BBC), The Bill (Thames Television). Breakfast on Pluto (Breakfast on Pluto Productions), The Diary of Bridget Jones (Working Titles), The Nutcracker (Sands Films), Revolver (Crucial Films).

Radio credits include: Bad Salsa (BBC Radio)

Ashley Joseph
Red

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: The Blacks Re-mixed (2007) and Junior Blaggers (with Aarawak Moon.)

Other Theatre credits include: 5's A Crowd (The Dugdale Centre), Aladdin (DeMontfort Hall Leicester, The Warriors LDN(Barbican), Look Black in Laughter (Hackney Empire), Aladdin (The Broadway, Barking), Look To The Sky (Half Moon Theatre UK Tour), Twelfth Night (Nottingham Playhouse), Locked In (Half Moon Theatre National Tour and 2008 revival), Father's and Son's (The Albany Theatre), The Dong (London Bubble) and Sugar Snap (Big Fish/Soho Theatre.)

Film and Television credits include: MTV Base, BBC Radio1 Hackney Weekend (Also on Radio), Lenny Henry's Funny Black Singles (Leopard Films), EastEnders (BBC), Lili's Songs (Dark Horse Pictures), Strapped (Central Films).

Presenting credits include: 2012 Olympics and Paralympics torch relays, Serious About StreetDance Championships (Indigo o2), The Mayor of Newham’s Festival, Emcee and comedian for international Hip-Hop show BLAZE (Holland, Bahrain, Belgium, Berlin and Dubai). He is also the presenter and co-creator of the UK hit improvised comedy show ACTing Up! which has a residency Rich Mix.

Ashley is a presenter for Live Nation, recently hosting Dubai Music Week with acts Jason Derulo and Ellie Goulding! Find him on Twitter @ASHLEY_J_87

Richard Sumitro
Sheriff

Richard's relationship with Theatre Royal Stratford East began when he played Pinocchio, in Trish Cooke and Kerry Michael’s 2005 pantomime, Pinocchio. He also worked on TRSE's Home Theatre in 2013 and 2015.

Theatre Credits include: Game (Almeida Theatre), Hobson’s Choice (Young Vic), Duck! and The Red Fortress (Unicorn), Indian Ink (Salisbury Playhouse), The Railway Children (Nottingham Playhouse), The Country Wife (Watford Palace Theatre),Trench Brothers (Hackney Music Development Trust.)

Film and Television Credits include: The Hoarder, Heroes and Villains. Citizen Khan, Call Red and Holby City.

Radio Credits include: A House for Mr Biswas, Rescue Me, God of Small Things and Chitra for BBC Radio 4. Chitra, written by Tanika Gupta, won the 2005 Amnesty International Award for radio drama.

Oliver Wellington
Robin

Oliver trained at the Oxford School of Drama. He was previously a member of the Oldham Theatre Workshop and The Norfox Young People’s Theatre Company where he performed a number of shows at the Library Theatre (Manchester) and The Oldham Coliseum.

Theatre credits include: The Snow Queen (Pegasus Theatre), Black Sheep (Soho Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew, Present Laughter (Oldham Coliseum), Fugee by Abi Morgan (The Library Theatre.)

Television credits include: Vera (2016) and Doctors.

Oliver is also a singer. He is a big fan of both the Motown era and folk music

Creative Biogs

Trish Cooke
Writer

Trish Cooke is a writer and actress. Trish writes for theatre, TV, film and radio.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Dick Whittington (2013) Cinderella (2011), Red Riding Hood (2010), Aladdin (2009), the Olivier Award nominated Cinderella (2007), Pinocchio (2005) Gulp Fiction (1996), and Running Dream (1993).

Other stage credits include: Anansi (Talawa Theatre Company, 2007) and Back Street Mammy (Lyric, Hammersmith 1990 and West Yorkshire Playhouse 1992).

Trish has written nineteen children’s books, including Full, Full, Full of Love (Walker Books); Hey Crazy Riddle (Frances Lincoln); Catch (Scholastic); How Anansi Got His Stories (Oxford University Press) Mammy Sugar Falling Down (Century Hutchinson) and So Much (Walker Books). So Much has won many awards including the Nestle Smarties Book Prize, the She/WH Smith’s Under Fives Book Prize and is available in many languages and sold around the world. Trish’s latest book, King Kafu and the Moon (Pearson) was published in May 2015. For TV, Trish’s writing work includes: story lining for Emmerdale (ITV); scriptwriting for EastEnders (BBC); Doctors (BBC); The Real McCoy (BBC) Get Up Stand Up (Ch 4); PlayDays (BBC) and she was one of the original writers on The Tweenies (CBBC).

As an actress, Trish has played many roles on TV including parts in popular dramas such as Coronation Street, EastEnders, Doctors and Casualty. Between 1988 and 1996 Trish presented the preschool Children’s BBC programme PlayDays.

