JJvax Four short plays presented together as part of the Love [and Survival] in a Time of Covid festival
		Thursday 1st & Sunday 4th July, 2021 At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

Memories Fade by Helen McGill, directed by Simona Hughes
Cast : Lucy Moss, Alexandra Charalambous

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Strange Enchantment by Julia Collier, directed by Matthew Ibbotson
Cast : John Chapman, Simona Hughes, Heather Dalton, Harry Jefferies

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Sky Full of Stars by Matthew Partridge, directed by Emma Miles
Cast : Arabella Hornby and Ryan Williams

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Spring 2020 by Beverly Frydman and Rochelle Scholar, directed by Angharad Ormond
Cast : Ruth Sullivan, Angharad Ormond

Production Team
Event co-ordinator : Angharad Ormond
Set Design : Peter Foster, Jude Chalk
Lighting Design : Stephen Ley
Sound and Projection : Laurence Tuerk, Anna Kidd, Kaushal Ginige
Stage Managers : Roanne Insley, Jacqui Dickson
Lighting Operator : Grainne Hallinan

For Love [and Survival] in a Time of Covid
Artistic Directors : Ruth Sullivan, Angharad Ormond, Simona Hughes

Memories Fade

This is Helen McGill's first foray into writing and she is thankful to Tower for providing a safe space to try out her voice. In terms of acting, Helen was due to appear in the Tower's version of The Norman Conquests until Covid scuppered that plan, so she is delighted to be part of live theatre again. Before that, Helen has performed in various productions with the Tower including Dead Funny, King Charles III, Di and Viv and Rose and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Lucy Moss is a playwright and actor. She has most recently been working on the Tower Theatre's Five Women, which is currently undergoing editing before release as a radio play. She played Mother in Virtual Tower's award-winning zoom play adaptation of Metamorphosis. She co-wrote the Tower's adaptation of The Canterbury Tales and has appeared in a variety of other shows, including two different productions of The Seagull in 2018, where she played Irina each time.

Simona Hughes completed her MFA in Advanced Theatre Practice at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduated (with distinction) in 2019. She has been a Tower Theatre Company member for 20 years, during which time she has served on the Management Committee and both acted and directed. Directing credits at Tower include Little Nell, Brontë, Love Love Love, Table and A Passage to India. She has also directed short pieces at Theatre 503, Vault Festival, The Bread and Roses and The Pit (Barbican) and has written and directed her own play About 500, which is nominated as an OnComm finalist. Simona has also executive produced a feature film, County Lines, which was recently released on BFI player/Curzon Home cinema.

Strange Enchantment

Niki Mylonas trained at the late Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. She has acted on stage, TV, film, radio and video and has performed both in the UK and abroad including Cyprus - the island of her birth. A writer of non-fiction, poetry and plays, Niki founded two audio companies in which she produces, directs and acts. Strange Enchantment is Niki's eleventh actual stage production with the Tower and her first in the Tower's permanent home. During the pandemic Niki appeared in three Virtual Tower Zoom Shows. Notable and favourite credits with the Tower include Nanny Ogg in Masquerade, Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and Helen Keller in In Their Own Write.

Harry Jefferies lives in Chiswick and is excited about acting in not only his first production for the Tower, but indeed his first production anywhere! Having enjoyed the rehearsal process, Harry is looking forward to involving himself in future Tower activities.

Having been a Friend of the Tower Theatre for many years Heather Dalton joined as an acting member five years ago. Since then she has played Isabella Bird, Joyce and Mrs Kidd in Top Girls, Lady Croom in Arcadia and Mrs Eynsford-Hill in Pygmalion. Her last production pre-lockdown was as Doreen in In Basildon with the Spread Eagle Players. Heather is very happy to be treading the boards once again with the Tower Theatre.

