KDC, Author at KDC Theatre - Central London based amateur theatre group

An Ideal Husband – Audition Notice

by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Richard Jaques
Tuesday 18 – Saturday 22 March
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre

1. Auditions

Date: 14th, 15th & 16th January. Please come on whichever day suits you Time: 6.30pm (we will start promptly!)
Venue: Clean Break Studios, 2 Patshull Road, Kentish Town, NW5 2LB. The nearest tube is Kentish Town
Recalls will be on Saturday 18th January from 10.30am to 2.30pm. You will be called on Friday 17th if we’d like to see you again.

2. Show Dates

We’ll be performing from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 22nd March at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. The shows will start at 7.30pm and you’ll need to be at the theatre at least an hour beforehand. The dress rehearsal will be on Monday 17th March. You will need to be free from midday onwards, possibly all day.

3. Rehearsals

Rehearsals will be on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons/ evenings. All rehearsals will be in central London.
You will not be required to prepare anything for the audition at all. There will be some script work and readings, so the best thing to do is just be yourselves on top form.

4. Synopsis

The basic premise of ‘An Ideal Husband’ is this: Lord Goring is a London wastrel, whose closest friend is a young and well-regarded politician. Not only that, but he is considered to be an ideal husband and humanitarian as well.
When an outside and unwelcome character comes into his life however, Robert Chiltern, the politician in question, finds some dark secrets of his earlier days at risk of being exposed.
As the events unfold around Goring, he finds himself called to help, as well as to consider what makes a person truly ideal.
This production will be a modernisation of ‘An Ideal Husband’, resetting it in contemporary Russian high society – long coats and fur hats as well as pushing the subtext of autobiographic account of Oscar Wilde though Lord Goring.
This dazzling blend of farce and morality revolves around the lives of two men: a successful political figure and his philandering friend. One has a secret scandal in his past.
Although ‘An Ideal Husband’ is full of all the witticisms you’d hope for from Oscar Wilde, the subject matter is more serious than you might expect.
Penned at a time when Oscar Wilde was having an illegal relationship makes it poignant that, acceptance and forgiveness, are at the heart of the play.

5. Cast Breakdown

Sir Robert Chiltern (M 30s) 
Best friends with Viscount Goring, less wealthy, but educated with Viscount Goring and knows that Viscount Goring is gay. Sir Robert is the play’s “tragic” hero, a government official who owes his success and fortune to secret scandal. Love has driven him to hide his past in the desperate hope of remaining the ideal husband to his wife. Conscious of what his success has cost him; Sir Robert suffers from a decidedly nervous and harried temperament.
Lady Gertrude Chiltern (F 20s)
Naive but dominate over her husband. Lady Chiltern embodies the Victorian new woman: upright, virtuous, educated, politically engaged, and active in her husband’s career. She is the play’s sentimental heroine, a sort of moral absolutist who worships her ideal husband and cannot brook the revelation of his secret past.
Mrs. Cheveley (F 20s – 30s)
One of the play’s wittiest and most well dressed characters, Mrs Cheveley is the vicious and opportunistic villainess, who values wealth and power above all. Mrs Cheveley is the “unnatural” union of daytime genius and night-time beauty.
Lord Goring (M 30s)
Based on Oscar Wilde, the Earl’s son, oppressed by the Earl. Of impeccable dress and inimitable wit, Lord Goring is the play’s thirty-something dandified philosopher, an idle aristocrat who serves as a thinly veiled double for Wilde himself. Irreverent, wry, and dangerously clever, Goring “plays with the world” and in doing so rejects ideals of duty, respectability, and responsibility. Lord Goring is the central character around whom all the action happens.
Mabel Chiltern (F 18s – 25s)
An exemplar of English prettiness, Mabel, Sir Robert’s younger sister, embodies what Wilde describes as the “fascinating tyranny of youth” and “astonishing courage of innocence.” Pert and clever, Mabel flirtatiously matches Lord Goring’s wit throughout the play.
Lord Caversham (M 50s – 60s)
Based on Vladimir Putin for this production, a large fella. A symbol of oppression. Father to Lord Goring, Lord Caversham, is a stuffy, serious, and respectable gentleman who is firmly opposed to the excesses of his dandified son. Continually he urges his son to marry and adopt a career, posing Sir Robert as model.
Lady Markby (F 40 – 60)
A pleasant and popular woman with “gray hair à la marquise and good lace,” Lady Markby is emblematic of an older generation of Society women, bemoaning the effect of politics and the higher education of women on married life.
Lady Basildon and Mrs. Marchmont (F 30s-40s)
They smaller roles who frivolously banter on a number of topics throughout Act I; notable ones include the dreariness of politics, being serious, education, and so on. They are perhaps more decorative than anything else, though—as the insightfulness of their conversations suggests—one can never underestimate the decorative on Wilde’s stage.
Phipps (M any age) 
A “mask with a manner” who serves Lord Goring. Phipps is the ideal butler. Absolutely impassive, he reveals nothing of his intellect or emotions and “represents the dominance of form.” Phipps will also step in for other “servant” moments.

