lucy

years 9-11, years 12-13

Lucy Betts is a freelance Director, Workshop Facilitator and playwright, specialising in work with young people and community theatre. Lucy has been working with young people to create theatre for over 15 years. 

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Lucy is a Creative Associate at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury and was associate director of Kiss Me, Kate (2019) and Camelot (2020). She directed Lone Flyer at the Watermill Theatre as part of their socially distanced Autumn season. In 2018 she was part of the Mid-Career Directing Development Programme at Chichester Festival Theatre. She directed Sleeping Beauty at Chichester Festival Theatre in December 2018 and returned to direct The Wizard of Oz as part of their 2019 season. 

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As a youth theatre director Lucy has created a varying range of productions – from full scale musicals to studio productions and outdoor promenade performances. She has also written for young performers – including musical adaptations of Just So Stories, The Secret Garden and The Railway Children.

Adam

years 12-13

 

Adam Forde has been making theatre with and for young people for more than 35 years. He has worked with and mentored hundreds of young actors, many of whom have gone on to make a career on the professional stage. Adam was at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for 14 years, directing more than 40 productions in that time and taking shows up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As the Head of the Youth Theatre and Education he presided over one of the busiest and most successful youth theatres in the country. 

 

Adam has written many plays and musicals and his adaptations, with music by David Perkins, of Arabian Nights and The Wind in the Willows are regularly performed around the world.

As a director of award-winning family theatre company, Story Pocket Theatre, Adam has devised, written and co-directed many shows that have toured across the UK and abroad.

david

musical director

David Perkins has many musical hats, working regularly as a musical director, pianist, composer and music arranger. Since 1994 he has been associated with Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre working on over 70 productions both in Guildford and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a composer, David has had several musicals published, with many youth/school productions staged throughout the world on every continent with the exception of Antarctica! Professional productions include Re:Creation (St John’s Smith Square), Treasure Island (Leicester Haymarket), Snow Globe (Shakespeare’s Globe) and tours of Just So Stories (Apollo Theatre Co.) and AniMalcolm (Story Pocket Theatre).

 

After many years working in youth theatre, David is still constantly amazed at the natural musical ability that can be found in children. He believes it is a huge privilege to be part of a team that helps young people develop their artistic skills and to grow in confidence.

jules

years 5-9

Jules has been a true pioneer of youth theatre for nearly 30 years. Having studied Drama and Education at university, she created a thriving youth theatre from a small existing group at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in 1993.
Since then, she has been directing, devising and running workshops in theatres and schools in the area and has a rich experience of working with and leading young people and practitioners. She has directed over 60 youth theatre productions, working with actors of various ages, performing in studio spaces and large auditoriums. She is also a keen promoter of new writing and has commissioned and directed many original musical premieres, which have since been published.

 

Jules is also a founding director of Story Pocket Theatre, an award-winning professional family theatre company. She is an important creative force in the company, co-directing many shows that have toured throughout the UK and abroad.

ellie

Years 9-11

Ellie Johnson graduated from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2014 with a First BA (Hons) in Acting. From there, she embarked on tours across Germany and the UK before finding her way ‘off stage’ and for the last four years has been working with young people as a director, facilitator and writer.

 

Ellie loves creating different types of theatre and being able to expose young people to as many different experiences as possible – whether that be physical theatre, dance, Shakespeare, vocal technique or storytelling. Ellie's most recent credits include Arthur: From a Boy to a King, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Much Ado About Nothing.

 

Ellie has also pioneered several education and outreach projects in local residential care homes and schools, and is passionate about taking theatre out into the community.

eve

ages 18-25

Eve has been working with children and young adults here and abroad for over 20 years.  A graduate of the Guildford School of Acting, Eve has been working as a professional actress for over 13 years in everything from pantomime to Shakespeare.  She is a skilled actor, voice artist and singer and loves sharing her knowledge and experience with young people. Recent directorial credits include: The Laramie Project, The Gift of the Magi, A Christmas Carol, Anne of Green Gables, The Crucible and Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales.  

 

Eve is also a skilled writer and adapted The Gift of the Magi and A Christmas Carol for performance, and she wrote her first original play stand up in 2019.