Biography

"If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got."

Humble Beginnings

I’ll try and not sound too big headed and and stick to the facts, but when you’re in the self promotion world sometimes you sound like P.T.Barnum. When I came out of prison*, I thought to myself what is the best place for born storyteller and liar to do honest work. Obviously politics was out of the question and so I bought a 1985 Ford Granada estate and decided that I needed to go and look. My probation officer had told me about this place in London that took in waifs and strays like me it was called the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). I didn’t get into RADA, but the next place I tried was The Arts Educational School and after I did my speeches** they were just fine and dandy and took me on board.

I was taught things about my voice and how to shout and not hurt it. I was taught how to act by not acting, to be the cat, but best of all I was shown a new way to move forward with my life…As an actor.

I left this school with nothing but a piece of paper called a diploma in acting which I since learnt isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. But the experience was worth its weight in gold***.

1. Thick As Thieves

In 2003 no theatres were willing to take a punt on a new company with an unknown writer and a new play so after looking for alternatives I decided to produce a performance in my house. 3 sold out nights (my living room only fitted 18 people on junior school chairs) and the response was amazing. I was astonished that audiences loved not being in a theatre and loved being immersed in the production. The play, Thick As Thieves has now run for 300+ performances in living rooms, shops and finally theatres across the UK selling out at the Edinburgh festival and winning a Manchester Theatre Award along the way. It has also been performed by different companies, which is a lovely compliment. more

2. Burt n Joyce

Next up I turned my attention to charity shops, of which there are thousands always looking for new ways to get noticed and all with a large community supporting them. I joined forces with Sue Ryder, Help the Aged and Age Concern and I wrote two 60 minute comedy stories both based in a charity shop that toured shops from Brighton to Leeds to London and Liverpool. 56 venues, every night changing the play’s blocking to make each venue fit our story. This too bought in different parts of the community to share an enjoyable evening together. It helped the charities shine a little light on their organisations with media attention, it gained us a wider audience base and it fanned my desire to “work different”.

3. Coast to Coast

When I look back over my career I see a pattern. A pattern of always looking for the next big idea, something that ignites passion in both myself and my team, but also gets audiences talking. The journey is much better that the destination. Changing physical spaces were my first steps, what was to come was to change both the physical and my/our personal.

A 167 mile walk across the country coast to coast, from Bangor to Boston with no money, no food and no accommodation. Our only currency was a 90 minute story, with props pulled out of our rucksacks. For two weeks we walked found a venue, talked them into it, then performed. Asking the audience each evening if they would take us in for the night. We never slept rough and enjoyed the public’s love the whole way across. This lead to a national theatre and rural tour about our experiences called Coast to Coast. Two shows for the price of one and what I later christened “Stunt Theatre”.

4. Poles Apart

In 2009 I embarked on my next adventure in theatre land, I emigrated to Poland for two weeks. With the Poles finally allowed free movement within the E.U. I took the company to Warsaw to see how hard it would be to go the other way and find work over there. The subsequent project was, surprisingly about racism and how we Brits treated expats and how we were treated. This show shone a light into cheap labour, prejudice and Poland, we even brought our audiences with us to share this adventure.

5. When Will I Be Famous

Not everything works well in this genre though. My next project was to be a bumpier ride. I decided to try and become famous. I found out that it is really hard to become famous and that it’s not as interesting as previous projects, so this stopped this work in its tracks.