Blood Wedding – Audition Notice

by Federico García Lorca, translated by John Edmunds
Directed by Kate Moore
Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 April
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre

1. Auditions

You do not need to prepare anything in advance. Auditions will take the form of improvisations and reading scenes from the script, handed to you on the night. I am looking for actors who can express a narrative using more than just the words they say, who are committed to creating believable, sympathetic, fully rounded characters.
Some characters (five of the nine female parts) need to be able to hold a tune. For those actors up for contention for those particular roles at the recalls, there will be a basic singing audition on the Saturday; again, you do not need to prepare anything and will be briefed in advance. Please be assured I am looking first and foremost for actors for the roles, and that acting talent more than singing ability will influence casting decisions.
Because there will be some singing and dancing for some characters in the play, it would be really helpful if actors can list on their preference forms if they have any prior experience in these areas and feel comfortable doing basic singing/dancing on stage.
Date: 14th, 15th & 16th January. Please come on whichever day suits you Time: 6.30pm (we will start promptly!)
Venue: Clean Break Studios, 2 Patshull Road, Kentish Town, NW5 2LB. The nearest tube is Kentish Town
Recalls will be on Saturday 18th January from 10.30am to 2.30pm. You will be called on Friday 17th if we’d like to see you again.

2. Show Dates

We’ll be performing from Tuesday 1st to Saturday 5th April at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. The shows will start at 7.30pm and you’ll need to be at the theatre at least an hour beforehand. The dress rehearsal will be on Monday 31st March. You will need to be free from midday onwards, possibly all day.

3. Rehearsals

Rehearsals will be on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons/ evenings. All rehearsals will be in central London.

4. Synopsis

NB: The only character in the play with a given name is Leonardo.
Bride and Bridegroom are to be married – despite the reservations of Bridegroom’s Mother, who is still grieving for her murdered husband and son.
But the Bride has a secret. Her first love, Leonardo, is still desperately in love with her, and she with him. As the play opens, both have tried to deny their passion for each other, with Leonardo now married and with a son.
Yet the shaky peace will not hold. When the news of the Bride’s forthcoming wedding reaches Leonardo, he takes to riding out across the fields at night to see her. Theirs is a love that will not die. Bride has a decision to make – one that will prove to have unimaginable consequences…
My vision for the play is predicated on casting actors who will find and embody their characters completely, fully embracing the complexity and simmering passions of their roles, and creatively and emotionally building relationships and histories. Rehearsals will take the script as a starting point and source to create back stories, which we’ll build on through improvisation and detailed character work. I want every character to know where they’ve come from and what they’ve done and felt in their life right up to the moment the play opens, when the audience joins us to see this small section of a much bigger life picture.
Our setting is a hot summer in the Spanish countryside. An indeterminate era, but the people are peasant country folk from a simpler time than our own, from a rural farming community. The set will be framed by imposing tree shapes to create an ethereal and creepy atmosphere, evoking classic fairy tales and papercut silhouettes; an encroaching forest that, eventually, swallows us whole.

