G R I F F E N 2 0 2 3 | 8 Described as ‘a comedy for the new Restoration of the theatres’, this Lyric Hammersmith production drew loosely on Sheridan’s 18th century Restoration comedy The School for Scandal – a play in which Mike appeared when he was at Abingdon – and set a cast of largerthan-life comic types against each other in a delightful satire on contemporary manners. The third of Mike’s London shows was a revival of his 2009 award-winning play Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre. It opened with a stellar cast and garnered another string of excellent reviews for both the play and the acting, although both were to some extent overshadowed by headlines about the controversially inflated ticket prices being charged by the producers – perhaps another sign of the difficulties faced by theatrical managers trying to balance the books after the shutdown. Ed Rowett (2005) is the writer of BBC Radio 4’s award-winning sitcom Reluctant Persuaders, which starred Nigel Havers and Josie Lawrence, and ran for four seasons. Ed has now branched out into playwriting and radio broadcasting. His new play, Fan/dom, recently received a rehearsed reading at Oxford’s Old Fire Station Theatre where it was very enthusiastically received by its audience, while Ed’s Radio 4 documentary on the writer Richmal Crompton aired in May 2022 to mark the 100th anniversary of Crompton’s Just William stories. Ed’s latest play, Eleven was commissioned by Ben Phillips (2005) for Abingdon’s middle school actors, who performed it in the Amey Theatre at the end of Michaelmas term. Toby Jones (1985) was part of the first generation of actors to tread the boards of the Amey Theatre when it opened in the 1980s. Across his thirty-year career, he has won awards in film and theatre and become one of Hollywood’s leading men. He is now rapidly acquiring the status of a ‘national treasure’, bringing with it all manner of side hustles. Recently Toby was the subject of My Grandparents’ War, a Channel 4 documentary in which Toby discovered his grandmother Doreen Heslewood had risked her life travelling into WW2 warzones to perform morale-boosting entertainments for troops as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), while his grandfather Reggie fought the Japanese in Burma and India. Julius Green (1982) was also one of the first to perform in the Amey Theatre, but his subsequent path led to delivering West End hits, both for the Bill Kenwright organisation and as an independent theatre producer. Now with a wealth of experience behind him, Julius has recently taken time out to write a number of books, including How to Produce a West End Show, and Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre. His latest venture sees him teaming up with intelligence expert Christopher Andrew to write Stars and Spies: the Astonishing History of Espionage and Show Business. Aside from his writing, Julius retains a passion for all forms of theatre, including burlesque and circus. For some years, he has worked with another theatrical OA, Martin Burton (1972) who’s perhaps best known as Zippo the Clown and founder of Zippo’s Circus. Together, Julius and Martin have fashioned a new, year-round circus for the 21st century called Cirque Beserk. It’s now arguably the most successful show at the Edinburgh Fringe in terms of its performance and audience numbers. Described variously as ‘the perfect family show’ and ‘an eclectic mix of electrifyingly glorious performances wrapped up in a whiff of petrol’, it clearly lives up to its billing as a show that’s not to be missed. Actor/musician Reuben Havelock (2018) graduated from Royal Holloway in the summer and promptly won a place on the postgraduate Music Theatre course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, starting in January 2023. Also graduating last summer were actors Callum Ravden (2019) and Johnny Allison (2017), both of whom studied acting at another of the UK’s leading drama schools, Rose Bruford College, where they were directed by actor and 2011 Rose Bruford graduate Huw Parmenter (2007). Huw was one of three Abingdonians from the same year to train at Rose Bruford, alongside Max Hutchinson (see page 6) and Alex Mugnaioni (2007), who followed roles in two productions at the National Theatre with a tour of a new musical called Gin Craze, in which Alex both acted and played the trombone. Those who can both act and play musical instruments may seem a rare breed, though in fact they are becoming more common, hence the growing number of reputable training courses for actor musicians.And Abingdon, with its fine musical tradition – nurtured and developed for 35 years by Director of Music, Michael Stinton – seems wellplaced to produce these artistic all-rounders. Tom Richards (1999) certainly fitted that description when he was at School, acting and singing in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar and fronting the sax section of Abingdon’s formidable Big Band. Yet his brilliance as a jazz musician ultimately led him to focus on the world of music, in which he is now a leading figure. He recently performed with the Hackney Colliery Band at an OX14 partnerships event at Radley, and is now on tour with Jamie Cullum’s band. He is also active as an arranger (contributing a chart for a recent recording featuring Michael Bublé) and as a conductor, directing the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a programme that also featured Alice Zawadzki, daughter of Abingdon Common Room legend, Mike Bartlett, Jeremy Taylor and Tom Richards Tom Richards conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNTM1