The Old Curiosity Shop Team

The Cast

Leo Atkin

Leo is pleased to be with NTC, and to be doing The Old Curiosity Shop again after over 15 years, having aged sufficiently (matured like a fine wine!) to play Grandfather. He most recently played Puck in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Other credits include: Lear in an acclaimed international tour of ‘King Lear’ for ADG Europe; Old Gobbo & Duke in ‘Merchant of Venice for Northern Broadsides Theatre Co.; ‘Dick Whittington’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Squire Trelawney in ‘Treasure Island’ with Birmingham Stage Co.; Dr von Whackoff in ‘Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens at the Albany Stage for the National Theatre; Mrs. Jarley (yes Mrs!) in ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ for the Royal Theatre, Northampton; and he once played SuperTed, and actually FLEW!! And on TV: CORONATION STREET, DOCTORS, MERSEYBEAT, COASTING and 999 for the BBC.

Helen Buchanan

Helen is really excited to be back at NTC for the Autumn season and is thrilled to be performing in an adaptation of a Dickens classic. Despite the all night partying, all day hangovers and excessive use of the living channel, Helen managed to graduate with a 'First Class Honours degree in performance' in 2007 from Northumbria University and is winner of the Joanna Harris award for outstanding achievement. She then went on to become a member of the 'InterACT training ensemble' where she had the opportunity to work with various theatre companies and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has recently been involved in some script development with Kay Mellor and runs drama workshops for children. Recent theatre credits include 'Straw Headed Peter' NTC, 'The Bang Gang' Edinburgh Fringe, 'The Polish Play' Farnham Maltings, 'A Christmas Carol' Northern Stage and 'Oceans Five and a Half' NTC.

Stephanie Butler

Stephanie graduated with a BA degree in Acting from Bretton Hall in 2004. In 2006 she spent a fantastic year on InterACT, the training programme to develop the northern region’s brightest theatrical talent. Credits include the ‘Comedy of Errors’ (NTC), ‘The Little Prince’ (Northern Stage), ‘The Polish Play’ (Farnham Maltings) and ‘The Shagaround’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Stephanie then performed in two of NTC’s Christmas productions and had great fun playing Groucho in ‘Pinocchio’ 2007, and the very naughty boy ‘Straw Headed Peter’ in 2009. Earlier this year she worked with Risky Things Theatre Company on a road safety tour around Yorkshire. She is completely thrilled to be back working with NTC in ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ and can’t wait to play the wonderful characters of Dickens.

Marvyn Dickinson

Marvyn, a native Lancastrian, is enjoying his first tour with NTC. Theatre credits mainly include work with the Young Shakespeare Company; Twelfth Night, Macbeth and The Tempest. He has also played small roles in Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Marvyn trained at the Oxford School of Drama.

Philip Oakland

NTC have paid Philip the greatest compliment any actor can ever receive…they’re re-employing him...again (so he must be doing something right). He is very excited to be back, after the fun he had in ‘Whisky Galore’, hiding his strange face behind Strangeface Theatre Company’s mask, in NTC’s booze-ridden adaptation of Compton Mackenzie’s faerie-tale. Other jobs for NTC have included playing a Fordson N-Type Tractor, in ‘These Things Do Happen’ also from the pen of Stewart Howson, which still stands as the most fun Philip has had with his clothes still on. Philip is fresh from wowing the crowds at Latitude in Les Enfant Terribles ‘Vaudevillains’ (think freaky burlesque meets Cluedo), playing Gaston Garceau the world famous mime artist. Philip is very much looking forward to being allowed to talk again in this production. And as a shameless plug, if you find yourself down south over the festive period, Philip will back to his old tricks of playing an animal, in ‘The Mouse Who Saved Christmas’ for Icon Theatre.

Umar Ahmed

InterACT
Umar recently graduated from Sunderland University with a BA in Drama . He could not have asked for a better opportunity to kick-start his career as an actor - he is one of four lucky actors to have won a place on Northumberland Theatre Company’s InterACT scheme where he’s going on placement with professional theatre companies and training with theatre practitioners around the country. Umar is privileged to be part of The Old Curiosity Shop ensemble.

The Production Team

Gillian Hambleton - Director

Gillian has been Artistic Director of Northumberland Theatre Company since 1990, although she appeared as an actor in the first NTC Company in 1978.
Gillian has also directed and acted at Colchester Mercury Theatre, Cheltenham Everyman & York Theatre Royal amongst others and for two years was Director of the renowned Leeds Playhouse TIE Company. In 1994/5 Gillian worked with Moving Theatre Company on ‘The Flag’ and ‘Casement’, co-directing with Corin Redgrave.
On stage, Gillian was last seen as Mrs Grasp in NTC’s tour of ‘Bedazzled’, Audrey/Le Beau in ‘As You Like It’ and Jean in ‘Get up and Tie Your Fingers’.
Critical and public acclaim for her work includes an LWT Plays on Stage Award & the TMA/Martini Awards for Stewart Howson's ‘These Things Do Happen’ and a nomination for the Tyne Tees/Northern Electric Awards for ‘Country Voices’. Gillian was also short listed for the Northern Electric Artists Award which is given to an individual who has made ‘an outstanding contribution to the Arts in the region’.