5. Cast Breakdown

14 actors (9 women, 5 men) 
There will be no doubling up of parts, enabling each actor to take their sole character on their own emotional journey through the play each night. This is very much an ensemble piece of theatre, with every actor having a decent amount to do in the play, and a unique back story to bring to life.
Bride (F, 20s – her age is given as 21-turning-22 in the script) 
Strong, passionate, desperate, dutiful at times, cannot help but feel the burden of her heavy secret. Full of conflicting desires. Will she follow her heart?
Leonardo (M, 20s) 
Classic brooding hero. Alpha male. Passionate, capable, strong, wilful, sexy – and charismatic as hell.
Mother (F, over 30) 
Mother to the Bridegroom. Her beloved husband and other son were murdered and she is still absolutely beholden to her grief. She eats, breathes, drinks, sleeps and dreams their deaths. She’s lonely. Her rage at her loss is ever-present beneath the surface, an incendiary touch paper just waiting to be lit.
Bridegroom (M, 20s) 
A fun, funny, likeable man full of joie de vivre and infectious enthusiasm, with a ready smile and an open heart.
Neighbour (F, over 30) 
Neighbour to the Mother and apparent friends – but there is no love lost between these two. Neighbour is a terrible gossip, proud and supercilious, always sniffing around for the next juicy titbit of news. There’s opportunity for this to be a comedic role in places.
Wife (F, 20s) 
Wife to Leonardo. She is a cousin of the Bride. She has a baby with her husband and another child on the way. She cares deeply for her spouse and cannot understand why he is increasingly distant. She can be somewhat scared and timid, but has reserves of courage. The Wife sings a lullaby to her baby (a duet with her mother) in the play, so the actress will need to be able to hold a tune on stage.
Mother-in-Law (F, over 30) 
Mother to Wife; Mother-in-Law to Leonardo. She is your classic ‘mother-in-law’ character on paper – interfering, nosy, fussy, sharp, disapproving, strong-willed. But there is always another side to the story: her husband left her and she fears the same fate awaits her daughter… She sings the duet lullaby with the Wife and will need to be able to hold a tune.
Father (M, over 30)
Father to the Bride. Hardworking, kindly family man, cares deeply for his daughter and for his family and farm, wanting them to thrive into the future. A peacekeeper. Yet his wife never loved him, and he brought their daughter up alone.
Servant (F, over 30) 
Servant to the Bride and her Father. She is a mother figure to the Bride and has worked in the family for years. She runs the family home like clockwork and takes responsibility for everything – whether organising the wedding feast or doing the Bride’s hair on the morning of her wedding. She can be excitable, stern, romantic, bawdy, cutting, clever, protective. While she and the Bride have their ups and downs, the Bride trusts her implicitly. The Servant sings in the play so will need to be able to hold a tune.
First Youth (M, 20s-30s) 
Essentially the Best Man to the Bridegroom. Full of energy and bon viveur, he makes the stage come alive whenever he’s in a scene. He’s the first to get the party started. He’s also incredibly loyal. I’m ideally looking for an actor who can also dance a bit – or has rhythm and is willing to learn.
First Girl (F, 20s) 
A ball of energy, First Girl is flirtatious and sexy, opinionated and fun. She is loud and carefree. I’m looking for an actress who can also dance and sing.
Second Girl (F, 20s) 
A quiet and thoughtful girl with stories and emotions swimming in her eyes, Second Girl is a friend to the Bride. She is also secretly in love with the Bridegroom – but doesn’t have many lines to convey this, so I’m looking for an exceptionally expressive actress for this role. Second Girl will also need to be able to hold a tune.
Guest (M, 20s-30s) 
A bit of a bumbling wedding guest on the Father’s side, keen to get involved but somehow always slightly behind the times. There’s an opportunity here for an actor to craft a gem of a character study, with chances to find humour and off-script narratives for the role.
Beggar Woman (F, any age)
This character is on stage throughout the play. She is the personification of Death. She needs to intrigue and frighten the audience. She has a chilling, luxurious, lengthy monologue where she comes to the fore, as well as some other spoken scenes, and is key to the climax of the play. I’m looking for an actress who can emote strongly and be absolutely charismatic in this icy, ethereal role. She is weak and vulnerable at the beginning but strong and powerful by the end. The Beggar Woman is comparable to the evil witch in Sleeping Beauty – an uninvited malevolent presence always on the sidelines, who eventually takes centre stage.