Robert Hyman
Writer / Composer

Robert, known at this time of year as ‘Uncle Robert’, has worked extensively at Theatre Royal Stratford East for the last 17 years both as a Composer and Musical Director. That body of work includes music and lyrics for Cinderella (2007 Olivier-nominated & 2011), Pinocchio, Aladdin, Red Riding Hood and Dick Whittington (with Trish Cooke); Red Riding Hood and Dick Whittington (with Patrick Prior), as well as songs for The Snow Queen and Hansel and Gretel, and scores for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Make Some Noise.

He was also Musical Director for the hit musicals The Big Life (both at Theatre Royal Stratford East and in the West End), Ray Davies’ Come Dancing, Takeaway and Theatre Royal Stratford East pantos since 1998.

Other projects include conducting a choir of 5000 at the O2; Being Musical Director for the inaugural performance of the World Children’s Ensemble at the Royal Albert Hall, involving young people from 37 different countries; and writing songs/lyrics for Image Musical Theatre Co. whose shows The Selfish Giant, The Jungle Book and Sword in the Stone are currently touring the UK.

Robert works extensively in the training of young people as Musical Director of Theatretrain. In 2012 Robert was Musical Director for the Graeae Theatre Company production of the Ian Dury musical Reasons To Be Cheerful which toured the UK and with whom he was seen performing Spasticus Autisticus to a worldwide TV audience at the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.

Kerry Michael
Director

Kerry has been the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Theatre Royal Stratford East since 2004. He upholds the theatre’s commitment to develop new work and to provide a platform for those voices underrepresented in the ever-changing communities of East London.

In 2007 Theatre Royal Stratford East was nominated for an Olivier Award for ‘presenting a powerful season of provocative work that reaches new audiences’. Its hip-hop production Boy Blue’s Pied Piper won an Olivier the same year. The following year, Kerry’s production of Cinderella was nominated; the first pantomime ever nominated in the award’s history. In 2012, in association with the Barbican, we won the Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre’ for Cora Bissett’s immersive theatre experience Roadkill. We received a further nomination for You Me Bum Bum Train.

Kerry pioneered the OPEN STAGE project, where Theatre Royal Stratford East became the first theatre to hand over its programming to its audiences in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. During these Games, Theatre Royal Stratford East hosted Nigeria’s Hospitality House (Nigeria House). 30 Nigeria House is a project coming out of that residency where there was secured commissioning grants for 30 young artists of Nigerian heritage

In 2014 Kerry worked with partners in Brazil and delivered Home Theatre where bespoke one-person shows were developed and co-created for homes in the favelas of northern Rio. The technique and mythology has grown with two consecutive seasons in Birmingham and London (UK), and most recently, the townships of Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa. There are also plans for a third season in Rio in the run up to their Games in 2016, followed by New Mexico and the West Bank.

Kerry’s most recent directing credits include Tanika Gupta’s Love n Stuff, the John Adams opera I Was Looking At the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky (a co-production with the Barbican Centre); Cosh Omar’s The Great Extension; The Harder They Come, which transferred to the Barbican and then to Playhouse Theatre in the West End before touring to North American and Canada; Ray Davies’ Come Dancing; and the world premiere of Takeaway, the first British Chinese musical of that scale.

Kerry is a member of Equity’s International Committee for Artists’ Freedom, and on the board of Stratford Renaissance Partnership.

Kerry dedicates his work on this production to his father Philippos Michael.

Marcus Ellard
Associate Director

Marcus trained at Drama Centre London.

Theatre Royal Stratford East Directing Credits include: Home Theatre UK (2015 & 2013) Chicken Palace by Lynette Linton (2015), Chicken Shop by Lynette Linton (R&D), Seas by Katie Miller (Angelic Tales), Assistant Director - Oh What a Lovely War (2014), Associate Director- Dick Whittington (2013).

Theatre Royal Stratford East Acting credits include: Oh What a Lovely War (Theatre Royal Stratford East 2014 and National Tour 2015) Ray Davies' Come Dancing, Takeaway, Martina Coles' Two Women, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood.

Other Acting Credits include: Home Theatre - International Festival Rio de Janeiro (2015), The Vaudevillains (Les Enfants Terribles), Failed States (Pleasance Dome.)

Marcus is an associate artist at Theatre Royal Stratford East and aside from acting and directed he assists with casting and producing new writing performances and readings.

