Al is elated to finally be back on stage as part of a proper rep season, after the last few terrible years. He is even more excited to be involved in four of the five of this year’s fantastic selection of plays.
It’s been a very difficult time for everyone of late, but Al has been keeping himself busy with the arts, dabbling in writing and learning the basics of woodworking. He now knows the difference between a coping saw and a fret saw: a coping saw just about manages the job and a fret saw is always worried! Al has appeared in 15 LRP productions and directed a further two. He is so pleased you ventured to The Tivoli to watch this play and hopes you thoroughly enjoy the show!
Victoria trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts after reading a degree in Astrophysics and returns to the London Repertory Players for her fourth season, having previously performed in productions including Deathtrap, Talking Heads and House Guest.
Other theatre work includes Henry V (Riverside Studios and national tour); The Playboy of the Western World (Winchester Theatre Royal and No.1 tour); the title role in the UK premiere of Oscar Wilde’s The Duchess of Padua (Pentameters Theatre); and a number of new-writing credits including Gazing at a Distant Star (Greenwich Theatre), Lally The Scut (Theatre 503), Life Sentence (Southwark Playhouse) and Wonder Girl (Ovalhouse).
Victoria has also performed with the Charles Vance Company at the Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth, in an array of comedies, thrillers and classics and other recent work includes short film The Papers for Bafta-winning director Mark Gill; and scientific researcher on Stella Feehily’s new play The Trouble With Girls, based on the 1920s pioneering female Astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne. The play was winner of a Sloane Commission Award in association with The Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City.
Mitch trained at Drama Studio London. Various professional credits include Relatively Speaking (White Horse Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (English Theatre Company) and two seasons of weekly repertory theatre (CV Productions) where roles included Gerry in The Murder Game, as well as adverts for Subway and Sky Sports. He recently appeared as Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984 at The John Lyon Theatre, London, where he first featured in The Wonderful World of Dissocia. He has experience in devising, improvisation and comedy revue (Newsrevue) and, when not acting, he works as a language teacher and translator.
Hephzibah Roe trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where she won the Peter and Alice Bursary. Currently she can be seen in Brenda The Alternative Steward. Other credits include working with Speechless Theatre on their five production of Drawn In and with director Jon James Smith on Spira; where she was nominated for Best Actress at the British Horror Film Awards. She is also a writer and film maker and is currently in pre-production of her latest project Repose. She is delighted to be a part of London Repertory Players’ play festival this year, having been part of its inaugural season (in Dead of Night) and is looking forward to enjoying the summer back in her home town
Neil’s theatre credits include God Of Carnage, Betrayal, Rope, The Missing Special, Further Education and Bully Beef for the Brighton Fringe festival, as well as thrillers House Guest, Murder Mistaken, The Murder Game and Suddenly At Home for the London Repertory Players.
He was in the debut production of Moment Of Grace at the Bloomsbury Festival, and played multiple characters in the stage adaptation of the classic Christmas story It’s A Wonderful Life.
Other stage credits include Dial M For Murder, The Good Doctor, Yes Prime Minister, The Ladykillers and 4 runs of the award-winning dating comedy Would Like To Meet.
Onscreen, Neil has appeared in the feature films Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours, Strangers Within, The Cutting Room and Hosticide. He will next be seen in upcoming indie drama The Last Time You Saw Me, and as the lead in family festive film Christmas Time.
Neil has also acted in television, commercials, music videos and has appeared in over 90 short films. Neil also works as a voice artist.
Kirsty Cox trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her recent theatre work includes Our Church for The Watermill Theatre, Crimes on Centre Court, A Christmas Getaway, Crimes, Camera, Action and Crimes on the Nile for New Old Friends, Down To Earth, I Believe in Unicorns, Apple John, The Boy Who Climbed Into The Moon and Olive and the Dream Train for Theatre Alibi, The Odyssey and Medusa for Bristol Old Vic, The Macbeth Curse for Prime Theatre/Bolton Octagon, The Last Post for Kilter Theatre and the one woman show Stalin’s Daughter for Blue Brook Productions. She appeared in all five productions in the London Repertory Players 2018 season and also worked with Charles Vance Productions for four weekly rep summer seasons in Sidmouth from 2009 to 2012. She is a regular performer with street theatre company, The Naturals, and the comedy improvisation group, Instant Wit. She has recorded numerous audiobooks and also radio drama for BBC Radio 4. Her film and television experience includes Trollied for Sky TV, commercials for Toolstation and Visit Wales, and several independent feature films.