Keeping In Touch With Temptation – Audition Notice

(a full length devised play)
Directed by Richard Williams
Tuesday 25 – Saturday 29 March
The Lion & Unicorn Theatre

1. Auditions

No advance preparation is required. Auditions for the devised piece will take the form of improvisations and workshopping. This will also be an introduction to some of the processes we will be following in the creation of this show. ‘Keeping in Touch with Temptation’ is a show that needs actors who are keen to explore new techniques and develop fully rounded characters over the rehearsal period.
Date: 14th, 15th & 16th January. Please come on whichever day suits you
Time: 6.30pm (we will start promptly!) Venue: Clean Break Studios, 2 Patshull Road, Kentish Town, NW5 2LB. The nearest tube is Kentish Town
Recalls will be on Saturday 18th January from 9.30am to 10.30pm. You will be called on Friday 17th if we’d like to see you again.

2. Show Dates

We’ll be performing from Tuesday 25th to Saturday 29th March at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. The shows will start at 7.30pm and you’ll need to be at the theatre at least an hour beforehand. The dress rehearsal will be on Monday 24th March. You will need to be free from midday onwards, possibly all day.

3. Rehearsals

Rehearsals will be on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons/ evenings. All rehearsals will be in central London.

4. Synopsis and Cast Breakdown

There is none.
‘Keeping in Touch with Temptation’ is such a new play that at the moment, it exists as a name and an image.
It needs to be created by you, our actors.
This is a fantastic opportunity to continue the six year streak of KDC’s Devised Plays, and the first one to be given the run of a whole week alongside our other shows. The Devised Process has gone from strength to strength, from the purgatorial ‘Ups and Downs’ which even made an extra trip to Edinburgh, to ‘The Last Order’, and 2013’s fantastically haunting ‘Visited’.
From only an image and a title, the director and the cast will create a unique and original production, an entire play from devising techniques and improvisation, that requires keen imaginations, actors who can create and embody a character, and a cast that create something new and fantastic.
The KDC Theatre Devised Play remains one of the most challenging, and at the same time one of the most satisfying actor-as-creator experiences in the London Amateur Dramatics scene.

Hamlet Photos

A great set of production shots from Hamlet can be seen here. Please share them widely!

To book tickets go to the Giant Olive page here.

Hamlet Cast & Crew Biographies

Ami Sawran (Hamlet)
This is Ami’s first Shakespearean role, and her third role with KDC Theatre this year, after playing Steve in Stag Nation and the title role in Electra over the spring and summer seasons. When she’s not acting, Ami works as a vet and teaches at the Royal Veterinary College, and co-edits Reprobait magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ayemiy.

Ava Pickett (Ophelia)
This is Ava’s first production with KDC. She has previously been in productions of Judgment Day and Macbeth and will be appearing in a production of Titus Andronicus at Middlesex University, where she is currently in her second year studying theatre arts. Ava hopes to complete a masters following her degree and to continue working in both professional and amateur theatre.

