Online Programme
Len - David Nellist (he/him)
Theatre includes - Protest Song (Arcola Theatre) I,Daniel Blake - North East Actor of the Year Winner (Tiny Dragon/ Northern Stage/ ETT UK Tour) Love It If We Beat Them (Live Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare North Playhouse/Northern Stage/Not Too Tame), Sharon 'n' Barry Do Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch), Magic Goes Wrong (UK Tour) Much Ado About Nothing (Northern Broadsides),The Fulstow Boys (Steelworks Theatre Co), The Crucible (Storyhouse Chester), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (NT/West End) Pitmen Painters (New Vic Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre ) Billy Elliot (West End) Nicholas Nickleby (Chichester, West End, Toronto) Much Ado about Nothing , Globe Mysteries (Shakespeare's Globe) The Throne, Unearthed, Magic (New Vic Theatre)Wet House , Searching for Tom, You Couldn't Make It Up, You REALLY Couldn't Make It Up, Toast and Smack Family Robinson (Live Theatre) Blue, Remembered Hills, Close the Coalhouse Door (Northern Stage/Live Theatre), Releevo (Map Studio) Junket (Arcola), Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather, The Likely Lads, the Far Corner (Durham Gala), The Taming of The Shrew (Salisbury Playhouse) Up on the Roof (Colchester Mercury) Hey Hey Good Looking (Soho Theatre) Comedians (Comedy Actors) Elton Johns Glasses (West End) The Warp ( Ken Campbell) Television - Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes (Disney+/ITV) Archie, Eastenders, The Walk In, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Shakespeare & Hathaway, A Confession, Taboo, Harley and the Davidsons, Sherlock, Boy Meets Girl, Holby City, M.I High, Omid Djalili Show, Murder on the Victorian Railway, 55 Degrees North, Breezeblock, Rhona, Rough Justice, Sorry About Last Night, Spender (All BBC) Ghostboat, Northern Lights, Place Of the Dead, The Gambling Man, The Student Prince, Badger, The Bill. (ITV). Film - The Nest, Sebastian, Bull, Lady Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Sket ( Revolver )
Jean - Jess Johnson (she/her)
Theatre includes: Killing Jack (Queens Theatre Hornschurch); The Painted Rocks At Revolver Creek (Live Theatre); Love It If We Beat Them (Live Theatre); The Sorcerers Apprentice (Northern Stage); Educating Rita (York Theatre Royal); Two (Durham Gala); Goth Weekend (Live Theatre); Key Change (Open Clasp); Educating Rita (Gala Theatre Durham); The Fighting Bradfords (Durham Gala); The Space Between Us (Open Clasp); East (WTS Productions); A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage). Television includes: Casualty (BBC); The Hunt For Raoul Moat (ITV); Danny & Mick (BBC); Vera (ITV); Coronation Street (ITV); Hospital People (BBC); Cuckoo (Netflix); Wire In The Blood (ITV); Girls Club (Fox). Film includes: School For Seduction (Ispo Facto Films).
Michael - Daniel Watson (he/him)
Dan grew up in the northeast where he spent his early years in various drama groups around the region. His professional debut came at the age of 13 when he started in CBBCs long running children's drama Byker Grove. He then went on to train with the National Youth Theatre in London and Project A at Newcastle's Theatre Royal. Since then he has performed in many Theatre productions and tours as well as gaining further FILM and TV Credits including: CASUALTY (BBC) THE HUNT FOR RAOUL MOAT (ITV) GIVE THEM WINGS (MAGNIFICENT FILMS). He was longlisted for a BIFA award for BEST NEWCOMER and won BEST MALE ACTOR IN A FEATURE FILM at the RICHARD HARRIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Victoria - Eve Tucker (she/her)
Eve studied Acting at the University of Central Lancashire and graduated in 2018. Credits whilst training include: Tituba in The Crucible; Officer/Dorcas in The Winter’s Tale; and Rose in The Lights. Professional credits include UK Tours of A Town Called Christmas and Love It If We Beat Them; and Emmerdale and Coronation Street for ITV.
