Tower Theatre Company : Dinner

Poster image courtesy of www.franciscaulloa.com

Dinner

by Moira Buffini

Directed by Theo Leonard and Sarah Freeman

Tuesday 22nd -
Saturday 26th March 2011

The Tower Theatre performing at the Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street

Photography by Alexander Knapp

Cast

Paige
Simona Hughes

Lars
Matthew Vickers

Wynne
Sue Brodie

Hal
Ed Malcomson

Siân
Pam O'Brien

Mike
Mark Macey

The Waiter
Howie Ripley

Production Team
Directors : Theo Leonard and Sarah Freeman
Set Design : Jude Chalk
Costume Design : Emma Miranda Moore
Lighting Design: Robin Snowdon

Stage Manager : Dinah Irvine
ASM : Sheila Burbidge
Lighting Operators : Robin Snowdon, Fiona Mackay
Sound Operator : Michelle Roebuck
Set Construction : Keith Syrett, Michael Bettell and members of the cast & crew

Simona Hughes joined the Tower in 2002, during its last year in its former Canonbury home, and has since appeared in nine productions, in which she most recently played Elida in Lady from the Sea, Portia in Julius Caesar and Ms Burnstein in The Trial. She is also on the company committee.

Matthew Vickers has been a member of the Tower Theatre since 2003 when he played Karl Brezner in Popcorn. Over the years he's played a variety of roles including Charles in Separate Tables, Colin in Absent Friends and more recently Arnholm in The Lady From The Sea.

Sue Brodie joined the Tower in 2006 after a long spell away from acting. Since then she has appeared in The Country Wife, Breathe of Life, Cigarettes and Chocolate/Hang Up and most recently in last year's topical political drama Whipping it Up which also featured Theo Leonard in the cast. Bombshells was Sue's first directorial role for the Tower, which she shared with Sarah Freeman and Zoe Thomas-Webb - all three were first-time directors.

Ed Malcomson has been a member of the Tower Theatre for the past three years. He trained at Oxford School of Drama, but has spent most of his working life as a teacher of drama and English literature. His first role with Tower was as Jasperino in The Changeling. Since then his roles have included Cain in The Mysteries, Henry in The Real Thing, Charles Stanton in Dangerous Corner and Brutus in Julius Caesar.

Pam O'Brien has been a Tower member since 2006. Previous productions have included Lock Up Your Daughters, Paradise: A Rock and Roll Fable, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, Jekyll and Hyde and Julius Caesar, as well as assistant stage manager on Tower's 2007 production of Taking Steps. She has also taken part in numerous musicals with other non-professional companies over the years. She sings in the local choir and has a love of anything French.

Mark Macey's credits with the Tower include: A Little Night Music, Outside Edge, Hot Mikado, Vincent in Brixton and The Diary of Anne Frank. With other companies in London, Southampton and Suffolk he has appeared in Gross Indecency, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Guilty Pleasures, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Laramie Project, The Libertine, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Take 5, The Real Thing, Little Shop of Horrors, Me and My Girl, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Cabaret, Chicago, The Crucible and Godspell. When not prancing around on stage Mark is a producer of BBC children's programmes.

Howie Ripley is a veteran of the independent theatre scene; he studied English and Drama in the UK and acting for the camera in California. His previous roles include Gregor Samsa in Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Metamorphosis; Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Gary Essendine in Present Laughter; Dan in Closer and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Last year marked Howie's debut for the Tower Theatre in a production of The Trial and he also co-wrote and directed plays for NoLogoProductions.

Dinner is Theo Leonard's first Tower production as a director. He has previously been assistant director on Proof, Lighting Designer for Bombshells and appeared on stage as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate and as Tim, the wide-boy junior whip, in Whipping it Up.

Sarah Freeman studied Drama at Exeter University. Since graduating she has interned at Richard Foreman's Ontological Theatre in New York and Assistant Directed for Unexpected Opera. In 2009 she was Events Coordinator for C Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe where she programmed and produced their late night comedy gig and cabaret evening. She started working with the Tower Theatre in early 2010 where she has co-directed on Bombshells and assistant directed on The Trial.

Simona Hughes joined the Tower in 2002, during its last year in its former Canonbury home, and has since appeared in nine productions, in which she most recently played Elida in Lady from the Sea, Portia in Julius Caesar and Ms Burnstein in The Trial. She is also on the company committee.		Matthew Vickers has been a member of the Tower Theatre since 2003 when he played Karl Brezner in Popcorn. Over the years he's played a variety of roles including Charles in Separate Tables, Colin in Absent Friends and more recently Arnholm in The Lady From The Sea.
Sue Brodie joined the Tower in 2006 after a long spell away from acting. Since then she has appeared in The Country Wife, Breathe of Life, Cigarettes and Chocolate/Hang Up and most recently in last year's topical political drama Whipping it Up which also featured Theo Leonard in the cast. Bombshells was Sue's first directorial role for the Tower, which she shared with Sarah Freeman and Zoe Thomas-Webb - all three were first-time directors.		Ed Malcomson has been a member of the Tower Theatre for the past three years. He trained at Oxford School of Drama, but has spent most of his working life as a teacher of drama and English literature. His first role with Tower was as Jasperino in The Changeling. Since then his roles have included Cain in The Mysteries, Henry in The Real Thing, Charles Stanton in Dangerous Corner and Brutus in Julius Caesar.
Pam O'Brien has been a Tower member since 2006. Previous productions have included Lock Up Your Daughters, Paradise: A Rock and Roll Fable, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, Jekyll and Hyde and Julius Caesar, as well as assistant stage manager on Tower's 2007 production of Taking Steps. She has also taken part in numerous musicals with other non-professional companies over the years. She sings in the local choir and has a love of anything French.		Mark Macey's credits with the Tower include: A Little Night Music, Outside Edge, Hot Mikado, Vincent in Brixton and The Diary of Anne Frank. With other companies in London, Southampton and Suffolk he has appeared in Gross Indecency, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Guilty Pleasures, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Laramie Project, The Libertine, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Take 5, The Real Thing, Little Shop of Horrors, Me and My Girl, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Cabaret, Chicago, The Crucible and Godspell. When not prancing around on stage Mark is a producer of BBC children's programmes.
Howie Ripley is a veteran of the independent theatre scene; he studied English and Drama in the UK and acting for the camera in California. His previous roles include Gregor Samsa in Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Metamorphosis; Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Gary Essendine in Present Laughter; Dan in Closer and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Last year marked Howie's debut for the Tower Theatre in a production of The Trial and he also co-wrote and directed plays for NoLogoProductions.	Dinner is Theo Leonard's first Tower production as a director. He has previously been assistant director on Proof, Lighting Designer for Bombshells and appeared on stage as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate and as Tim, the wide-boy junior whip, in Whipping it Up. Sarah Freeman studied Drama at Exeter University. Since graduating she has interned at Richard Foreman's Ontological Theatre in New York and Assistant Directed for Unexpected Opera. In 2009 she was Events Coordinator for C Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe where she programmed and produced their late night comedy gig and cabaret evening. She started working with the Tower Theatre in early 2010 where she has co-directed on Bombshells and assistant directed on The Trial.