Elliott Bornemann (Horatio)
This is Elliott’s first production with KDC theatre and he can find no better way to start. Elliott trained in the European Theatre Arts course at Rose Bruford College gaining a unique training looking into many modes of theatre practice from countries such as Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. As part of his training he spent three months at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in which he received an intensive training in the practices of Konstatin Stanislavski and Michael Chekhov. After his training Elliott took straight to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with fellow graduates to perform an original show The Portrait Firm. Now back in London Elliott is keen to gain as much acting experience as possible.

Terry Scotchmer (Laertes)
This is Terry’s first production with KDC. He started acting two years ago and in May of this year finished a 1 year acting programme at The Brian Timoney Actors Studio. Previous stage work includes John from After Miss Julie, Lyle Britton from A Blues For Mister Charlie and Brick Pollitt from Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. At the Transcend Festival in St Giles this summer he played Half Hanged Smith in a play called A Kind Bowl.

Martin Shaw (Claudius)
Martin studied Drama at Liverpool University and has since worked with several Theatre Companies around the country. Recent productions include KDC’s Summers Gone, Our Country’s Good with South London Theatre and David Copperfield at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall. This is his second Shakespearean performance of the year. He played Tranio in the Tower Theatre’s production of Taming of the Shrew which was performed both in London and on tour in Paris. He is looking forward to playing one of Shakespeare’s true villains as he is usually cast as the lovable rogue with a dodgy Northern accent.

Emily Barnes (Gertrude)
This is Emily’s second appearance with KDC and she is really enjoying tackling the complex role of Gertrude. Previously she spent 6 years with East Finchley Youth theatre before heading off to study Theatre at university. Since then she has completed an intensive course on acting for film and television and been a longstanding member of The Actors Company in North London. Within that Company she has been cast in a variety of challenging roles such as Bride in Blood Wedding (Lorca), Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare), Mephistopheles in Dr Faustus (Marlow) and Romaine Patterson in The Laramie Project, as well as performing in various group devised productions. She has also performed as Mrs Peignoir in a production of Faulty Towers in Essex and appeared in various short films including a lead role for a film at The London Film School.

Duncan Moore (Polonius)
Duncan has worked on a number of productions with KDC since 2000. His last onstage performance was in The Merchant of Venice in 2007. After The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Duncan is planning on taking another break from acting and will return to his other KDC roles that he loves.

Stephen Russell (Ghost/Player King)
Stephen has been a regular on the London stage for almost 20 years. He has played the leads in Don Juan in Soho, Breaking the Code (as Alan Turing) and Journey’s End, and has recently returned from an acclaimed run as John Major and Tony Blair in KDC and Asterion Theatre’s War of the Waleses at the Edinburgh Festival. He has appeared in several Shakespeare plays, including as multiple Oberons, Edmund the Bastard and a last-minute engagement as Laertes at the Edinburgh fringe in 2010, for which he squeezed in just one rehearsal and managed to break Hamlet’s sword in the duel. He is probably much safer as a ghost.

Kate Moore (Marcellus/Player Queen)
Kate has been performing with KDC for nine years and comes to Hamlet fresh from performing in the summer season in Electra. Her previous roles include Beatrice-Joanna in The Changeling, Bartley in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Florrie in KDC’s inaugural Halloween production of Dracula. Shakespearean roles include Paulina in The Winter’s Tale, Trinculo in The Tempest, Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing and Macduff’s Child in the Scottish play. She hopes you manage to enjoy the show, despite the tragedy.

Peri Linklater-Jones (Bernardo/Rosencrantz/First Gravedigger)
Peri studied Theatre and Fine Art at York St. John university before moving to London to train as an actress at London Drama School. During her time at London Drama School she performed in Don’t Stop Occupy a video short highlighting issues surrounding London’s Occupy movement, filmed on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. In May 2013 she appeared in her first full length production, The Winter’s Tale and since has developed an appetite for Shakespeare. Hamlet is Peri’s first production with KDC.

Emma Chapman (Francisco/Guildenstern/Second Gravedigger)
Emma is making her KDC Theatre debut in Hamlet, and is enjoying bringing several different characters to life. Having recently completed her English Literature degree she wanted to take part in theatre outside of university and is pleased to have found such a friendly group of people to work with. She hopes to move to London in the near future in order to make the most of all the theatrical opportunities that are on offer.

