Sharon Gair
Treasurer
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing; The Accrington Pals; Katrina in "Bazaar and Rummage" by Sue Townsend.

Sharon has recently returned to acting, after having a break in 2005/06 to undertake real-life motherhood! She returned in 2007 as Annie Boggis in ‘The Accrington Pals’.

Whilst she has enjoyed all her roles over the years, from Rattigan to Coward, some of Sharon’s real favourites are: Linda Loman in ‘Death of a Salesman’, Muriel Wickstead in ‘Habeous Corpus’, Alison Porter in ‘Look Back in Anger’, Elvira in ‘Blithe Spirit’ and Sybil Railton-Bell in ‘Separate Tables’.

She is Treasurer for the Players.

Mark Charles Smith
Actor: For Canterbury Players Gosforth's Fete; La Ronde; Fallen Angels; The Accrington Pals; Much Ado About Nothing; Arsenic And Old Lace
Sound Engineer for Blue Remembered Hills.
For Chilham Players: Seasons Greetings
For Kent Shakespeare Company: Twelfth Night.
A monologue orator for The Penis Monologues for the theatre company, Unfinished Business

Mark is pleased to be back in rehearsal with the Canterbury Players after a brief foray at Mt. Ephraim with Kent Shakespeare Company's production of 'Twelfth Night'. He is looking forward to his first 'farce'. (Comments will surely appear after that statement!)

Mark has appeared in a number of Canterbury Players productions, as well as end of year short films at universities in Canterbury and Hastings, as a film extra for various productions filmed in Kent including "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "Wild Child", in a Chris Tarrant TV programme called 'Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose' and as a major player in a KETV production called 'The Sea Shall Have Them'.

Mark is looking for more TV and film work to get him out of the office once in a while.

My Facebook page.
A recent video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY9qcWjPomk

Louise Gibbins
Actor: Play It Again Sam; Gosforth’s Fete; The Accrington Pals; La Ronde; Much Ado About Nothing; Bazaar and Rummage by Sue Townsend; Woman in Two; Day After The Fair

Louise joined the Players in 2006 & has since been involved in several productions.

The first was Harold Pinter’s ‘The Birthday Party’ where she was the official teapot bearer between Acts II & III. Following the success of teapot placement, she was cast as Councillor Mrs Pearce in Alan Ayckborne’s ‘Gosforth’s Fete’. Louise proved herself to be a massive hit when Charlie Jubber (Gosforth) omitted to catch her as she fell off the podium backwards.

In Schnitzler's ‘La Ronde’, she played a prostitute which was lucky as Louise was concerned about being typecast! Louise also appeared in the production, "The Accrington Pals" by Peter Whelan. Here, she played Sarah, a hardworking but fun loving mother in her late twenties.

Louise is seeking film extra work, her public profiles on casting websites can be found HERE and HERE.

Mike Rivarno
Actor

Born in Southampton in 1967 and raised in the seaside town of Deal, Mike embarked on a love of the Arts at very early age, with the Cinema just down the road from his home and a family TV that for the most part was always available to him. The eldest of 3 kids to a single hard working mum he was left pretty much to his devices. Like a lot of kids at that time the films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were a constant source of entertainment and for Mike, inspiration.

In 1983 at the age of 15 the School he sometimes attended was putting together the first ever stage version of Alan Parker's Movie Musical ‘Bugsy Malone’ and Mike was awarded the role of Fat Sam Staccetto. The performance he gave is still mentioned to him to this day and the enthusiasm he received from people made him want to do a whole lot more, yet as he turned 16 and left the family home commitments to work and constantly changing his address restricted his ability to commit to the roles that came up in the local Dramatic groups.

It wasn’t until 1999, when he returned to his hometown of Deal that he was able to really get into a more regular pattern of drama, switching between the towns two rival groups he found himself performing in a lot of comedy farce and one or two pantomimes. In 2001 the town had a new group emerge and the chance to do some more dramatic work presented itself and Mike soon found himself performing in plays by authors like Harold Pinter, Debbie Isitt and Eugene O’Neil.

Having lived in the village of Ash since 2003 he has been working with Canterbury Players for much of that time and recently performed a play with Ashcan Theatre Company. He still gets the same buzz backstage now as he did way back in the summer of ’83 and is always looking forward to the next exciting challenge to present itself.

Selected work from the past:

On An Average Day 2009
The Accrington Pals 2007
Roleplay 2005
My Boy Jack 2005
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime 2004
Hobson’s Choice 2003
Whose Life Is It Anyway? 2003
The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband 2002
Betrayal 2001
Abigails Party 2001
Bugsy Malone 1983

Mike Ayris
Actor: La Ronde; Play It Again Sam; Arsenic And Old Lace; Day After The Fair

Michael has been with the Canterbury Players for many years, first acting in Sailor Beware at the old Marlowe. He went on to study theatre at the Rose Bruford College and worked professionally for a time. His love of acting keeps him in touch with the society and he is always open to new challenges.