Director - Bex Bowsher (she/her)
Bex Bowsher is an accomplished theatre director, playwright, and screenwriter based in the North of England. With a rich background in crafting words for performance, Bex fearlessly challenges societal norms through critically acclaimed plays, notably "Spoon Theory," lauded as 'The Next I, Daniel Blake.’ During her Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme (RTYDS) 18-month Assistant Director in Residence placement with Live Theatre and Northern Stage, Bex assisted on numerous plays and directed the critically acclaimed, sold-out "Love It If We Beat Them” by Rob Ward. Since the end of her RTYDS placement in 2023, Bex has worked with the RSC (37 Plays Project), Live Theatre (Three Acts of Love) and ARC Stockton (Unruly). Bex has been supported and developed through many prestigious schemes such as the BBC Writer’s Room, Graeae’s Write to Play, the Live Lab Bursary and the North East Artist Development Network Bursary. Directing credits include: Unruly (2024, ARC Stockton); Three Acts of Love (2023, Live Theatre); Radiant Boy and The Filleting App (2023, Northern Stage/RSC); The List (2023, Live Theatre); Love It If We Beat Them (2023, Live Theatre). Assistant Director credits include: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (dir. Maria Crocker, 2022, Northern Stage); One Off (dir. Jack McNamara, 2022, Live Theatre) and Red Ellen (dir. Wils Wilson, 2022 Northern Stage/Edinburgh Lyceum/Nottingham Playhouse/York Theatre Royal). Writing credits include: Spoon Theory (2018, Live Theatre); The Gift (2017, Sheer Height TC); Statuesque (2017, Hampstead Theatre); Dig (2017, Alphabetti Theatre)
Writer - Rob Ward (he/him)
Rob Ward is a writer, performer and producer, also creative director of Emmerson & Ward Productions. Rob was born on Merseyside (an Evertonian!) and currently resides in Stockport. Rob has written, performed in and produced national and international tours of his plays including Away From Home (2013-2016, co-written with Martin Jameson), Gypsy Queen (2016-2019) and The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me (2020-2023). Rob was commissioned by Curve in Leicester (where Emmerson & Ward are Resident Creatives) to write the zoom-based lockdown play Conversations (2021) and the upcoming Community Production of Fantastic Foxes (2024), based on the history of Leicester City Football Club. Love It If We Beat Them was commissioned by Live Theatre and first performed in 2023. For his work, Rob has received two Manchester Theatre Awards (Best New Play & Best Fringe Performance for Away From Home), and an International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival Award for Best Performance In A Male Identifying Role (The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me). Rob was named an Emerging Artist by the British Council in 2017 and received a Peter Schaffer Commission from The National Theatre in 2022 to write Fantastic Foxes.
Set & Costume Design - Alison Ashton (she/her)
Since gaining a first class degree in theatre design, Alison has designed a wide range of productions for theatre companies throughout the country. Alison learnt her trade at Birmingham Rep, RSC, Young Vic, and Half Moon London and was Associate Designer at the Royal and Derngate Northampton, where one of her favourite designs was for for the lavish restoration comedy The Way of the World. Since moving to Newcastle she has designed for Open Clasp , Theatre sans Frontiers, Alphabetti, Theatre Royal, Kitchen Zoo and Northern Stage. Alison has created artwork and installations for Centrica and Newcastle Building Society Headquarters as well as making The Storytelling Chair for Seven Stories. In 2017 she worked alongside National Theatre Director Tim Supple on Freedom on the Tyne . Most recently she designed Cinderella at Northern Stage and this Christmas she is currently creating designs for Jack and the Beanstalk and A Christmas Carol. Alison has designed several productions for LIVE Theatre including The Savage , Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing, My Romantic History, Love It If We Beat Them and The Cold Buffet.