Christopher O’Dea (Priest/Osric/Lucianus/Messenger/Gentleman)
This is Christopher’s first performance for KDC. His previous work includes some independent devised film, stage and audio drama productions. He also performed a variety of roles alongside the cast for the dramatist Howard Barker’s latest play The Forty, a series of short dramatic vignettes which premiered in 2012 in Aberystwyth, Wales. He studied at Aberystwyth University, where he gained a degree in English Literature with Drama and Theatre Studies before moving on to the London-based amateur dramatic circuit.

Kat Wootton (Director)
Kat Wootton is thrilled to be directing her favourite play, Hamlet. Her other work with KDC includes directing Stag Nation, a KDC production taken to the Camden Fringe, and she also directed the Christopher Durang comedy Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. Her film work includes directing and performing in independent short films, most recently Rehearsal Space, and over the summer she filmed and performed in the youtube series Alternative Dating.

Rachel Nwokoro (Assistant Director)
This is Rachel’s first time working with KDC and couldn’t happier that she started off on the team of such an exciting and challenging production. Rachel has directed a number of successful productions in the past (The Duchess of Malfi, The Crucible and a self-written play Keep it Casual), though her first and true love lies in acting. She has performed in several theatres in the West End and has appeared on a show on Nickelodeon. Rachel studied Natural Sciences at Durham University but left to pursue her passion in a career in the arts, and is currently applying to drama school.

Sara Palmieri (Set Designer)
Sara Palmieri is proud to be the Set Designer of the play Hamlet, a KDC production Directed by Katherine Wootton. She studied Scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts in her hometown (Foggia, Italy) and now she based in London. She worked as Scenographer, Costume Designer, Makeup Designer, Puppet Maker, Actress and Singer for the short film Scie Written and Directed by Renato Lori. She designed and built the scenes for the 8th, 9th and 10th editions of the Independent Film Festival in Foggia. She was selected for the Premio Nazionale delle Arti at the Brera Academy in Milan, and for the respective exhibition with a work about A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her portfolio can be seen here: http://sarapalmieri.tumblr.com/

Rocio (Costume Design)
Rocio studied fine arts in Sevilla and Italy, where she discovered her passion for the theatre, doing her first costume design for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her work also includes design for Plauto’s The Twins, a roman comedy, and of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s The Magic Table. Rocio is now based in London and enjoying its many possibilities.

Lindsay Royan (Fight Coordinator)
Lindsay has directed fights for a number of Shakespeare’s plays, including ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Taming of the Shrew’, ‘As You Like It’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Macbeth’ and, of course, ‘Hamlet’. She has worked on other productions from a musical version of ‘Beowulf’ to modern plays such as ‘Her Naked Skin’ and ‘Brighton Beach Scumbags’. Depending on the production, she has worked with all sorts of weapons from swords and shields to fans, the latter being for an atmospheric open-air show on the ramparts of a Spanish castle.

Tiger at the Gates Cast & Crew Biographies

Abneos / Ajax – Charlie Bailey
Charlie has been training as an Undergrad for the past few months at the Pauline Quirke Academy. He feels very lucky to have had great training from Nancy Sullivan and David Thaxton from W1 Workshops and the professionals at the Pauline Quirke Academy who are responsible for the progress that he has made in the last few months. Charlie is very grateful to have been able to work with Nick for his first stage production and has enjoyed the rehearsal and performing process with him and the rest of the cast.

Andromache – Jessica Clements
After nearly a 10-year hiatus, Jessica is excited to return to the stage in her first ever role with KDC. Originally from Canada, Jessica trained as an Actor at the University of British Columbia but, like most young artists, got a bit side tracked and ended up in a career having nothing to do with the fine arts. Although she has had to sew the zipper into the back of her dress for this performance (which she is not to be held responsible for in the event of a costume malfunction!), she is happy she isn’t required to eat an entire pumpkin pie on stage each night or do a strip tease while wearing lady bug granny pants. Her favourite roles to date include Emile (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Geraldine (What the Butler Saw), Shirley (Criminal Genius) and Denise (Bonjour La! Bonjour!).