Laura Brown
Actor: Angela in "Blue Remembered Hills"

Laura has adored performing for as long as she can remember and grabs at all opportunities of ‘Treading the boards’.

Laura has trained in musical theatre since the age of 14 with the Kent Youth Theatre and the BRIT School of Performing Arts before gaining a variety of credits to her CV. These include leading roles in professional pantomimes at the Marlowe Theatre, tremendously fun summer seasons singing and dancing in holiday venues, and show cases at the London Palladium and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Her most recent credits include:
Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of OZ’, Shelby in ‘Steel Magnolias’ and the title role in ‘Cinderella’ with the Up The Creek pantomime society.

Performing as Angela in ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ will be Laura's debut production with the Canterbury Players. She is grateful for the opportunity to perform with such a talented group of actors and she would like to thank the cast and crew for welcoming her so warmly.

Until April 2006, James (Jim) had spent the past 20 years or so on an acting break between career engagements, latterly running his own management consultancy, training and coaching business, People Scope.

In his first acting life - primarily for the Cambridge University Players, at Uni in Birmingham, and the Goodrich Theatre, Putney - he got to play in different stuff: including a panoply of Shakespeares (Much Ado, As You Like It, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet), Beckett (Krapp's Last Tape), Bennett, Simon Gray, Pinter, Edward Bond, Athol Fugard et al.

In late 2005, Pinter's the Birthday Party - in all its non-sequitury weirdness - re-appeared and he started again....

Andreas Lowson
Actor: La Ronde; Play It Again Sam; Fallen Angels; Much Ado about Nothing; Arsenic And Old Lace

Andreas is descending the ladder of nobility. In La Ronde, he was only a count whereas the previous year he was a duke (Twelfth Night) and before that a prince (Caucasian Chalk Circle). He has, however, deigned to play mere commoners in such roles as a dotty priest (Gosforth’s Fete), a burglar, an inspector (Disposing of the Body), a solicitor, a boss and an eccentric puppeteer uncle and now, a husband, for Noel Coward's "Fallen Angels".

Back all but full circle now as Count John in Much Ado about Nothing.

Geoff Dale
Actor: Senor Benedict in "Much Ado About Nothing"; Landlord in "Two".

Geoff began his acting career at the tender age of 5 as the Angel Gabriel, and it could be said that it has been all downhill since then!

He has worked with the Kent Youth Theatre, National Youth Theatre, and with local groups including Dover Operatic, Kent Countryside Productions, Grassroots and the Arden Theatre to name but a few.

He was most recently a very bloody Banquo, thoroughly enjoying working with the prosthetics makeup artist, and is looking forward to his first Players production, Much Ado About Nothing.

Victoria Pym
Actor

After living such previous lives as queens, ladies, dukes, communists, brothel keepers and strippers for various companies and the Central School of Speech & Drama, Victoria's fall down the social ladder to be reincarnated as Bertha, the well-meaning Accrington tram worker for the Players, can only be due to her sinful deeds... See "The Accrington Pals" for more about that performance.

Joshua Bushell
Actor

Josh is 13 years old, at the time of writing, in March, 2007 and attends the Hasland School Of Dance in Herne Bay, Kent where he studies dance and drama. He is a pupil at Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, currently in year 9 and his interests include rugby and music - he plays the guitar well.

His ambition is to attend a Performing Arts University - and to become an actor. The rest of the cast of "The Accrington Pals" would consider - from his rehearsals to date - that he is a long way towards achieving that goal already. Pip Piacentino, director of "The Accrington Pals" has expressed his great satisfaction of the way Josh has responded to direction and we have all had fun laughing at his antics as "Reggie" during rehearsals, whilst being impressed at how seriously he is taking on the responsibility of playing the part to the best, and his intelligence, friendliness and confidence.

Josh has already appeared in South Pacific and Scrooge, so at the tender age of 13 already has valuable acting experience under his belt.

HP Thomas
Actor

HP’s acting career has been short and uneventful. He enjoys cricket & cycling but is keen to move into the brewing industry as a matter of urgency. His ambition before settling down is to travel to Azerbaijan and continue the good work of the Worldwide Adoption Agency.

Rani Innes
Performance Director, Actor.

Rani joined Canterbury players in 1998, a year after moving to the UK from Japan. Her love affair with theatre started over 30 years ago in India where she founded Spandana, an amateur theatre group, which is still going strong. She’s worked as an actress and director with several amateur and repertory theatre groups in India and the well-known English theatre group TIPS (Tokyo International Players) during her 17 years in Japan.