Joseph Prestwich is an actor, improviser, theatre-maker, and academic from Blackpool, Lancashire. He is Assistant Director at ShakeItUp Theatre, a company that specialises in improvised Shakespeare, and he performs regularly in their flagship show at venues across the UK.
Joseph also works frequently with German theatre company Theater Frankfurt as an actor and translator. He is currently working with the Young Vic Theatre on their INNOVATE project and is a Lecturer in German Studies at King’s College London. Recent credits include: Hans Klein (Theater Frankfurt, 2022), Mother of the Revolution (Archipelago Theatre Collective, 2021), and The Happy Prince (PackPack Theatre, 2021), as well as working with Vernon on The Wily Widow (Franco Parenti Theatre, Milan 2019). For more see: https://www.spotlight.com/2458-3495-6527
Claire trained at RADA. Classical roles include Silvia in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Hermione in The Winters Tale, Emilia in Othello and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Claire has worked extensively in repertory theatre. Some of her favourite roles have been Jane in Jane Eyre; Freda in Dangerous Corner; Shelby in Steel Magnolias; Lisa Koletzky in Verdict; Pauline in One For The Road; Jacqueline in Don’t Dress For Dinner; Gwendolyn in The Importance Of Being Earnest; Theresa in How The Other Half Loves; Laura Warwick in The Unexpected Guest; Betty Jackson in Wife Begins At Forty and Angela in Abigail’s Party at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. She worked with Vernon Thompson in rep more than 20 years ago in towns such as Wolverhampton; Crewe; Swindon and Croydon.
More recently, she has apperared Rachel in Season’s Greetings; Mother Theresa in Ladies In Retirement; Bunny in A Murder Is Announced and Henrietta in A Party To Murder which were all national touring productions. Claire has also played the Witch in Taking Liberties at the Hackney Empire and Kate Doogan (understudy) in Philadelphia Here I Come at the Wyndham’s Theatre.
Previous Company credits include Helen in 4000 Days (2019) and Helga Ten Dorp in Deathtrap(2021)
Since leaving drama school, Richard has had a varied career in theatre and television. For most of the last ten years he has been travelling the world playing the part of Dad in George’s marvellous medicine for Birmingham Stage Company.
Richard has been involved in many repertory seasons and national tours where his favourite roles include: Reg in Table manners, Bottom in A midsummer night’s dream, Milo Tindle in Sleuth, Dr Armstrong in And then there were none, Brassett in Charley’s aunt, John Barrett in Dangerous obsession, Lawrence in Abigail’s party and Bernard in Don’t dress for dinner. He also appeared in the world premiere of It’s raining men where his characters included Edith Piaf, Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand.
He was last seen on your television screens as hapless estate agent Aubrey Bedford in Yorkshire Televisions Emmerdale where he only managed to sell one house in eleven years!
Richard has appeared in eighteen pantomimes, including two wonderful seasons with the late great comic actor John Inman.
Television credits include the above-mentioned Aubrey Bedford in Emmerdale, a very concerned Doctor in Coronation street, a not very tough security guard in Doctors and Max Newman in BBC’s Inventors throughout history.
Previous company credits: Porter Milgrim in Deathtrap (Tivoli 2021)
He lives less than a mile from beautiful Bournemouth beach.
Twenty-nine years ago, almost to the week, he first acted opposite our lovely producer Vernon Thompson. Where have the years gone?
Jessica Olim is from London and a graduate from City Lit Drama School. Her credits include: Blue Stockings; Her Naked Skin and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ all at the John Lyon Theatre, Covent Garden; The Future Miss Smith (Bedlamb Theatre), Killing Donald (Vagabond Theatre) at Stockwell Playhouse and Skin (Moving Culture Film Productions).
She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and plays Countdown for fun. She is very excited to be joining the London Repertory Players for a second season, having made her debut in Private Lives and ‘House Guest’ last year.
