Robert Lister as The Prior and David Hargreaves as William Dunne, The Worcester Pilgrim Photograph by Robert Day
At Worcester Cathedral
Wednesday 4th - Saturday 7th October 2006
In 1987, the bones of an unknown man were discovered buried within the Cathedral, a privilege usually reserved for the highest in the land. Who was he and how did he come to be buried in so sacred a place?
This was the inspiration for the radio play The Worcester Pilgrim by locally based writer Alex Jones, which was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2003.
artworcs, in partnership with Worcester Cathedral, created a site specific version on the play especially for the Cathedral. With a professional cast and live Gregorian Chant from the Lay Clerks of Worcester Cathedral it was an unforgettable theatrical experience.
Audience and critical feedback along with rehearsal and production photographs will be posted here soon.
The Company
William Dunn
David
Hargreaves
Recent theatre includes work with The National Theatre, RSC, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse. TV includes Mersey Beat, Heartbeat and Peak Practice.
Robert has been a member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he has just completed a season playing The Sheriff and Lord Hastings in Nicholas Hytner's acclaimed production of Shakespeare's Henry IV. Radio work includes Out of the Mould, Children of Witchwood and Decimus Maximus in Shadows in Bronze. He
plays Lewis Carmichael in The Archers.
Geoffrey de Villier
Andy
Hockley
Andy trained at the National Youth Theatre of Wales. He is an Associate Artist at the Coventry Belgrade where he has made numerous appearances including: The Mysteries, Noises Off, Bouncers, The Twits & The Millennium Mysteries.
Other theatre includes: The Madness of George III, West Yorkshire Playhouse; Henry V, Northern Broadsides; An Enemy Of The People, Theatr Clwyd; Richard III, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield; The Life Of Galileo and Awake and Sing, Birmingham Rep; Mother Courage and Her Children, National Theatre; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Nottingham Playhouse; A Christmas Carol, Young Vic; Pirandello's Henry IV in the West End.
Television includes: Heartbeat & Emmerdale (Yorkshire); Sir Gadabout & The Locksmith (BBC); Picking Up the Pieces (Carlton). Films include: Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves & Much Ado About Nothing. Andy provided the voices for a number of characters in animated versions of Terry Pratchett's Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters. Radio includes: over 80 plays & readings including: Under Milk Wood & The Brothers Karamazov as well as playing five different characters in The Archers.
Brother Dennis
Paul Clarkson
Paul was brought up in Worcester and began his career at Worcester Swan Theatre. In 1984 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year. His most recent West End performance was Harry Bright in Mamma Mia at the Prince Edward Theatre. Paul has directed productions at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, The Waterman Arts Centre and the Rose Theatre, Kidderminster. Until recently Paul was Course Director of the BA Hons Acting course at Birmingham School of Acting. TV work includes two series of The Manageress, Eleven Men Against Eleven, Drop the Dead Donkey, Kavanagh QC, McCallum, Kiss Me Kate, Heartbeat, and three series of Trippers Day for Thames TV; Dream Team for Sky TV and Christmas Bedtime for BBC. Radio includes The Worcester Pilgrim by Alex Jones, broadcast on Radio 4. Paul played several roles in artworcs' production of Upside Down and Back to Front.
Brother Thomas
Rob
Swinton
Stage includes Agamemnon (Wolverhampton), The Jew of Malta (Almeida), Twelfth Night (3 Choirs), Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Swan Theatre) and Phil & Jill & Jill & Phil (Belgrade). Rob was Artistic Director of The Stafford Shakespeare Festival 1993/1995. He wrote and directed a community production of The
Mystery Plays in his home town of Malvern. TV includes, Doctors, Dalziel & Pascoe and The Inspector Linley Mysteries. Radio includes The Archers, The Worcester Pilgrim, and Glorious John. Rob appeared in the Cathedral's 2004 Son et Lumiere.