By profession, Rani is an English language and literature teacher and has worked as teacher and teacher trainer in countries like Japan, Austria, India, Malaysia and the UK. Until recently, she was the vice principal of Stafford House College in Canterbury.

Rani has directed several plays for The Canterbury Players since 1998: Death of a Salesman, Dr Faustus, Habeus Corpus, Whose Life is it Anyway, Desire Under the Elms and the well received Roleplay.

Tony Innes
Sound Engineer, Actor

Member of several village troupes before getting a bit serious with Tokyo International Players as soundman. Joined Canterbury Dramatic Society, as it then was, in 1998. Soundman again for several Gulbenkian productions, including Death of a Salesman, Dr. Faustus, Desire under the Elms, and Roleplay.

Played Sir Percy Shorter in Habeas Corpus, Dr. Emerson in Whose Life Is It Anyway, and a forgetful newspaper reporter in When We Were Married.

Back to soundman again for La Ronde, and recently played the fool in Palace of Varieties.

Olivia Jubber
Publicity photographer, Actor

Aged 5, Olivia gave another child chickenpox in order to steal the role of “The Rain” in “The Enormous Turnip”. From such underhand success she caught the acting bug, and fourteen years later finally sought treatment by taking a degree in Drama and Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. There she played body parts, a dead Eskimo, fairies, men and even occasionally a woman. At 28 she is still plagued with dreams of winning an Oscar… for which we are seeking therapy.

Brian Jones
Performance Director, "La Ronde"

Ancient and more or less bald veteran of the amateur stage, Brian has belonged to three other drama groups in his time. They all eventually foundered leaving him cast up on the welcoming shores of the Canterbury Players. He has not proved a very active member until the production of La Ronde, where he finds himself an old sweat among the younger bloods of the cast.

Sam Grant
Actor,Singer: "Fallen Angels".

Sam started in Am Dram as a teenager with Deal Dramatic Society, then took a long break to travel and work abroad.

She is a member of Ramsgate Operatic Society and Broadstairs Dickens Players, for both of which she is also a committee member.

Lead roles of a musical nature include Sally Smith in ‘Me and my Girl’, ‘Prince Orlofsky in ‘Die Fledermaus’ and Carrie Snow in ‘Carousel’. ‘Straight’ roles include Jean in Ray Cooney’s ‘Funny Money’ and the dual role of Ann and Sybil in Terence Rattigan’s ‘Separate Tables’.

Sam's day job is Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). She lives in Margate with husband, Paul.

Camilla Hamer
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing

Camilla is a 6th form student at Highworth Grammar School studying in particular music and performing arts.

She is currently working towards grade 8 singing and she has been a member of the Kent County Choirs for years. She has recently sucessfully auditioned for the Kent Youth Choir. She is a member of the Ashford based Ark Drama 2000 and has had a leading role in Fame and Gel.

Much Ado About Nothing is her first appearance with the Canterbury Players.

Richard Spencer
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing;

Richard has recently joined the Canterbury Players & is really looking forward to taking on his first acting role in over 15 years as Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing. He has always loved the theatre since early childhood, appearing in a variety of school productions such as ‘Smike’, ‘Robinson Crusoe’ & ‘Joseph and his Techni-coloured Dream Coat’.

Richard was a member of The Woodchurch Players where he took on a variety of roles in plays & pantomimes as well as backstage work on sound, lighting & set design. Richard has finished concentrating on his career in accountancy & now post qualification, several years later, he is set to tread the boards again.

Apollon Alexopoulis
Actor: Little Boy in "Two"

Apollon is 11 years old and goes to Bridge and Patrixbourne Primary School. He plays the cello and the piano, sings in Kent County Junior Singers and plays hockey for Canterbury Hockey Club, in the U11 Boys’ team who recently won the National Championships! This is his first proper acting role and he hopes that many more will follow.

Samuel Stolton
Actor: Raymond in "Blue Remembered Hills"; Count Claudio, Much Ado about Nothing.

Samuel has held a passion for acting, theatre and film for many years, and prior to joining the Canterbury Players, has taken up roles such as Jimmy Porter In John Osborne's 'Look Back In Anger' in which Samuel portrayed the classic 'angry young man' to critical acclaim. Samuel is a keen musician, actively playing the electric and acoustic guitar. He also likes to keep himself busy by learning Italian, reciting Shakespeare, writing poetry, scriptwriting, and playing a number of different sports. Samuel plans to pursue a professional acting career one day, and is very grateful for all the help that The Canterbury Players have offered him.

Hayley has had a long association with theatre first as an actor both at school and as part of the Harlequin Youth theatre, Redhill.

