Pressgang Productions

Oxford's contemporary theatre specialists

THE LOVE OF THE NIGHTINGALE by Timberlake Wertenbaker OLD FIRE STATION THEATRE, OXFORD 27 NOV-1 DEC 2001 Box Office 01865 297170

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Tom Crowther

Tom enjoys acting in supporting roles.  He has directed on a number of occasions, most recently a children’s opera – Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Oxford Town Hall.  Whilst studying English at Cambridge, Tom was involved in lots of productions, including playing Gus/Augustus/Chater in Arcadia.  Tom is currently pursuing a career as a writer and poet.

Rachel Fishwick

Rachel is a third-year classicist at Merton.  This is Rachel's second appearance in a Pressgang production, the first being Peaches at the BT.  Her student theatre credits include The Birds (Playhouse), Pentecost, Terminal, Beautiful Thing and The Skriker (BT), Uncle Vanya and Our Country's Good (Wadham) and Rembrandt's Mirror (St Johns).

John Hole

John’s first experience of theatre involved a gas cooker!   Since then he’s played corpses, one-legged sea dogs, a Nazi and Jesus.  Currently he works in theatre, education and community arts.  Arcadia is his first play for Pressgang and his first time on stage at The Old Fire Station.

Ben Johnston

Ben has just graduated from Dartington College of Arts.  He is currently setting up a company to explore the big, spiky and wriggly side of theatre.

Giles Major

Giles is 17 years old, and is doing his A-levels at Repton.  He has worked in local drama since the age of 10 and has appeared on BBC1’s Pet’s Win Prizes and The Bill.  After school, Giles hopes to go to RADA.

Jo Noble

Jo trained at the Drama Centre and gained experience in repertory and touring companies interspersed with periods of directing and writing for theatre. She combined this with teaching Theatre Studies and Performing Arts at the Oxford College of Further Education.  Recent credits include: Gallactia in Howard Barker’s Scenes From An Execution, Doris in Charlotte Keatley’s My Mother Said I Never Should, Fanny in April D’Angelis’ The Life and Times of Fanny Hill – Pressgang.  Speaking in Tongues – Such Stuff Theatre Co.  Harold Pinter’s Old Times – Stagecraft Theatre Co. Radio work includes a series of plays for the BBC. Last year she directed Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me for Pressgang.

Robert Osborn

Robert lectured in English and Theatre Studies at Lancaster University until 1981 when he emigrated to Texas. He formed ran his own theatre company dedicated to new writing in Austin. He is now Head of Drama at St Clare’s,  Oxford. For Pressgang he has directed a number of new plays and was most recently seen in Someone who’ll watch over me.

Zimmy Ryan

Zimmy started her career with Pressgang as Second Assistant egg-box painter on Disco Pigs (1998).  It was a slow climb up the theatrical ladder, from holding nails in place and postering pubs (mostly on Walton Street) with Pressgang logos, to ASMing for Two-Way Mirror (1999), but after much hard work she was finally promoted to actor for the 2001 production of Arcadia.

Harry Smith

Harry, like Septimus, is a twenty-two year old Cambridge maths graduate.  He has lived in Oxford for a year and has appeared as Frank in Peaches – Pressgang, and Lorca’s Yerma.  Previous theatre credits include Tereus in The Love of the Nightingale, a USA tour of Macbeth with the ADC, Serious Money at the Cambridge Arts Theatre and a devised clown show at the Edinburgh Fringe.  He has also embarrassed himself on a number of occasions with the Footlights.

Adrian Spencer

After starting life with the Pegasus Youth Theatre,and the Oxford Playhouse Adrian studied stage management/technical theatre at LAMDA. He gained his equity card whilst touring with the musical Evita, before working in the West End on Showboat and many other productions, and for the BBC. Since moving to Oxford, Adrian has worked as a presenter/producer for local television; this is his second Pressgang production.

Graham Topping

Graham has worked as an actor, director and lighting designer in Oxford since the late '70s. He has acted in a national Shakespeare tour, lectures part-time in Theatre Studies at Oxford Brookes University, and writes on music and theatre for national magazines. For eight years he was a regular theatre reviewer for the Oxford Times. For Pressgang he was most recently seen in Frank McGuinness’ Someone who’ll watch over me.

Emily Unia

Born in a Dominican Nunnery in Ahmedabad, brought up in Oxford, Emily's chief passions are literature and jam. Her forays into the theatre delighted and excited her as she encountered the absurd pleasures of performing the work of Orton and Churchill. Whilst Pope Joan is Emily's favourite character to date, Lady Croom is nevertheless an enjoyable power trip.

Ben Williams

Ben Williams got his first taste of acting as one of the sisters, cousins and aunts in HMS Pinafore at the Dragon School in Oxford, aged 12. Since then he has played Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, Lemuel T Thwackbusher in The Cop and the Anthem,  Sweets in Jez Butterwoth’s Mojo and Osborne in R.C.Sheriff’s Journey’s End. Ben finished studying Drama at Brunel university last year and has had his foot on the door of the theatre world working at the Oxford Playhouse. This is his first appearance with Pressgang.