Alan Barber
Alan has been with Theatre64 for over 15 years now - and they still can't get rid of him! He has done just about everything possible both on and off stage - acting, directing, singing, lighting, sound, amongst many others. He was last seen on stage as Nigel the Viking in "A Fete Worse than Death' and is thoroughly enjoying his villainous turn as Don John!He has two daughters, Jessica and Rebecca and works as an administrator in Thames Ditton.
Alan Birdsworth
Born in Wakefield and leaving school early to enter the working world Alan trained to be a secretarial typist of all things. He has settled in Farnborough, travelling back to Yorkshire to catch up with his grown up son Lewis. After moving south Sainsbury's IT in London 2 years ago a chance meeting him back into amateur dramatics. Soon after he was playing 'Martin' in his first role since leaving school. Alan joined Theatre64 for 'Much Ado' by turning up at the play readings. The cast are very friendly, welcoming and very quickly felt a valued member of the cast. The rehearsals are brilliant with everyone pitching in with ideas to enhance the performance. Very much looking forward to what is next.
Erin Costello
Erin is very excited to be in her first show with Theatre64. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Erin came to the UK to study Classical Acting at LAMDA and never went back. She has been living in the UK for 13 years and recently moved to Yateley with her 5 year old son. It's been 10 years since Erin has been onstage but has been expressing her creativity for the past 5 years running Baby Sensory and Toddler Sense locally in Camberley and Fleet.
Nick Felgate
Nick, an uncivil civil servant, has contributed his presence to Theatre 64 for many, many years. He lives in Portsmouth with his collection of stage properties (his furniture, crockery etc) which sometimes he is allowed to borrow back from the group! Along with many stage appearances which includes Prof. Van Helsing in 'Dracula' and the QuizMaster in 'Horst Buchholz', Nick has directed plays such as 'The Fosdyke Saga', 'The Golden Pathway Annual', and 'Our Man'.
Leah Hanmore
Leah is currently studying Drama in her third and final year at University. She has been with the group for three years and intends to be with the group a while longer. Leah has had some fantastic experiences with the group, including taking part in productions such as 'The Ash Girl', 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and 'A Fete Worse Than Death'. She has enjoyed working with all the members and has made some life-long friends. She also hopes that everybody enjoys the performance of 'Much Ado About Nothing'!
Mike Hills
Mike has been a member of Theatre64 for too long to count. His theatrical odyssey began in Bugsy Malone at the age of 14 in school, then exhibited itself in Woking, Bath and Kuwait before he joined Theatre64. He has undertaken acting, directing and writing roles with the group and is close to notching up his 60th role! He is aided and abetted in this by a long suffering wife and two very active boys (see smaller members of the cast). He would usually mention Fulham as well but its just too depressing at the moment. The Aardvark is in rehab.
Pam Howard
Happy both behind the scenes and performing on stage, the prospect of taking on the role of Dogberry was too good to miss. Working with Gill and the ensemble cast in a very different way has been most enjoyable and at times stretching. When not acting, Pam can often be found rootling around in the storage container or trawling the local charity shops to track down items for costumes.
Peter Jeffares
Pete joined Theatre64 ten years ago in their 40th anniversary year. He has appeared in several shows and also directed 'The Wind in the Willows' and 'Private Lives'. After a break of three years, Pete is delighted to have returned to Theatre64 for 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Claudio is a fantastic role to have with a huge range of emotions on show as the story unfolds. Working with Gill as director and a brilliant ensemble cast, this has been the most exciting show Pete has worked on. Pete found the recent workshop with Michael Corbidge an incredible experience which has changed the whole approach of rehearsals and really elevated the standard of the group.
Amy Wales
Amy Wales has been interested in drama from a very young age, reenacting scenes from Harry Potter with her neighbour for her parents at around six years old. When she was 14 she started becoming involved in amateur dramatics, performing pantomimes and music halls for 3 years before she heard about a group called Theatre64 who were putting on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Amy immediately jumped at the opportunity (as that is her favourite Shakespeare play) and auditioned, getting the part of Verges. This is her first production with the group, and she hopes there will be more to come.
Catherine Roriston
Catherine Roriston has always enjoyed amateur theatre. She is the newest cast member and is thoroughly enjoying herself. Having 'trod the boards' in her youth; Catherine is now really delighted to be part of 'The Watch' . These days, Catherine teaches English, but finds 'acting Shakespeare' much more fun than teaching it. Heres to a great production and good luck with Much Ado About Nothing.