Moses Lutfi is from North East London. Moses is delighted to return to LRP having performed in three plays in the 2018 season, including The Murder Game and Dangerous Corner at the Shelley Theatre, Bournemouth. He started his acting training at City Lit and made his stage debut there in Separate Tables directed by Vernon Thompson. He then went on to study a Bachelors in Acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and since graduating has done various film and TV work including ‘Lady of Heaven’ and the Apple TV+ series ‘Slow Horses’ with Gary Oldman. Moses is a Life Long Arsenal supporter and enjoys surfing.
Moses appears in place of the advertised artist Richie Bratby.
Production
Team
Vernon is delighted to bring this five play season to the historic town of Wimborne Minster, having staged Death Trap at the Tivoli last summer, and four successful seasons of summer repertory at the Shelley Theatre in Bournemouth pre-pandemic! At Christmas, he directed Animal Farm at the John Lyon Theatre in London; past productions there include The Laramie Project and Cause Celebre. In 2019 he took his production of The Wily Widow to Teatro Franco Parenti in Milan following an earlier successful run at Hen and Chickens Theatre in Islington. He works for Channel 4 News in London and TRT World in Istanbul as a voice consultant to their broadcasters and journalists, as well as accepting private clients www.vernonthompson.co.uk .
He heads up voice, speech and communication courses at City Lit in London, the UK’s largest adult education institution, as well as managing its accredited acting training programme. Past appointments include teaching Voice at the famous Webber Douglas Academy and Head of Voice at the Academy Drama School. He has directed over 80 productions in repertory, on the London fringe and at drama schools. He lives in East London.
Su Gilroy is a freelance theatre director with more than 50 productions to her credit, from short rehearsed readings to full scale productions in number one venues. She enjoys the diversity of projects that this means she get to work on, including new writing, classics and panto. She is thrilled to be joining the London Repertory Players as she loves working in rep. She spent five summers at the Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth and directed 20 plays in rep, including JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, September Tide by Daphne Du Maurier, The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie, several Alan Ayckbourn plays, and The Gentle Hook and Deadly Nightcap by Francis Durbridge. She also directed four plays in rep at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre including Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton.
Other directing work includes many new writing pieces, in London and at the Brighton fringe, and several youth productions, in this country and in America. She was Assistant Director on Cinderella at the Lyceum Theatre in Crewe and on several pantomimes and Shakespeare productions for Bitesize Theatre Company.
She has extensive theatre knowledge, having worked in nearly all theatre departments including on-stage, back-stage and front of house, and she has an MA in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Manchester, through Rose Bruford College.
She champions new writing (I, Minnie Lansbury, Bloomsbury Festival, Invisible Me, Wimbledon Theatre Studio). https://sugilroy.co.uk/
Jordan has worked as Assistant Director on Vernon’s production of ‘The Laramie Project’ this year as well as Deputy Stage Manager on ‘Blue Stockings’ and as Assistant Stage Manager on ‘Her Naked Skin’, all at the John Lyon Theatre, London. Jordan also works as a sound and light designer in theatre at various venues throughout London. He is currently working on several short films as an Assistant Producer and 2nd Assistant Director, alongside writing his first play which he hopes to have up and running by the end of this year. In the meantime, he is looking forward to a summer by the seaside, with the hopes of some surf worthy waves!
Debbie is a pianist, peripatetic music teacher and freelance artist based in Christchurch, Dorset. Her murals and trompe l’oeils have been installed at residential and commercial projects in Dorset and surrounding areas, from creating serene landscapes for day rooms in care homes, to the theming and design of children’s areas and public venues. She also freelances as an illustrator and portrait artist and during the summer months exhibits at Mudeford Arts Festival and other local events, creating live portraits in the living arts marquee. Her work can be viewed at www.highfivecreative.co.uk.
Debbie has also been teaching music and has had some involvement in local theatre groups as a rehearsal pianist, and as such became a huge fan of theatre productions.
She is very much looking forward to the summer with the London Repertory Players at the Tivoli Theatre and most excited to be invited to create the sets for the company.
Since graduating from her masters in Theatre Studies in 2020 Sophy has tried her hand at a number of roles in both theatre and film; from front-of-house to facilitating drama workshops with young people.
She first discovered the joys of stage management last year via City Lit taking on the roles of Assistant Stage Manager for Red Flag, Blue Beard and Deputy Stage Manager for Animal Farm, where she first collaborated with Vernon. She is excited to now take on her first professional role with Vernon’s LRP and is looking forward to a sunny Summer in Bournemouth.
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