Harriet Barsby
Designer

Harriet is a costume designer and supervisor whose first job was in the Costume Department at Theatre Royal Stratford East. She is very happy to return to design Robin Hood. Her costume design work includes Come Dancing, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington and Beauty and the Beast at Stratford East, Market Boy at the National Theatre and co-designing the first series of Skins for Channel 4. She is Deputy Principal of the School of Historical Dress and is currently working on projects for the Art Institute of Chicago and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Jenny Tiramani
Designer

Jenny is a theatre designer, dress historian and teacher. Jenny has designed many pantomimes at Theatre Royal Stratford East, including Cinderella, Aladdin, The Snow Queen and Dick Whittington. She was Director of Theatre Design at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre from 1997 to 2005, receiving the Laurence Oliver Award for Best Costume Design 2003 and the TONY award for Best Costume Design for a play 2014 for the Globe/Sonia Friedman production of Twelfth Night. Earlier this year Jenny designed the costumes for Andre Chenier at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and set and costumes for the Opera Australia production of The Marriage of Figaro at the Sydney Opera House. She is currently designing Into the Woods for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

Jenny is the Principal of The School of Historical Dress, established in 2009 to teach an object-based approach to the subject.

David Plater
Lighting Designer

David trained at RADA. He was Head of Lighting at the Donmar Warehouse where he worked for seventeen years. His lighting design for Bring Up The Bodies (Aldwych, West End; Winter Gardens, Broadway) has been nominated for Olivier, Tony and Drama Desk awards. David has also been nominated for a Knight of Illumination Award for Richard II (Best Play Lighting) in 2012 and for This is my Family (Best Musical Lighting) in 2013.

Theatre Royal Stratford East Credits include: Dick Whittington and Beauty & The Beast.

Other Design credits include: The Mentalists, (Wyndhams), The Cocktail Party, (Coronet, Notting Hill), The Effect (Sheffield Theatres), Bring Up The Bodies (Winter Garden Theatre, New York; Aldwych, West End and RSC Swan), This Is My Family (Sheffield Lyceum), 42 dance commissions for Royal Opera House (ROH2), Outside Mullingar (Bath Ustinov), Brass (Leeds City Varieties), The Glass Supper (Hampstead Theatre), Billy Liar (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Dishwashers (Birmingham Rep), Richard III/Twelfth Night, Roger Rees: What You Will, 13 The Musical, Jason Robert Brown in Concert, (Apollo, West End), Sondheim at 80 (Queens, West End), Michael Ball in Concert (Haymarket, West End), Dark Tales, Beautiful Thing (Arts, West End) Richard II, Four Quartets, Three Days of Rain, (Donmar Warehouse), Loyal Women (Royal Court Theatre Downstairs), Macbeth (Sheffield Crucible), Quiz Show (Traverse Theatre), Mrs Lowry & Son (Trafalgar Studios), The Silence of the Sea (Donmar, Trafalgar), TheChairPlays (Lyric Hammersmith), Stacy/Fanny & Faggot (Trafalgar Studios) The Arab Israeli Cookbook (Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn) When We Are Married and A Passionate Woman (York Theatre Royal), My Night with Reg, Dancing at Lughnasa (New Vic Theatre, Stoke.)

Andrew Johnson
Sound Designer

Andrew has spent the last 16 years working in Sound and the last 10 years working in professional theatre as Production Sound Engineer, Operator, Assistant Sound Designer, Associate Sound Designer and Sound Designer. Andrew was shortlisted for an Off West End Award for Best Sound Design for Mack and Mabel in 2012, BroadwayWorld West End (Best Sound Design, 2013) for Titanic both at Southwark Playhouse.

Theatre Royal, Stratford East credits include: A Clockwork Orange.

Theatre credits include: Grand Hotel, Mack & Mabel, Company, Victor/Victoria, Titanic (Southwark Playhouse); West End Men (UK Tour); Bruce Forsyth Entertains (London Palladium and UK Tour) Sleeping Beauty (Millfield Theatre); Catch Me If You Can (Arts Ed Schools – European Premiere); Calamity Jane (Production Sound) (UK Tour); The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess); Dogfight (European Premiere); Let It Be (UK Tour, Moscow, Japan and Monaco); West End Men (Vaudeville, UK Tour and Singapore); Hormonal Housewives (UK Tour); Fiddler On The Roof, Let It Be (Head of Sound) (Savoy); The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice (UK tours); Beauty And The Beast (High Wycombe); Search For A Twitter Star Live Finals (Lyric); The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee, The Concrete Jungle, Bat Boy (Arts Ed); West End Eurovision 2012 (Dominion); Midnight Tango (Aldwych & UK tour 2011), Snow White, Cinderella (White Rock, Hastings); Britain’s Got Bhangra (UK tour); Shalom Baby, Last Five Years (Tabard); Departure Lounge (Waterloo East; Cats (International Arena Tour); Les Miserables Concerts; Fame (UK Tour); The Wedding Singer (UK Tour); Little Shop of Horrors (West End and UK Tour); Footloose (UK Tours and West End); Rent Remixed (Duke of York’s.)

