MY WORK AS A DIRECTOR:

​

In the last 4 years:

​

I directed 'Rumpelstiltskin' 'The Frog Prince' 'The Elves and the Shoemaker' and 'Hansel and Gretel' , all three handed, touring, storytelling pieces for Bumblefly Theatre and Forest Forge Theatre, I also directed Degree students at Bournemouth and Poole College in the productions 'GAME' by Mike Bartlett and 'Stockholm' by Bryony Lavery. At the Garrick Theatre Stockport I directed my play 'The Great Escape' as part of their Festival of New Writing.

​

For Forest Forge Theatre Company, Hampshire:

​

Having worked for this rural touring community theatre company as a designer I slowly developed through devising work towards writing and more recently, directing.

I have directed professional productions as well as community productions, degree student productions and a strand of shows that brought professional actors and non-professional performers together. I have worked in schools, devising and directing plays with all ages. I have also directed two groups of over 50’s and over 60’s participants. I have devised, written and directed work with diverse community groups including adults with experience of the mental health service, young adults with autism, children excluded from mainstream education, people with early stage dementia and people living with cancer. One of my favourite forms of theatre looks at the lives of a specific community, at a specific time, and puts real people’s stories on the stage.

 

Professional shows directed for Forest Forge:

​

‘Molly Sweeney.’ ‘The Arabian Nights.’ ‘A Clearing.’ ‘The Great Escape.’ ‘The Gamekeeper.’ ‘Housewives Choice.’ 'A Christmas Carol' 'Jack and The Beanstalk', 'To The Marrow'

 

Examples of recently directed Community Theatre Projects:

​

‘MiTunes’ (Our lives in Music)

Funded by Creative Partnerships and Test Valley Borough Council.

A project with years 9 and 10 students from two schools in Andover and various community groups including residents of three homes for the elderly.

The project looked at the importance of music in our lives. Elders of the community were interviewed and reminiscences gathered. These stories were then turned into scenes. I employed two professional actors who were rehearsed into the show alongside the student performers. The resulting multi-media show performed at the Lights Theatre in Andover.

​

‘Going Out’

Funded by Salisbury District Council.

This project teamed professional actors with adults with experience of the mental health service. I ran workshops with the client group, using basic theatre and storytelling techniques to explore issues that effected them. I then wrote a script based on stories and improvisation from the group. The group then performed in their own show alongside two professional actors. For many this was the first time they had ever performed in front of an audience.

 

Recent education projects:

​

‘Operation Oliver’

Commissioned by Hampshire County Council.

This short, interactive play for a primary school audience, dealing with the subject of the Victorian workhouse in Hampshire. As writer I was given access to museum archives of three workhouses, using this material I wrote and directed a one man show, incorporating music, magic and audience participation, which toured to primary schools in the area.

​

‘Out Of Joint’

Working with students from a pupil referral unit as well as other students in danger of permanent exclusion from secondary school.

This project began with workshops for students from the pupil referral unit, exploring stories of their lives and looking at issues surrounding school and exclusion. I then wrote and directed a 40 minute play, performed by two professional actors, which toured to the participating schools and others in the area.

 

‘The Good Person of Boscombe’/ ‘Lysistrata’.

Working with degree students at the Bournemouth and Poole College.

I directed first year degree students on the Contemporary Theatre Course at Bournemouth and Poole College. ‘The Good Person of Boscombe’ and ‘Lysistrata’ were adapted by myself, set in modern day Bournemouth. I have also directed two other plays for the college, ‘Two’ by Jim Cartwright and ‘Sunday Morning at the Centre of The World’ by Louis de Bernieres.

​

​