Sound Designer - Matthew Tuckey (he/him)
Matthew is a Sound Designer and Sound Artist working across theatre, music, installation, podcast and film. He is a regional officer for the Association for Sound Design and Production. His recent work as Sound Designer includes: Saint Maud (Live Theatre); Love It If We Beat Them (Emmerson & Ward remount and tour); The Bounds (Live Theatre and The Royal Court); The Queen of the North (The Queer Historian at ARC Stockton); Colliery Boys R&D (for Harry Rundle at Laurels); Festen (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama); Our Karen – Rainy Days and Mondays R&D (for David Tuffnell at ARC Stockton); Love It If We Beat Them (Live Theatre in association with Emmerson & Ward); The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Northern Stage); Josey R&D, Repeat Signal, Lost Found and Told: New Tales for Northumberland (November Club); World’s Apart, Roaming River (Woven Nest Theatre); Wolf! (Kitchen Zoo in association with Northern Stage); joey (Gobscure in association with Greyscale Theatre); Floorboards, Trolley Boy, Walter (Alphabetti Theatre). His work as Sound Artist includes: The Rime (multichannel immersive installation); An Audio Diary in Binaural, January 2021 (digital piece for headphones); South Bend (05-06/20) (digital EP); Fed Up, Foodbank Histories Project (digital piece for headphones for Newcastle University Oral History Unit & Collective). His work as Associate Sound Designer includes: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (Northern Stage and National Theare); Under The Sea (Tiny Dragon Productions); You Heard Me (Luca Rutherford); A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage); Oh No, George! (Can't Sit Still); Stella (Filskit Theatre).
Lighting Design - Anna Reddyhoff (she/her)
Anna is the original Lighting Designer of Love It If We Beat Them, and is thrilled to return for the UK Tour. Previous design credits include: Shewolves - UK Tour; Crackers - Polka Theatre; Everything I Didn’t Say - UK Tour, A Little Night Music - Avondale Theatre; Vessel - UK Tour; Copacabana - Avondale Theatre; The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde - UK Tour; Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs - Bradford Alhambra (Associate LD); The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe - Garrick; Emilia - Vaudeville (Associate LD); Sara Pascoe: Lads Lads Lads - Wyndham’s. Other credits: Re-Lighter The Woman in Black - UK Tour; Chief Electrician - Secret Cinema’s Moulin Rouge;Deputy Electrician - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - UK Tour; Deputy Electrcian - Hairspray - UK Tour.
Movement Director - Patricia Suarez (she/her)
Patricia Suarez is a kind, and thoughtful Movement Director based in the Tees Valley. When she is not devising movement, Patricia can be found walking on the North York Moors, or knitting with a cup of coffee. Credits as Movement Director: Songs and Stories Under Redcar Skies (Pilot Theatre), These Majestic Creatures (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Frida (Northern Opera Group), London (LAMDA), Red Ellen (Northern Stage), Nutcracker Re-Miced (Durham Gala Theatre), Orpheus in the Record Shop (Leeds Playhouse and Opera North for BBC), Youthquake (Zest Theatre), The Hound of the Baskervilles (Northern Stage), The Comedy of Errors (Petersfield Shakespeare Festival), The Merchant of Venice (Stafford Festival Shakespeare), Blood Wedding (Both Barrels Theatre), On Behalf of the People (NCMME), 4x15 (Sheffield Theatres, Crucible Studio). Credits as Associate Movement Director: Brassed Off (Theatre By The Lake), O, Island (RSC Mischief Festival), Ivy Tiller, Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer (RSC Mischief Festival), Shakespeare in Love (Theatre Royal Bath), The York Mystery Plays (Movement Placement, The York Minster).
Production Manager - Sandrine Enryd Carlsson (she/her)
Stage Manager - Nicole Wilkinson (she/her)
Nicole is a theatre stage manager and technician based in the North East. She studied BSc Music Technology at Leeds Beckett University. Since graduating she has worked as a venue technician and stage manager at the Sunderland Empire, Northern Stage, Gosforth Civic Theatre, and Live Theatre, as well as on tours across the UK. Stage management credits include: Love It If We Beat Them (Live Theatre), Jack and the Beanstalk (Queens Hall Hexham), Wolf! (Northern Stage), Raven (Northern Stage), The Three Bears (UK tour), The Boy and the Seahorse (North East tour), Cinderella: A Fairytale (as Assistant Stage Manager, Northern Stage) Wintry Night (North East tour), The Vanishing Act (Star and Shadow Cinema), Hey Diddle Diddle (Northern Stage and UK tour).