John Chapman works (occasionally) as a freelance education consultant, writer and copy editor. Prior to this he worked at the "chalkface" for rather longer than he cares to remember. He first took to the stage as a schoolboy pretending to be a Greek frog. Decades later he has found himself involved with over 150 productions, though this will be his first monologue performance. Favourite acting roles along the way have been Hector in The History Boys, Norman in The Norman Conquests, Felix in Humble Boy and Mr Micawber in David Copperfield. Most memorable of all was when he got to play Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Tower Theatre's collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His most recent appearance at the Tower was as Falstaff in The Merry Wives Of Windsor. Best directing jobs have been with The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Lord of The Flies, Glorious! and ten works by Alan Ayckbourn. Most recently he was in the Tower director’s chair for the anarchic Rules For Living. John has always been interested in the world of drama and has served as a panellist for professional stage awards. He has recently expanded his theatre reviewing via his blog 2nd from Bottom and, during the pandemic, has become something of an expert on the subject of online theatre having seen and reviewed a new show every day since April 1st, 2020. During the pandemic he has also kept himself busy by co-ordinating Virtual Tower – an initiative for the company which has mounted over thirty shows online including the OffWestEnd award nominated Metamorphosis In Lockdown.

Matthew Ibbotson studied Drama at the University of East Anglia and joined the Tower in 2018. His performing credits include Sidney in Kafka's Dick, Luke in Gainsbourough's Girls and most recently Major Calendar in A Passage To India. His extensive work with the Virtual Tower initiative contributed to him being named winner of the Frank Smith Award in 2020.

Sky Full of Stars

Arabella Hornby has been acting since a young age, always having a passion for theatre. Since graduating from the University of Leeds, she has acted and produced a production of Constellations by Nick Payne at The Hen and Chickens Theatre, where she played the role of Marianne. She recently performed in the cast of Secret Cinema’s immersive production of Stranger Things. Having joined the Tower two years ago, she has performed in The Canterbury Tales and Five Women and more recently for the Virtual Tower's performances of Metamorphosis and Perfect Bodies.

Ryan Williams has performed with regional theatres across the UK for over a decade now alongside furthering his studies in Vakhtangov and Method techniques. Before arriving in London, he acted with theatre companies in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and even in the U.S. playing roles such as Brick Pollitt in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Paul Bratter in Barefoot in The Park. Appearing in numerous shows as a performer at the Tower since 2018 - such as Trainspotting, Dead Funny and The Canterbury Tales - he couldn't be more excited to be back in front of a live audience after such a long hiatus.

Spring 2020

Angharad Ormond graduated from Drama Studio London in 2009. She has been a Tower Theatre company member for 6 years and was the recipient of the 2017 Frank Smith award which recognises outstanding contributions from a new member. She has previously served on the Artistic Team as an Assistant Artistic Director, co-ordinating the new directors programme. Angharad both acts and directs for the company, focusing on the latter more over the recent years. Directing credits include Kindertransport, an immersive production of 1984, and a modern reimagining of The Canterbury Tales. Angharad is particularly interested in theatre that pushes the boundaries, both artistically and politically, and she has a passion for multi-modal creations, combining masks, puppetry, movement and live music. During lockdown she co-produced The Tower Theatre Podcast, created a brand-new radio drama, 5 Women, and even returned to performing. Angharad also works as a Clinical Psychologist, which feeds her collaborative and nurturing approach to directing.

Ruth Sullivan has been a Tower member for 14 years and has performed, directed, choreographed and designed sound for many productions in that time. Her most recent play as a director for the Tower was King Charles III which was a large scale ensemble piece but she does have some experience of monologues, having performed in Happy Days. Since the theatre was forced to close last March she has been part of Virtual Tower and the Tower podcast, both directing and performing. As a Foley Artist she’s usually found in a dark studio, making sounds for TV drama and film (as well as an occasional foray into radio) and regularly works with directors such as Katie Mitchell and Simon McBurney to create and perform live theatre sound. She’s one of the Tower’s new Artistic Directors and is so pleased to be finally back in the theatre.