Busiris / Minos / Topman – Kwesi Davies
Well, thank you for taking the time to come to the show if you have. I hope you really enjoy it. We all really enjoyed making it. For me, personally, this is my first involvement in such as organized amateur production and it has been great. Nick the ddirector has always been relaxed and friendly, but always asked more of us. He has created a really fun environment for us all t work in, and has always supported us to enjoy our work. This has made, as I mentioned earlier, for a really enjoyable rehearsal period. As for my other cast members, the word that springs to mind is ‘cool’. We just got along and got on with it. No prima donna’s, just nice people having a laugh and getting on with a show. So people, I hope you enjoy and God Bless.

Cassandra – Harriet Bradley
This is Harriet’s first play with KDC, after a rather risqué London acting debut in Network Theatre’s ‘Love and Deceit’ simulating sex onstage, followed by a performance as the 13 year old Thomasina in an extract from ‘Arcadia’ for SEDOS. She is rather relieved to be playing a relatively less terrifying role in ‘Tiger at the Gates’! Previously Harriet directed and produced theatre while studying History at Oxford University; plays included ‘The Lion in Winter’ and her own adaptation of ‘The Canterbury Tales’ which ran at Magdalen College and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009. She is currently writing her first full-length play, and hoping to return to Edinburgh with her theatre company in 2014.

Demokos – Simon Hill
This is Simon’s second show with KDC, having appeared in War of the Wales’s, as part of the RSC Open Stages project and in the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year. He has also has appeared at the Bridewell as Sepulchrave (Gormenghast) and Capulet (Romeo & Juliet). Outside London, he has appeared regularly at the Pendley Shakespeare Festival, the Aylesbury Limelight, and the Court Theatre, Tring. Roles have included Macbeth, Macduff and Duncan (Macbeth), Oswald and Edmund (King Lear), Polonius (Hamlet, twice), Baptista (Taming of the Shrew, twice), Vincentio (Measure for Measure), Montague (Romeo & Juliet), Doctor Miranda (Death & the Maiden), the Ratcatcher (Kindertransport), Ludwig (Cabaret), Lord Illingworth (Woman of No Importance), Serebryakov (Uncle Vanya), both name parts in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and last year as Jeff in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell. A mystery to his employer whom he rarely visits, this City Gent and erstwhile blues singer finds pensions “exciting”.

Hector – Ric Renton
In Ric’s first play with KDC he portrayed a Geordie cockalorum. His second KDC production sees him play a legendary, charming, handsome and perfectly proportioned moral warrior, which is a relief as, professionally speaking, the first play really took some acting.

Hecuba – Michelle-Louise Wright
Michelle-Louise trained as an actress through LAMDA, gaining her Gold Medal in 1995, and was a founder member of Basingstoke Youth Theatre. Notable appearances have included Rizzo in ‘Grease’, Alison in ‘Look Back in Anger’ and Ouisa in ‘Steel Magnolias’ at Oxford University. She works as a teacher of English and Drama, shamelessly indoctrinating her students into a love of Shakespeare. She hopes to found a South London Youth Shakespearean Society in 2014. Her passions include very loud rock music, real ale and visiting Stratford-upon-Avon, where she dreams of one day acting with Jamie Parker, David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. This is Michelle-Louise’s first production with KDC.

Helen – Katy Treble
Katy is delighted to be losing her KDC virginity to the role of Helen. Being in London nearly two years now she decided it’s time to get her theatre boots back on. Between drinking wine in the bath and working in the city Katy enjoys a good read – namely, Vogue. Previous credits include: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Juliet), ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ (Adela), ‘A View from a Bridge’ (Catherine), ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Hermia) and ‘Of Mice and Men’ (Curley’s Wife).