Deputy Stage Manager - Kamilla Jonsson (she/her)
Kamilla is a freelancer in production management, stage management and lighting, based in the North East. With a background in the music industry and festivals, she now mostly works in theatre and dance. Her credits include shows such as Johannes Radebe's Freedom tour (ROYO Entertainment), A Doll's House (Elysium Theatre Company), The Odyssey - The Island of the Sun (National Theatre/Sunderland Culture), I, Daniel Blake (Northern Stage), A is for Amy (Changing Relations), Three Acts of Love (Live Theatre), Inevitable? (Mortal Fools), Unruly (Little Cog) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Wolsey Theatre).
Costume Supervisor - Lou Duffy (she/her)
Marketing & PR - Claire Cockroft for Also Creative (she/her)
Claire Cockroft is the co-founder and Marketing Director at Also Creative, who brings over 20 years of expertise in crafting marketing strategies that inspire and engage diverse audiences. Her passion lies in supporting arts, cultural, and heritage organisations to communicate their vision effectively. Claire spent a decade leading marketing at Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she worked on acclaimed productions such as The Pitman Painters by Lee Hall, Wet House by Paddy Campbell, You Couldn't Make It Up by Michael and Tom Chaplin, and The Red Lion by Patrick Marber. Since founding Also Creative in 2017, Claire has collaborated with several high-profile arts and cultural clients delivering unique experiences that inspire and entertain people of all ages and walks of life. She has successfully supported the tours of numerous productions, including Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life by Keith Alessi, Limelight and Haddock & Chipsby Janet Plater, Frognal & Fox by Fiona Ellis, Beyond Caring and A Way Home by Christina Castling, and The Devil Danced in Our Eyes by Jonluke McKie. Through her efforts, she has helped clients connect with and engage diverse audiences, ensuring these unique stories reach and resonate with people across the region.
Environmental Consultant - Robin Lyons (him/him)
Producer - Max Emmeson (he/him)
Max is the Producer of Emmerson & Ward Productions and works as Freelance Producer for Birmingham Rep. He has previously worked as Producer for: Secret Cinema, Leeds Playhouse, Box of Tricks Theatre, ThickSkin and Oldham Coliseum. He began his career as Assistant Producer for the Royal Exchange Theatre and Production Co-ordinator for Bill Kenwright Productions in London.
Producing credits include: RUM by Joe Mallalieu (Edinburgh Fringe), Love It If We Beat Them by Rob Ward (Live Theatre & UK Tour), BI-TOPIA by Sam Danson (UK Tour), Saffie by Daneka Etchells (in development), 365 Days Remembered by Nessah Muthy (in development), Wishmas (Secret Cinema), A Passionate Woman by Kay Mellor (Leeds Playhouse), Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck (Leeds Playhouse & UK Tour), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Leeds Playhouse & UK Tour), Nine Night by Natasha Gordon (Leeds Playhouse & Nottingham Playhouse), Conversations by Rob Ward (Curve Online), Walk This Play by ThickSkin Theatre (App Based), Last Quizmas by Alison Carr (Online), The Last Quiz Night on Earth by Alison Carr (UK Tour), Under Three Moons by Daniel Kanaber (UK Tour), Don’t Bother by Broccan Tyzack-Carlin (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Brighton Fringe & Manchester Fringe), No Miracles Here by The Letter Room (UK Tour), SparkPlug by David Judge (UK Tour), The Tempest (Royal Exchange Theatre Young Company), The People Are Singing by Lizzie Nunnery (Royal Exchange Theatre), Adam & Eve & Steve by Chandler Warren (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Shout! The Mod Musical (Liverpool Royal Court Theatre).
Special thanks: Jack McNamara, Jacqui Kell, JD Stewart, Drummond Orr, Dave Flynn, Taylor Howie and all the staff at Live Theatre, Kenneth Coney, Durham Scenic Workshop, Dr Alex Jackson of the National Football Museum, James Froment, Carl Allcock, Paul Aziz, Craig Davidson and Hancox & Co.