One Day Events include: Follies, Flying With The Stars (London Palladium); Side By Side By Sondheim (Novello); Boogie For Stu (New Ambassadors); West End Live (2013/2014), Proms In The Park – Hyde Park (2012/2013).

Andrew was also Arena Sound O(perator for the London 2012 Olympics at Horse Guards Parade.

Omar Okai
Choreographer

Omar F. Okai is an award-winning director and / or choreographer of over sixty plays and musicals, produced both in London and Europe. He is the Artistic Director of the Okai Collier Company Limited, which has been nominated for an Empty Space…Peter Brook Award in the Equity Ensemble category both in 2011 and 2014, acknowledging its body of work.

Theatre Royal Stratford East credits include: Little Red Riding Hood (Director); Come Dancing by Ray Davies of The Kinks (Choreographer); Aladdin, Hansel & Gretel, Cinderella (Olivier Award Nominated Best Show affiliated to the West End); Pass The Baton, High Heeled Parrot Fish.

Directing credits include: Perseverance (2016, Catford Broadway Studio

Theatre); The White Witch of Rose Hall; Been There, Doing It (also Staging Co-Producer, Tour); Scandinavian Heart (Above the Gatehouse Theatre), Emoticon (Jack Studio); Honk and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Steiner Theatre); Sweet Charity (re-staging Bob Fosse’s original choreography, Steiner Theatre); Aspects of Dance (Lyceum Theatre)

For the English Speaking Theatre Frankfurt: Five Guys Named Moe (Direction / Choreography); Cabaret (Choreography); Rent (Choreography.)

For the National Theatre: Honk! (Resident Choreographer, Olivier Theatre – Olivier Award winner of Best Musical ); The Villain’s Opera (Assistant Choreographer.)

For the Okai Collier Company: Purlie (Bridewell); Ruthless (Stratford Circus); Madame X (Jack Studio); Preacherosity (Jermyn Street); The Smilin’ State (Hackney Empire); A… My Name Is Alice (Bridewell), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Bridewell Theatre); 1888 (Union Theatre); Jekyll & Hyde / The Corruption of Dorian Gray / Dracula (The Lion & Unicorn); Bloodline (Jack Studio); Collision (Hackney Empire); The Remains of the Day (Union Theatre); The Last Ever Musical (White Bear); Much Ado About Nothing (Lion & Unicorn); Blavatsky’s Tower (Jack Studio); Dracula 2008 (White Bear.)

Ian McCracken
Fight Director

Ian has been a stage combat tutor and fight director for over 10 years. He has been resident instructor at The Oxford School of Drama since 2004 and has also worked at other leading UK drama schools including GSA, Arts Ed, The Royal Academy of Music and most recently the Lyric Belfast.

Ian’s fight directing credits include Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Rover, Plasticine (the Southwark Playhouse), Oklahoma (New Wimbledon Theatre), Treasure Island (The Space), Don Juan (The Scoop), Wind in the Willows, Jungle Book (Image Musical Theatre), Summer Shakespeare, As You Like It (Blenheim Palace), Twelfth Night (Reading Between the Lines), Duchess of Malfy, Hamlet (Greenwich Playhouse), Goodbye Barcelona (Arcola), Terrorism (Hampstead Theatre), Volpone (The Theatre, Chipping Norton), How Many Miles to Babylon, Eternal Love, Blackout (The Lyric, Belfast.)

He has also been Fight Captain for the Royal Opera House, training some of the world’s leading opera singers, as well as performing beside them in Romeo & Julliette and Simon Boccanegra.

View some of his work on www.ian-mccracken.co.uk

Robin Fuller
Animation Design

Robin is an award winning artist, specialising in moving image, often incorporating animation and mixed media into his work. His work ranges from advertising, short films and music videos to theatre and live performance and has been screened at film festivals and events all over the world. He currently works in a messy studio in Norwich, where he is part of the faculty of Norwich University of the Arts.

Scott Penrose
Special Effects

Scott is a member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star and is a past recipient of The Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year award.

Apart from his skills as a performer, he is in demand for creating magic effects and illusions for West End and Broadway theatre, film and television.

Most notably he was a co-creator for Cirque du Soleil’s current world touring show Kooza, designing magic and special effects. Scott also designed magic and illusion based effects for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Love Never Dies.

Other recent credits include: Derren Brown Svengali; Ladykillers , Spamalot (West End and UK Tour), The Turn of the Screw (The Almeida Theatre), The Tiger Who Came to Tea (West End and Tour), Bend it Like Beckham (West End), Ghost Stories (West End and Toronto), The War of the Worlds (Arena Tour) and Faust (New York Metropolitan Opera).

He has taught magic for film and TV to the likes of Sir Michael Caine, Woody Allen, Catherine Zeta Jones, Edward Norton and Stephen Fry. Scott’s work has taken him around the globe and he has appeared in and worked on productions in the USA.

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