Cotton Grass Theatre Company
2 Overdale, The Hills, Bradwell,
Hope Valley, Derbyshire, S33 9GZ Tel & Fax 01433 621 624xxEmail
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Productions About Cotton Grass Theatre
Productions 1995 to
2009
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Personnel
Actors, directors, musicians, technicians and writers who have worked with the company
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Susan Daniel Artistic Director
Susan Daniel has worked professionally in the theatre since 1984.
She began her career in fringe and street theatre, fire eating and juggling.
She has also worked in TV and radio and was a puppeteer in the children's TV show Button Moon.
Susan is the founder and artistic director of Cotton Grass Theatre
and
has produced and performed in nearly all of the
company's
productions
and events for
young
people
Susan
both wrote and
performed in
The Crow in
the Know
Link to Susan's agent
email: Susan
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David Frederickson Commercial Director
David Frederickson was a Sheffield City Councillor in the 1980s before training as and actor
at the Bristol Old Vic.
He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as a variety of regional reps
and his television work includes parts in Heartbeat, Emerdale and At Home With The Braithwaits.
He has recently completed a run of Alan Bennett's Single Spies
at the West Yorkshire Play House in Leeds and at the Theatre Royal in Windsor
David joined Cotton Grass Theatre in January 2000
He has performed in Black Bread &
Tired Feet
La Ronde
A
Chip in the
Sugar, The Unreturning Army
The Crow
in the Know
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
and
The Unknown
Land
Link to David's agent
email:
David
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Dan Armour
Dan
Armour has joined Cotton Grass Theatre to perform in Gardens of Delight
Immediately prior to this, he played the extremely unpleasant Tom Turner in
the BBC Schools TV production Own Goal and the inspector in the BBC Radio play Antique Silver.
His most recent stage appearance has been as Graham in Allan Bennett's Talking Heads
production A Chip in the Sugar.
Other TV appearances include The Cops, The Life and Crimes of William Palmer, Prime Suspect and Seaforth.
Dan also helps run a new theatre writing project in Leeds.
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David Barber
When
performing in Blue
Remembered Hills
in 1995, David
Barber was
best known for his role as 'Fat Bloke' in the Harry Enfield TV Show and for his work in television commercials.
His TV performances include Black Adder, Chuckle Vision, Murder Most Horrid and The Dectectives.
His theatre work has included Pickwick with Harry Seacombe, Up and Under, The Rivals and Gulliver.
He appeared in the film Jeanne D'Arc directed by Luc Besson
and in pop promos with Annie Lennox.
David
returned to Cotton Grass Theatre in June 2000 to perform in
Gardens of Delight
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Sarah Bennett
Sarah
Bennett worked with Cotton Grass Theatre in Blue Remembered Hills
and Bazaar and Rummage
She is an experienced actress, voice-over artist and vocalist.
Sarah lives in Derbyshire and her jazz band,
The Sarah Bennett Quintet, perform at venues and festivals nationally.
For more details visit www.sarahbennettjazz.com
For gig listings visit www.myspace.com/sarahbennettquintet
email: Sarah Bennett
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Sarah Bradnock
Sarah Bradnock is a freelance director who lives in the Derbyshire Dales and works throughout the UK.
With
Cotton Grass Theatre, she has directed The Hollow Country
Into the Rose Garden
Black Bread
& Tired Feet
La Ronde
and
The
Crow in the Know
Sarah has also worked as a youth theatre director for the Sheffield Crucible Theatre, Great Eastern Stage,
the Salisbury Play House and the Marlowe International Youth Theatre.
Sarah has also directed productions and run workshops for Box Clever Theatre Company,
SNAP Theatre and the Bath Theatre Royal.
email: Sarah Bradnock
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Penny Capper |
| Penny Capper joined with Cotton Grass Theatre in
June 2000 to perform in Gardens of Delight
Penny trained at Webber Douglas Academy and has subsequently appeared at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield and the Lawrence Batley Theatre and has also worked with The Dead Earnest Theatre Company. Her television work includes Adams Family Tree, Heart Beat, Children's Ward and Coronation Street and recently, she played 'Yvonne' in the BBC production Own Goal.
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Ben Daglish
Ben Daglish created the music for
The Hollow Country
and Black Bread & Tired Feet
He is a free-lance musical director and performer and was the conductor for the Sheffield Youth Orchestra.
He composed many soundtracks for well know computer games in the 80s and 90s.
Link to Wikipedia information
on Ben Daglish
email: Ben Daglish
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Tricia Donnison
Trica studied Fine Art at Liverpool College of Art. Worked at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as a scenic artist
and after several years joined the Derby Playhouse as Scenic Artist/Designer.
She then moved to Ireland to become Head Scenic Artist for the National Theatre Society of Ireland
at the Abbey Theatre. Tricia then worked with such leading Irish companies as the Druid Theatre,
Galway; The Gate, Dublin; The Olympia Theatre, Dublin; Wexford Opera and Cork Opera.
