A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

Directed by Jean Carr and John Morton

Tuesday 15th - Saturday 19th May, 2012

The Tower Theatre performing at Theatro Technis


 

Photography by Alexander Knapp



Cast
Theseus : Charlie Golding
Hippolyta : Sujaya Dasgupta
Egeus : Harry Stern
Philostrate : Richard Pedersen
Lysander : Paul Isaacs
Hermia : Laure Stockley
Helena : Lucy Fletcher
Demetrius : Elliott Bhana
Oberon : Jonathan Wober
Titania : Annemarie Fearnley
Puck : Megan Housley
Peaseblossom : Sujaya Dasgupta
Cobweb : Helen Corbett
Moth : Sonia Allan
Mustardseed : Camilla Day
Peter Quince : Chris Holmes
Nick Bottom : Stephen Doak
Francis Flute : Tom Rooke
Tom Snout : Alexander Gordon Wood
Snug : Peter Novis
Starveling : Chris Yates
Fairies : Sascha Lowdermilk-Oppenheim, Emily Poncia, Georgie Walker

Production Team
Directors : Jean Carr and John Morton
Music : Colin Guthrie
Set Design: Hattie Spice
Costume Design : Jean Carr
Lighting Design : Robin Snowdon
Sound : Laurence Tuerk
Choreographer : Lindsay Royan


Stage Manager: Richard Pedersen
Fairy Godmother : Harriet Watson
Lighting Operator : Ksenya Gray
Wardrobe : Sheila Burbidge, Celia Reynolds,
Harriet Watson and members of the Company
Headdresses : Anna Dimdore
Set Construction : Keith Syrett, Michael Bettell and members of the cast & crew
Voice Coach : Colin Smith


Charlie Golding rekindled his love of acting in 2009 following a ten year post-college hiatus. Since then he has played King Charles II in The Libertine, Ted in Disappeared and F Alexander in A Clockwork Orange for KDC, Dr Spivey in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Guildenstern in Hamlet and Sampson in Romeo & Juliet for SEDOS, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar for Southside and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing for Questors RSC Open Stages. Charlie is a partner in "So it Goes ..." Theatre Company, which he produces, writes and directs for. His life ambition is to own a dog.
 
Harry Stern joined the Tower in 1977 having previously been a member of the Mountview Theatre Club. For the Tower, he has appeared in My Fat Friend, Tonight We Improvise, Abigail's Party, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Birthday Party, Aladdin, Privates On Parade, Come Blow Your Horn, My Three Angels, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mother Goose, The Merchant Of Venice, As You Like It and Antony and Cleopatra. He has directed Once A Catholic, Puss In Boots, The Lion In Winter, The Prisoner Of Second Avenue and Much Ado about Nothing.
Richard Pedersen has been a Tower member since 1989 and has appeared in numerous productions, as well as stage managing a number of others. This time he's combining the two roles! Past Tower roles include Ned in The Normal Heart, Turing in Breaking the Code and Robert in Betrayal. Richard is a regular of the Paris Shakespeare tour having been involved in thirteen previous visits to the Théâtre de Verdure. He's a fluent French speaker and could have been heard earlier this year as a competitor on Radio 4's Brain of Britain.
 
Paul Isaacs joined the Tower last year and appeared in 5/11. He studied acting at the City Lit, having previously completed an English degree at Leeds University.
Roles in training include Macbeth, Sam in Flatspin, Bruce in Beyond Therapy, and Haemon in Antigone. Recent parts include Medvedenko in The Seagull, Anthony Witwoud in The Way of the World, and Bardolph and the Duke of Orléans in Henry V.
Helen Corbett made her first appearances with the Tower Theatre Company in The House of Bernarda Alba and She Stoops to Conquer back in 2001. Since then she has completed her training on the Advanced Performance Diploma at the City Lit and performed with the City Lit Rep Company in The House of Bernarda Alba, The Coming of the King, Macbeth, Animal Farm and Roberto Zucco. She most recently appeared in the Tower Theatre's productions of Proof and Her Naked Skin.
 
Lucy Fletcher has worked as a professional harpist since the age of 16. She trained as an acting member of the National Youth Theatre and as a Junior Associate with The Royal Ballet. Whilst reading law at Cambridge, she was an active member of the Footlights Comedy Club and the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club. Theatre credits include The Baker's Wife in Into The Woods, Viola in Twelfth Night, Masha in The Seagull and Claudia Faith in The Dulwich Players' production of Nuts. This is her second production for the Tower, having performed in Crimes of the Heart earlier this year.
Elliott Bhana moved to London in 2010 and this is his third play with the Tower Theatre. He's been doing drama for about 10 years starting at school where he gained an A level in Theatre Studies. His previous roles include Everyman in the Summoning of Everyman, Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Huld and the Inspector in The Trial, Falkland in The Rivals and The Cripple and Jesus in Mistero Buffo.
 
This is Jonathan Wober's eighth Tower production since joining in 2009. He has played an eastern European (The Archbishop's Ceiling), various Ankh-Morporkians (Maskerade), a Roman (Julius Caesar), a Spaniard (The Odd Couple) and various Englishmen (Dangerous Corner, Smells of Wee, 5/11), but this is his first time as a fairy. He is also a member of the Company Committee.
When Annemarie Fearnley was first cast in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1984 at the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford, playing First Fairy/Peaseblossom, she never imagined she would eventually be crowned Queen! Joining the Tower soon after, her 25 year career has included parts such as Dick Whittington, Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, Irina in Three Sisters, Eugenie in Vincent in Brixton, Susan in Company, Violinist in Lark Rise, Second Witch in Macbeth and most recently Anne Vaux in 5/11. She is a former member of the 1940's group "Simply Vocal" and "The Checkmates" and has also performed with All Star Productions in Assassins at Theatro Technis and with Completely Productions in Company at The Bull.
 