She has also worked with lighting and sound on several productions, as well as stage-managing the Redhill Carnival this year. She had a brief association with the Surrey County Youth Theatre when she was Deputy Stage Manager on their production of Animal Farm in 2005.

She recently became involved with the Canterbury Players and has acted and sung as part of the Palace of Varieties. Hayley is currently studying Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent and is entering her third year. She hopes to have more involvement with the Canterbury Players especially with the lighting and sound. She also hopes to become a director in the future.

Katherine Durio

Director: Much Ado About Nothing"
Actor: Audrey in "Blue Remembered Hills"

Katherine has been dancing, singing and acting since she could walk. Many lessons later, an acting degree from Bretton Hall, a post grad at The Bridge Theatre Training co. and Katherine's CV has roles ranging from Sandy in Grease to Viola in Twelfth Night. Professional work also includes Mae in Anthony Minghella's 2003 film "Cold Mountain". Having had the taste for the big time Katherine is now happily living in Wye and working with The Canterbury Players. Audrey in Blue Remembered Hills was Katherine's first role with the company and she will make her debut directing for The Players later in the year with "Much Ado About Nothing".

Ed Clark
Actor: Justin, in Roleplay; Tom in The Accrington Pals; Peter in Blue Remembered Hills

Ed has played a variety of roles over the last few years and keeps up his skill set in a number of other disciplines, including singing and sports, making him a very useful member of the Players and to others, including film and tv production teams etc.

Emily Rosen
Actor: RolePlay;

More to come soon.

Danielle (Dee) Neligan
Actor: La Ronde; Play It Again Sam; The Accrington Pals

Recently informed by her mother that she has been usurped in her role as Drama Queen of the family, Danielle begs to differ. Starting out in school nativity plays (though never cast as Mary), she moved on to a spot of TV and drama at Uni. Initially drawn to her first role with Canterbury Players, as the presenter in "La Ronde" - because she dreamed of being a dominatrix with a whip - she is now utterly content flowing around in a corset and a pretty dress. April 2007 saw Dee acting the part of Eva Mason, in Peter Whelan's "The Accrington Pals".

Kevin Dean
Actor: Moth in Two

Kevin has no stage experience, although he has in the past pursued his interest in acting at night school. However, his involvement in this production is solely the result of nipping into The Millers Arms one Thursday evening for a swift half, where by chance he met the Players. Several pints of real ale and an audition later he was delighted to be cast to play the part of Moth.

Hugh Elsom
Actor: Arsenic And Old Lace

To quote the bard “One man in his time plays many parts”. That can be said of the characters I have played over the last 50 years. They range from a Knight on murderous intent to the front half of a pantomime horse. However I have always wanted to act in “Arsenic and old Lace” and the character of Dr. Harper is just right for me in the twilight of my career.

Isabel Briccolani
Actor: Day After The Fair

Isabel is currently in her first year of 6th form at Chaucer Technology School studying Music, Law, Sociology and her favourite Theatre Studies!

Isabel has been performing since she was young, starting tap and jazz at the tender age of 5. Then moved dancing school to start ballet at Jane Guy School of Dancing where she is currently studying Intermediate Ballet and jazz. Isabel has performed in many venues around Kent including Kings Hall in Herne Bay, Marlowe Theatre performing in The Jungle Book and a professional dance show Celtic Journey, Gulbenkian and The Playhouse in Whitstable. Day After The Fair is Isabel's debut with The Canterbury Players but is looking forward to many more fun performances with them in the future!

Phil Hadland
Actor: Arsenic And Old Lace

After school, many years of university studies, volunteer work and pot washing, Phil eventually moved to Canterbury for a job in the local museums service in 2008. His appearance in "Arsenic And Old Lace" is his first acting role since; when at the age of fifteen he read the voice of God in a contemporary play about the birth of Christ.

He enjoys many hobbies including painting, collecting fossils, playing bass guitar and football. Phil joined the Canterbury Players in the hope of meeting some interesting, like minded people and to get some experience of acting. To that end Phil feels he has been successful.

Richard has been involved in the backstage side of theatre since school and has built sets for Grease and Bugsy Malone. More recently he acted in and helped build the set for the Canterbury Players Palace of Varietes and operated the sound, rigged lights and built set for Gosforth's Village Fete. He has also worked as an assistant stage manager for the Redhill Carnival at the Harlequin Theatre. In the past he has worked backstage and shifted set for two theatre companies.

He is currently studying history at the university of Kent and is entering his third year. He is actively involved in the student union and sits as a member of the Societies Federation Committee and Union Council. He hopes to continue his association with the Canterbury Players and would possibly seek to produce/direct one of his own plays in the future.

Richard is also an accomplished close-up magician and has entertained the likes of Lord Carey as well as the audiences of Gosforth's Village Fete and The Palace of Varieties.