Her London West End credits include Cats (New London Theatre); Chicago (Cambridge Theatre)
and English National Opera. Tricia now lives in the Derbyshire Dales where she works in theatre,
teaches Art in schools and paints murals for public spaces.
For
Cotton Grass Theatre, Tricia was designer for The
Complete Angler
and
Haunted
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Shaun Dooley
Shaun
Dooley performed with Cotton Grass Theatre in Blue Remembered Hills
He has since worked extensively on stage and television in the North of England
with character roles in Coronation Street, East Enders and the Sheffield Crucible's production of
Brassed Off which played the West End in 1999.
Link to Shaun Dooley's agent and CV
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Bethany Downs
Bethany joined Cotton Grass on a work experience placement from Lady Manners School in Bakewell.
She performed in
The
Crow in the Know
and was
actively involved in many other aspects of the
production.
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Julian Drake
Julian is a painter , sculptor and commercial illustrator. He designed the sets and imagery for
The
Crow in the Know
and
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
He has previously worked for the Merlin Theatre and The Drama Studio in Sheffield.
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Penny Edwards
Penny lives in the Derbyshire dales. She has worked with Cotton Grass Theatre since it began in 1995.
As well as stage management, she has handled administration, accounts, costumes, props
box office and countless other invaluable tasks.
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Christopher Hawes
Christopher Hawes wrote Haunted
which was performed by Cotton Grass in 2004.
He is a Derbyshire based playwright, novelist and poet and has worked extensively in Theatre and Radio
and more recently in Opera and Music Theatre.
He wrote the libretto for Red Azalea by the American composer William Kraft
and scripted a 'Jazz Romance' Don't Explain about Billie Holiday and Lester Young.
His play, The Play of Jennet was voted Best New Play of the Year by the Manchester Evening News
and he was for some time a member of the writing team for BBC's The Archers.
In 2004, he finished his fourth novel for young adults, The Storytellers.
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Sarah Hepworth
Sarah's
first work with Cotton Grass was aged 7 in the
Golden Whale
A year
later, she played the Snow Girl in
Black Bread and
Tired Feet
In 2002,
she took part in
Time Tales
and in 2006
she
performed in
The
Crow in the Know
She is currently and Theatre Studies student
and has
worked on set design with The Babbling Vagabonds
and
Nellie Shepherd Events
in London.
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Stephen Hepworth
Stephen Hepworth is a commercial photographer based in the Hope Valley.
He has taken all of the company's production pictures and designed most of their
publicity material.
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Julie Higginson
Julie is a Bakewell based actress who
began her career on the London Fringe and was a founder member of the
Riding Lights Theatre Co. in York.
Since then, she has worked in rep throughout England and Wales. Her TV work includes Coronation Street
and Red Dwarf II. She has also worked extensively in radio drama and comedy; most recently in the Radio 2
production For Better or For Worse with Su Pollard & Gordon Kay.
Julie joined with Cotton Grass Theatre in the summer
of 2000 to perform in Gardens of Delight
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Keith Kendrick
Keith is a professional singer of English traditional songs of land and sea
and a celebrated exponent of the English and the Anglo-German Concertina.
He recently co-created and co-directed the music for Jason and the Argonauts, Holding Fire and Look Sharp,
appearing at theatres around England, including Warwick, Greenwich, Brighton and in at Shakespeare’s Globe.
He has worked
with Cotton Grass on
Look Sharp!
and
The
Unknown Land
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Charmian May
Charmian
May directed Cotton Grass Theatre's first production - Blue Remembered Hills
She had a long acting career in film, television and on the West End stage
playing characters in The Good Life, Keeping up Appearances,
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Devonshire 300, 84 Charring Cross Rd. and Bridget Jones's Diary.
Charmian died in 2002.
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Alan Meadows
Alan has played many leading roles in Rep and on tour.
He has directed most things from Panto to Pinter,
as Associate Director of the Manchester Library Theatre and freelance.
He has written for stage and radio and appeared in Heartbeat,
The Royal, Coronation Street, The Clinger, Emmerdale and How We Used to Live.
While living in Greece for some years he wrote dozens of short plays to assist in the learning of English,
and children’s stories on the Internet.
For
Cotton Grass, he directed
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
and
The
Unknown Land
In 2002 , with two other actors, he started
Yellow Leaf
Theatre
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Louise Page
Louise is a professional writer who lives in the Derbyshire Dales.
She adapted Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler
for a stage
production by Cotton Grass Theatre in 2004.
Louise Page's published plays have been performed in repertory theatres all over the country.
They include Salonika (Royal Court) for which she won the George Devine Award in 1983,
Real Estate (Tricycle Theatre) Golden Girls (Royal Shakespeare Company) and
Adam was a Gardener (Chichester Festival Theatre).
Television credits include: Crown Court, Broken Lives, Jailbirds,
Bad Girls and Doctors. Her numerous radio plays for the BBC include a major adaptation of Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen. She was a member of The Archers writing team from 1991 to 2000.
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Fiona Paul
Fiona is an actress and choreographer based in Derbyshire.
With
Cotton Grass, she performed the monologue The Age of
Consent as part of
Coupled Up
and
choreographed the young people's project
Time Tales
Link
to Fiona Paul's Agent and CV
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Garry Preece
Garry teaches stage craft for the
Performing Arts Department of the Sheffield College
He created
the stage lighting and ran workshops for the The Hollow Country
The Glorious Tale of the
Golden Whale
Gardens of Delight
La
Ronde
and
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
Gary
and Stuart Taylor created the lighting for Black Bread
& Tired Feet
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Katie Raughton
Katie joined Cotton Grass in March 2002 on work experience, from Highfields School in Matlock,
assisting with the stage management and prop making for La Ronde
at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield
and The Unreturning Army
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David Shimwell
David Shimwell was born and brought up in the Derbyshire Dales.
In recent years, as an actor, he has worked with the Royal National Theatre,
The English Shakespeare Company, York Theatre Royal and the Manchester Royal Exchange.
His television and film work includes : Hillary &Jackie, The Bill, Inspector Morse, Eastenders,
Dangerfield, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Peak Practice, Lost for Words, and Monster Cafe for Children's BBC TV.
With
Cotton Grass Theatre, he directed Bazaar and Rummage
and performed in Coupled Up
and The Unreturning Army
David
currently works in educational theatre with Brief
Candle Theatre Company
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Caroline Small
Caroline Small is a playwright, director, performer and storyteller.
She writes scripts for children’s theatre, youth theatre, adult audiences and for audio drama.
For Cotton Grass Theatre, since 1997,
she
has written or scripted The Hollow Country
Into the Rose
Garden
The Glorious Tale of
the Golden Whale
Black Bread & Tired Feet
Gardens of Delight
and The
Unknown Land
and
performed in Bazaar and Rummage
Coupled Up
and The Unreturning Army
For for information about other works by
Caroline Small: email
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Nicholas Stacey
Nicholas is a professional musician from the Derbyshire Dales.
composed and arranged the music for Gardens of Delight
Since 1993, He has worked with orchestras and ensembles throughout the Midlands as principal clarinet.
These include the Chalumeau Clarinet Quartet, Peak Performance Stage Orchestra, Countrywide Orchestra,
Phoenix Concert Orchestra, Chesterfield Gilbert & Sullivan Orchestra and the Peak Chamber Orchestra.
He acquired an MA in music from the University of Salford in 1999
and is an experienced teacher of clarinet, flute, saxophone, recorder and theory.
email:
Nicholas Stacey
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Stephen Tomlin
Stephen Tomlin has performed in theatre and television since the 1980s
For
Cotton Grass, he played Cecil Sharp in
Look Sharp!
in 2008
Link
to Stephen Tomlin's Agent and CV
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Tom Tunstall
Tom is a native of Bolton, trained at East 15 Acting School, who has worked extensively in touring theare,
notably with Third Theatre in the 1990s producing issue-based physical theatre.
More recently, he has worked making historical drama and dramatic reconstructions for Granada TV.
With Cotton Grass, Tom played Tom Stephenson in A Conversation Between John & Tom, by Roly Smith.
Performed as part of the programme for the National Park Authorities Conference in 2007.
Link to Tom Tunstall's agent and CV
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Justin Webb
Justin has been an actor since the early 1990s, working primarily in the theatre.
He has worked for TNT theatre (Munich) touring as far a field as Japan
and northern Norway and also long standing
association with the Barbican Theatre in London.
Justin is presently a core company member of NTC Theatre ensemble.
He has been a Sherlock Holmes fan since childhood
and for Cotton Grass, he wrote
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
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David Westbrook
David has worked in theatre and television since the 1980s
Appearing in Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Heartbeat and Cold Feet.
He was an actor composer and arranger for Sheffield based Compass Theatre productions.
In Cotton Grass's
Sherlock Holmes and
Final Problem
he played Sherlock
Holmes.
Link to
David's agent and CV
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Chris Wilkinson
Chris graduated from Bristol University Drama Department in the early 60's and spent a year at the Hampstead Theatre Club
and five years at the Sheffield Playhouse.
He was also co founder and director of Meatwhistle - a theatre and arts workshop for young people set up in Sheffield in the 70's.
He recently toured extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in The Taming of the Shrew in Stratford, London,
the Far East Kong and America.
TV appearances include the last few years inclued Heartbeat, Seeing Red, Coronation Street,
City Central, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Brass Eye, Emmerdale, Brookside,
Cardiac Arrest, The Beiderbecke Tapes and the BBC's Jane Eyre 2006.
In 2002, with two other actors, he started Yellow Leaf
Theatre
For
Cotton Grass Theatre, Chris has performed A Chip in The Sugar
The Compleat Angler
and
Haunted
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Cotton Grass Theatre Company
2 Overdale, The Hills, Bradwell,
Hope Valley, Derbyshire, S33 9GZ
Tel & Fax 01433 621 624xxEmail