Jason Kewley
Jason has had an involvement with amateur drama since school. Though not being a prolific member of the group, he has played roles in productions such as Dracula, Wind in the willows, Antigone, The Real inspector Hound, A Fete worse than death. He generally gets cast in the offbeat roles. Tonight he is playing the 'high school bitch' His claws are sharpened and ready... Meow!
Jennifer Lee-May
Jene has always had a great love for the theatre (procuring bargain tickets is a second occupation!) and joined Purple Room Productions in Basingstoke, where she caught the bug for treading the boards. She was a member of the original children's theatre company, Myths & Legwarmers, until she attended The Poor School in 2010. Jene is thrilled to be part of Much Ado and is looking forward to being involved in future productions. She lives in Blackwater with her partner, mum, cat and 2 adopted bunnies!
Caroline Pitcher
Caroline has been a member of Theatre64 on and off for the last 14 years. Previous roles she has enjoyed include Ros in ‘412 Letters’, Penny in ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ and Lady Bracknell in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Also a member of Fleet Rock Choir, she has sung at The Anvil, Wembley Arena, The Hexagon and LowdeFest music festival. Caroline has a part-time marketing job and a full-time family job looking after 2 girls and managing the renovation project that is their family home!
Russ Pitcher
Russ has done almost everything you can in and around a stage, even singing nearly in tune! 'Much Ado..' has been an amazing experience, not just working with a great cast and crew, but learning so much from being part of the OpenStages programme. Previous roles he has enjoyed include Macbeth, Donald in 'Blue Remembered Hills' and a down-and-out muppet. Russ has a geeky IT job and lives in Fleet in an organised pile of bricks that is helping the local tradesmen weather the cutbacks.
Margaret Wales
Margaret is a mother of two children, and has recently become involved in Amateur Dramatics with Much Ado being the first for Theatre64. She originally became involved in the 'dramatic arts' through supporting another local group with costumes and makeup, and eventually had a 'go' on stage whilst standing in for someone else. This led to becoming more involved in plays and comedy revues and eventually to try her hand at Shakespeare and Theatre64. Margaret hopes you enjoy the performance.
No pen portrait available.
Jenny Staples
Classically trained vocalist Jenny has been singing all her life! She joined Rock Choir in 2009 where she is a long-established soloist. She has soloed at venues including The Anvil, Basingstoke, The Hexagon, Reading and Lowde Fest. With an acute ear for harmonies, Jen has been sought out to work and perform with small close-harmony groups where she loves creating interest and depth behind the melodies. She is very excited to be working with Theatre64!
Sarah Bryant
Sarah is currently working as a choir leader for the UK's largest contemporary choir, Rock Choir. She teaches and conducts choirs in Alton, Petersfield and locally in Camberley. Her background in music began when she left school and went on to college to study performing arts and found passion in the roles requiring her to sing. She went on to learn piano and take graded classical singing with a private teacher. Rock Choir has given Sarah many opportunities for live performance including soloing at the Liverpool Echo and O2 London arenas for the Rock Choir Live shows, high profile performances as part of a choir at The Royal Albert Hall and appearing on The Alan Titchmarsh show, The One Show and in the Live Lounge for Radio One's Rock Week. Her choirs raise money for many different local charities with their performances and along side teaching people from all walks of life the joy of singing she finds much fulfilment in her work. She is honoured to be a part of Theatre 64's production of 'Much Ado About Nothing'
Gill Richardson
Gill lives in Farnborough and has been a member of Theatre64 for a while! (She thought it was ten years but it turns out it's much more than that!)She enjoys both acting and directing; although it's been a while since she was last treading the boards. As a director she has thoroughly enjoyed the whole Open Stages experience as it has been a really exciting way of approaching performance in a holistic way. The learning process has been amazing - so thank you to all involved.
Carole Fowler
Carole has been with T64 more years than she is able or willing to remember. In thwart time she has acted, directed, stage managed, done prompt, lighting, sound, props, box office, made costume, even sung in her own fashion, painted and built scenery. All this and had fun too and intends to keep on till even further into her dotage
Haydn Thomas
Haydn works for a local manufacturer of filtration equipment and has been a member of Theatre64 since 1998. During this time his involvement with the group has been both on stage and behind the scenes where he has been perfecting his tea-making skills. He also likes to get involved with the pantomime at High Cross Church, Camberley.
Doug Tredwell
Doug came along to rehearsals for this show to support his wife, Julia, by playing the backing tracks to the dances. He then found himself involved in the main production. Doug has spent many years providing audio for shows from working with Julia's Entertainment productions at local theatres and with local schools in Wokingham. If it can be done with a computer then he's your man.