Jo Purvis
Committee Member
Assistant Director: Day After the Fair; The Crucible
Actor: Canterbury Tales; Dark of the Moon; Pint Sized Henry V; The Importance of Being Earnest; Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Occasional Stage Manager: The Vortex

Jo has always loved the theatre and spent most of her childhood playing various Dickensian waifs and strays.

As a natural bossy boots, she relished the opportunity to hone her organisational skills as Assistant Director for Day After the Fair.

She made her first stage performance for the Players in the Canterbury Tales, whilst also reprising her key role of official tea-maker.

She is greatly looking forward to wearing yet another fabulous hat for her role in Dark of the Moon.

Gill Moon
Properties: The Crucible
Actor: Dark of the Moon; Night Must Fall.

This is Gill's first attempt at acting since joining the Canterbury Players in 2007 when she appeared in Palace of Varieties.

Gill met several Canterbury Players members while appearing in the community opera Promised Land which was part of the 2006 Canterbury Festival. This venture led to the forming of The Really Promising Company in which Gill has appeared in several shows.

She also appeared on stage as a slave with Ellen Kent's Moldovian Opera Company in Aida at the Marlowe theatre, and as a dead sailor singing Bright Eyes with the Spy Monkeys at the Gulbenkian Theatre in 2009.

This play appealed to Gill because of the fun of a barn dance and the church revival scene. So she was tempted to have a go!

Since joining Canterbury Players Gill has made many good friends and shared a lot of memorable times. She is thoroughly enjoying being part of Dark of the Moon production.
Gill

Ed Clark
Actor: Roleplay; The Accrington Pals; Blue Remembered Hills; The Crucible

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.

Ruth Cameron.
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing; Bazaar and Rummage; Arsenic And Old Lace; The Vortex; Night Must Fall; Lady Chatterley's Lover; The Crucible.

Ruth was a singing, dancing, and acting child and won the best actor prize for Lady Macbeth at age 16. Despite gaining a provisional place at the Hampstead School of Drama, she did not follow an acting career. In the 1980s Ruth co- produced a school pantomime with the writer John Larr and took part in local sketches, but then did not return to drama until 2006 when she joined the Canterbury Players; Ruth has been involved in most productions since. This includes singing in Marie Lloyd songs in "Palace of Varieties", being an attendant in "Much Ado About Nothing" and performing the outrageous, yet poignant part of the blaspheming vulgarian Margaret Gittings in "Bazaar and Rummage" the 'innocent' murderess in “Arsenic And Old Lace” and the shocking socialite Florence in Noel Coward’s “The Vortex”.

Charlotte Riding
Actor: Dark of the Moon; The Importance of Being Earnest; The Crucible

I have always enjoyed acting took part in school plays but really got into acting when I started studying at Canterbury College, where I left with a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts (Drama).

Dark of the Moon is my first show with Canterbury Players and I have loved every minute of it!!! Hopefully they will let me back to do more productions.

I would just like to thank all the players for being so welcoming. You're all great!!!!

Natalie Johnston
Actor: Dark of the Moon; The Crucible

Nathalie’s love for the theatre first started at the age of 3 when she was awarded a special diploma for her interpretation of “My Little Pony”. After 10 years of training with several theatre schools, including Sylvia Young’s, she then went on to become a devoted member of Kingston University’s drama group, winning an award for Shakespeare’s "The Tempest".

She has truly loved all the roles she’s been lucky enough to play. However, a recent delve into the world of Shakespeare (playing Beatrice and Lady Capulet) was without doubt one of her most enjoyable acting experiences so far. In 2007, together with a fellow acting colleague, she established "Why Not Theatre Company" in Copenhagen, Denmark. It soon became one of Denmark’s leading English-speaking theatre companies producing a variety of international plays from Ayckbourne to Athol Fugard. Her recent move back to England and her “need” to connect with anything in the thespian world has lead to her finding The Canterbury Players. She is thoroughly enjoying her role in their current production, Dark of the Moon.

Jim Akhurst
Actor: The Accrington Pals; Palace of Varieties; Fallen Angels; Arsenic And Old Lace; The Vortex; Dark of the Moon; The Crucible

Jim was recently cast as the playwright Bertolt Brecht in “I’ve Looked in the Window at Diamonds”, a musical show about the life of composer Kurt Weill.  Brecht wanted to “keep the audience guessing at what will happen next” and Dark of the Moon has a few surprises for the audience.

Over the past few years, Jim has played the roles of Fred in Noel Coward's Fallen Angels, Arthur Boggis in The Accrington Pals, Doctor Einstein in Arsenic And Old Lace and, most recently, Bruce Fairlight in The Vortex.

Ellie Gee
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing; Two; Canterbury Tales; The Importance of Being Earnest; The Crucible

Ellie is excited to be seen on stage with Canterbury Players for the first time as Hero, in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ having previously hidden back stage in ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ and ‘Fallen Angels’.

Before moving to Canterbury for University however she appeared in both ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as Helena and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as the Prince at Wokingham Theatre.

As a trainee primary school teacher Ellie enjoys telling people what to do and hopes one day to convert her experience with five year olds into directing actors.

Tessa Taylor
Assistant director: Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Actor: Much Ado About Nothing; Day After The Fair; Dark of the Moon; Night Must Fall; The Importance of Being Earnest, Barefoot in the Park; The Crucible

Tessa has been a Drama teacher in London and Surrey. She trained in Cheltenham from 1960-63, performed at the Everyman Theatre, and then directed school plays at the Thorndike in Leatherhead.

Moving to Canterbury in 1991, she began teaching at Chaucer Technology School, joined Playcraft and played (among other rôles) Maggie in ‘Hobson’s Choice’ and Natasha in ‘Three Sisters’. In 2007 she completed her training for the Church and left Chaucer: from the stage to the classroom to the pulpit!

For the Canterbury Players, she took part in "Much Ado About Nothing", "Day After The Fair" , "Dark of the Moon" and Night Must Fall.

Sid Moon
Actor: Blue Remembered Hills; Two; Canterbury Tales; Dark of the Moon; Night Must Fall; The Crucible.

My first appearance on stage since leaving school was in 2006 when I appeared in the Canterbury Festival community opera "The Promised Land" performed at the Marlowe Theatre. It was there that I met members of Canterbury Players and finding them such a friendly bunch decided to join.

Since then I have been involved in productions every year, those being "The Palace of Varieties", "Blue Remembered Hills", " Two" and the "Canterbury Tales".

Elswhere I enjoy performing in musical productions and have been in " Titanic" with Herne Bay Operatic Society. "Kentish Tales", "Drood", "Rackrent" and " I've Looked in the Window at Diamonds" with the Canterbury based Really Promising Company.

I am thoroughly enjoying the "Dark of the Moon" and thank everyone involved for allowing me to be part of it.

Hugh Elsom
Actor: Arsenic And Old Lace, Barefoot in the Park; The Crucible.

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.

Phil Hadland
Actor: Arsenic And Old Lace; Dark of the Moon; The Crucible.

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.

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....

Mike Ayris
Actor: La Ronde; Play It Again Sam; Arsenic And Old Lace; Day After The Fair; Night Must Fall; The Crucible.

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.