Megan Housley joined the Tower a year ago; this is her third production with the company, following Her Naked Skin and The Boy Friend. Beyond the Tower, roles to date include Ariel in The Tempest (Network Theatre); Pepicek in Brundibar (Chetham's/Imperial War Museum North); Anticleia/Klytie in The Penelopiad (KDC); and Wendy in Peter Pan. Having trained as a singer alongside her degree (specialising in sacred choral music), Megan has additionally made numerous appearances in pantomime, musicals, and on radio. She can still occasionally be found moonlighting as a mezzo-soprano across the capital's churches. Megan resides in Crouch End, a place with the sort of typically-English name that should surely attract all sorts of faerie magic!
Camilla Day is an actor, singer and instrumentalist. She has appeared on film (Adam & the Asbos: The Movie, in musicals (The Mikado and The Boy Friend) and in plays (Ulysses 2000). She acted as Leader for the Warwick University Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with One World Band, Cam & I (acoustic duo) as well as recording as a solo artist. Her day job is as a trainee psychiatrist at the Maudsley Clinic.
 
Sonia Allan has a BA (Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University and an MA (English Literature) from the University of Sydney. Performance experiences include writing and performing in her own theatre adaptation of the children's fairytale The Nutcracker, performing with the professional cabaret ensemble "Lady Sings it Better", and performing in an ensemble of four in the Battersea Arts Centre's One on One Festival, where each performance is presented to an audience of only one person. This is her first production with the Tower Theatre and she is delighted to be on board.
Stephen Doak has studied and performed in Stand Up Comedy, Magic, and both Comic and Long Form Improvisation. Using this Long Form (Dramatic) style, he performed with 3rd Person Theatre Company for over two years. He first performed in Shakespeare over 25 years ago (hard to believe, I know), as Touchstone in As You Like It. This is his first Tower production.
 
Tom Rooke trained at Drama Centre London. His theatre creditsinclude Gavin Clancy in Rose's Dilemma at the English Theatre of Hamburg, Moe Baum in American Clock, Robert Morton in The Winslow Boy and Pirithous in Two Noble Kinsman. Film and TV appearances include Brian the Grey in Penalty King, Tom in Baines, Napoleon in Max, Mathew Parkinson in Wounded, Nicky Frazer in Midsomer Murders and Tosca's Son in Opera Shorts. On radio he has played Icarus Wizards at the Museum and Joe Pitt in Angels in America.
He won "Best Duologue" at the 2008 BBC Carleton Hobbs Awards and Wounded won "best feature" at the 2011 Marbella international Film Festival in Spain.
Tom is delighted to be performing with the Tower Theatre Company for the first time.
Alexander Gordon Wood trained at Birkbeck College, at City Lit and with the Scottish Youth Theatre. Recent stage appearances have included Alls Well That Ends Well, Antony & Cleopatra, Hamlet, Henry V, Romeo & Juliet and The Merry Wives Of Windsor (Cambridge Shakespeare Co); The Seagull (Barons Court Theatre); Twelfth Night (Greenwich); Shakespeare's Women and Measure for Measure (Rose Theatre); Money from America (Old Red Lion) and Uncle Vanya (Union Theatre). Alexander has appeared in 8 of the Tower Theatre Shakespeare shows from 2001 to 2008 as well as in The Kitchen, Playboy of the Western World, The Seagull and, most recently, The Slab Boys. He has also appeared in several high-profile films including Jack the Ripper Definitive Story, Harry Potter 2,4,7 and 24 Hours in London and on TV in The Bill, Holby City, Fortysomething and Hornblower.
 
Peter Novis worked for 30 years in BBC Radio Drama and has been with the Tower since 1988 acting and directing. Favourite roles include Herman Glogauer in Once in a Lifetime, the Dada in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, several parts in the annual Tower Shakespeare productions in Paris, and an Ugly Sister in Cinderella.
Christopher Yates has appeared in Tower Theatre productions at intervals since 1974. So far, he would like to be remembered, if at all, for his Mazzini Dunn (Heartbreak House) and Rev. Eli Jenkins et al. (Under Milk Wood). Auditioning for parts has become a major hobby of his retirement from work as a librarian. He played most recently Seely in Her Naked Skin, Somerset and Pageant Master in 5/11 and Elderly Man in Terrorism. He regards his untamed eyebrows as a trade mark but will consent to their trimming if the part demands it.
 
This is Laure Stockley's first production with the Tower Theatre. Having taken a few years away from acting to focus on music, she is very excited to be getting back on stage.
Chris Holmes has been acting with the Tower Theatre company since the early 80's and has appeared in some 50 productions. Previous Shakespeare roles have included Don John (Much Ado About Nothing); Touchstone (As You Like It); Gonzalo (The Tempest); Grumio (The Taming of the Shrew); Capulet (Romeo and Juliet); and the Chorus (Henry V). He has recently turned to directing, his last show being a production of The Real Thing.