Brother Flint
John
Flitcroft
Theatre includes work with Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse, Bolton Octagon and West Yorkshire Playhouse. TV includes The League of Gentlemen, Cold Feet, Emmerdale and Heartbeat
Girl
Lucy Jones
Sergeant
Bob Harper
Novice Monk
Bill Keyes
Playwright
Alex
Jones
Credits include the internationally acclaimed play Noise (Soho Theatre). Other work includes Phil&Jill&Jill&Phil (Coventry Belgrade & companies in Chile & Italy), A Miracle In No Man's Land, River's Up (Worcester Swan Theatre & Stephen Joseph Theatre), & The Worcester Pilgrim (BBC Radio 4). Films include:
Greasy and Faster, Harder, Longer, Whistle! & Rhubarb And Roses. Recent productions are Mr And Mrs Schultz (Watermill) and Fields Of Gold (Stephen Joseph).
Musical Director
Adrian
Lucas assisted by Jim Clements
Adrian Lucas is currently Master of the Choristers at Worcester Cathedral, conductor of the City of Birmingham Choir, Artistic Director of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival and a freelance conductor, organist and lecturer. Focused around the daily liturgy of the Cathedral, Adrian has developed the work of the Cathedral Choir and has been responsible for a series of successful
recordings over recent years. In addition to a range of choral music spanning the 16th and 20th centuries, the choir has also performed in a disk of music by John Harle and a light-hearted promotional recording of Christmas music Deep and Crisp and Even in support of the Worcester Appeal for Music and Light.
Music
The Lay Clerks of Worcester Cathedral: Ian Bell, Jim Clements, Stephen Lindner, James Manship, Richard Pugh, Stefan Scot, Stephen Shellard, David Stringer, Kit Williams
Director
Peter
Leslie
Wild
Peter is a theatre director and a Senior Producer at BBC Radio Drama. Radio work includes the Classic Serial version of Watership Down and a serialisation of Wuthering Heights. Peter set up the Education Programme at The Orange Tree Theatre and directed a number of productions there. He has directed at The Lyric Hammersmith, Edinburgh and in drama schools. In 1989
he won the BP Young Directors Award. His drama-documentary The Language of Flowers was runner-up in the 2004 Prix Marulic. Peter directed artworcs' production of the play Upside Down and Back to Front.
Designer
Nettie
Edwards
Nettie's Theatre work includes Awake and Sing, The Entertainer, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and All That Trouble That We Had, at the Birmingham Rep; Not a Game For Boys (Royal Court) and costume designs for Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick at the Royal National Theatre. Nettie won the Manchester Evening News Design award for Blood Wedding at Manchester's Contact Theatre and she was a member of the gold medal award winning British theatre design team at the 1995 International Quadrennial Exhibition in Prague. She now works primarily as a freelance artist and is currently working on a creative research project with some of Gloucestershire's Romany families, entitled All Those That Belong to Us. Nettie designed Upside Down and Back to Front for artworcs.
Lighting Designer
Michael
E. Hall
Michael has lit productions for many companies throughout the country. He worked extensively at the Everyman Cheltenham whilst it was a producing theatre including The Mayor of Casterbridge, Pickwick Papers, Sound of Music, and Macbeth. The designs for Macbeth formed part of the gold medal winning entry to the 1995 International Quadrennial Exhibition in Prague. Other work includes Into the Woods for Royal Northern College of Music, Gaslight for Bolton Octagon and Second from Last in the Sack Race at Harrogate. For the last six years Michael has been lighting designer for the Shysters Theatre Company, lighting their productions of Scary Antics, Fallen Angels and Tango Apocalypso and co-productions of A Midsummer's Nights Dream and The Monkey King. He lit Upside Down and Back to Front for artworcs.
There was a Rehearsed Reading of Alex Jones' radio play in Worcester Cathedral's Lady Chapel. Over 100 people attended this spectacular event. More details here.
artworcs gratefully acknowledge support for The Worcester Pilgrim project from...