Paris – Neil Ballinger
Neil Ballinger has been a member of KDC for three years, with previous credits including ‘Summers Gone’, ‘Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Ups and Downs’.

Polyxene / Olpides – Simone Mumford
This is Simone’s first time acting with KDC, and she is very amused by the fact that most people in the production believe she is eighteen, when really she is thirteen! (Awkward) A man once thought that she worked in Superdrug! People tell her that she is rather odd (Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live.) and is known to be quite the party animal. Literally. Apart from typical school plays, Simone has appeared in ‘Four Rooms of Refuge’ and would have been featured in a Toyota advert had she been wearing the dress with the slightly larger squares on them. Oh well, at least she still got paid for her time and in addition got free snacks…

Priam – Gordon Foggo
Since coming to London last year, I have been doing Shakespeare (no royalties) in South London and Shakespeare (no royalties) in Earls Court Square Garden. I first stepped onto a stage a long time ago in a bejewelled city far away (Glasgow) and its been a fairytale ever since. I keep telling myself. We have a really good assembly of people for this production and I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks. Having a great laugh at some of the rehearsal goings-on, what with slaps, spits, punches, tickles and time traveling Trojan telephones. I don’t get involved in all that, of course. I just walk about with a stick.

Ulysses / Mathematician – Stephen Maher
Stephen Maher has recently moved to London from Dublin. He is eager to built on his theatre experiences which he has built from cities around the world as far away as Melbourne! Past theatre productions include:
An Inspector Calls, J.B. Priestly, (Gerald)
The Illusion, Pierre Corneille , (Pleribo/Theognees)
Hamlet, Shakespeare, (Hamlet)
The Lonesome West, Martin McDonagh, (Father Welsh)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare, (Proteus)
A Mid-Summer Nights Dream, Shakespeare, (Oberon)
Sexual Perversity in Chicago, David Mamet, (Bernie)
Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams, (Stanley)
Closer, Patrick Marber, (Larry)

Director – Nick Mouton
This production not only marks Nick’s tenth year with KDC and is his fourth directorial effort with the company, following ‘Junk’ (The Courtyard), ‘Noir’ (Hen & Chickens) and ‘Female Transport’ (The Landor), but it also completes his ‘Trojan Trilogy’ with KDC having played Ajax in ‘Troilus & Cressida’ and Odysseus in ‘Penelopiad’. Will there be a Quadrilogy? Watch this space. Other directing feats include his well-received first professional gig (three 4 star reviews!) ‘One Night Hire’ for So It Goes Theatre at Barons Court Theatre, and other pieces spanning Newcastle, Edinburgh and Crowthorne (it’s in Berkshire). Nick has also written a number of plays and comedy sketches that have been performed across London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Feel free to follow his ramblings @nickmouton

Assistant Director – Simon Paris
Simon Paris has been alive for 19 years now, successfully juggling his full time university course of Theatre Directing, assistant directing ‘Tiger at the Gates’, and working on other plays. When he is not spinning the plates of his career life, he is usually to be found out and about in the streets of London or visiting his family in Leicester. Simon didn’t always want to direct theatre, back in his youth his dream was to own an ice cream van and live between two hills so the ice cream van would not need petrol. Slowly, common sense clawed its way in and the ice cream dream bled out, but he hopes one day the dream will re surface and there will be free ice cream for all!

Facebook Page

As the KDC Facebook group has grown phenomenally over the last 18 months, to help us reach more people and make it easier for the admins to post details about upcoming plays, photos from shows and social events, it is time to embark on the road to the KDC Facebook Page. Please “Like” it if you’re a member of the group and you’ll get better notifications of what we’re doing, when we’re doing it. Invite your friends!

What the Dickens? first night

Thanks to all those who came to the first night of Twisted tonight. Roll on The Bleakest House tomorrow…

Website downtime 24-25 October

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