Stewart Howson - Adapter

Born in Sheffield, Stewart now lives near Guyzance in Northumberland. His original works for NTC includes “Country Voices”, “These Things Do Happen”, ”Betty's Mirror”, “ Staying Here?”,” On Yer Bike,” “Are We in Here?” and “Oceans Five and a Half”. He has also been responsible for the adaptations of “Whisky Galore!”, “Mary Barton”, “Great Expectations”, “Tartuffe” and “A Christmas Carol”. Stewart was commissioned to write “Behind Yon Hill” for The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham who also toured “These Things Do Happen” which received a nomination for the TMA/Martini Awards for Best Tour. Further productions of “These Things Do Happen” were mounted by York Theatre Royal, Chester Gateway and The Royal Theatre Northampton. New Perspectives produced a Nottinghamshire version of “Behind Yon Hill” and commissioned the play “Blue Skies”. Tours of “The Old Curiosity Shop” were also mounted by Durham Theatre Company, Forest Forge and the Royal Theatre, Northampton.

Sandra Hunt of HRT Theatre Company is currently touring the one woman play “Fast Woman” which Stewart’ wrote for her.
Stewart wrote ‘Carr Lane Karters’ a serial for BBC Radio 5 and contributed to Channel 4's ‘Comedy Wavelength’ and Granada TV's ‘Stop That Laughing at The Back’. Alongside Chef Terry Laybourne & photographer Duncan Davis, Stewart was responsible for the Northumbrian food book “Quest for Taste”.

As well as writing Stewart has a long career as an actor in Rep, TIE & community theatre and played the central character in the West End run of “Up ‘n' Under”, John Godber's Comedy of the Year. He appears frequently in Film & TV.

Rachel Oliver – Assistant Director

InterACT
Rachel Oliver started her training in 2007 at Newcastle Performance Academy completing a Foundation Degree in Contemporary Acting. This led into her development as a Director in 2009, completing a BA Honours in Contemporary Directing.
Her experience as a Director started with producing an adaptation of sheliegh Stevenson’s ‘Five Kinds of Silence’, performed at the Studio Theatre, Theatre Royal in May 2009. Following this she was able to work alongside Director Mark Calvert on the production ‘The Imaginary Life of Gavrilo Princip’, which was performed at Northern Stage. In addition to this Rachel continued her development in May 2010 by establishing her own physical theatre production ‘The day in the life of Joe Bloggs’.
Rachel has been encouraged by the styles of such companies as Frantic Assembly and dance company CandoCo, when she experienced working with them in 2007.
Rachel’s passion within theatre lies within contemporary pieces of work that allow an experimental nature.

Michelle Huitson

Michelle has recently joined Northumberland Theatre Company as a permanent member of the team, as Design Management Associate. Previous to this she worked as a freelance designer, designing over 15 productions for NTC, and has worked with various touring theatre companies. Michelle was originally part of NTC’s inaugural InterACT scheme and has a BA (Hons) in Design Crafts for the Entertainment Industries, specialising in Set and Costumes for Theatre. As well as designing for theatre, Michelle has experience in visual merchandising, venue design and coordinating Christmas decoration schemes for retail centre’s throughout the country. Michelle is thrilled to be wearing her designer’s ‘top’ hat again to create a non-naturalistic Dickensian playground in which the journey of the characters will unfold.

Amy Carroll – Design Assistant

Amy is a graduate of Trinity College, Carmarthen's 'School of Theatre and Performance' with a First Class BA (Hons) Degree in Theatre Design and Production.
Amy has been design assistant for Northumberland Theatre Company's productions of 'Straw Headed Peter', 'Get Up And Tie Your Fingers', ' 4PLAY', 'The Last Snow Rider' and 'A Village Life'
Amy's theatre credits also include The Worcester Pilgrim (Artworcs/BBC Radio 4), assistant designer for ‘Come To The Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean’ and ‘ I Married Wyatt Earp’ in Fullerton, California. Make-up artist for the film 'Re-Living' in L.A, Production Designer for ‘Wasters’ Rotunda Films and Art Director for ‘Self Help’ POD Productions.
Amy’s design credits include 'Into The Woods', 'A Little Night Music', 'CABARET', 'The Mikado', 'The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie' and 'Lord Of The Flies' for The Oasis Theatre, New York.
She also designed 'Travels Through The Looking Glass' in conjunction with The National Trust.
More recently Amy has worked for Birmingham REP Theatre on their productions of 'East is East', ‘ A Christmas Carol’, 'Dancing At Lughnasa', 'Noises Off' and ‘Little Shop Of Horrors.’
In the coming months Amy will be working for Disney as their new Props and Puppetry Tech on many of their well known productions all over the world.
She is the Founder and co-artistic director of 'Big World Theatre Company' whose project 'The Lyric Exchange' discovers the best in new writing talent and up-and-coming performers all over the West Midlands.

Anna Rees – Design Assistant

Since graduating from Cleveland College of Art and Design with First Class honours in Entertainment Design Crafts, Anna trained as a theatre designer on the InterACT Training Ensemble hosted by Northumberland Theatre Company. During the course she worked with various theatre companies around the country on the following productions; ‘Whisky Galore!’, NTC, ‘Dracula’ Proteus Theatre Company, ‘Heartbreak Soup’ The Empty Space, ‘Peach Boy: The Adventures of Momotaro’, Oxfordshire Theatre Company, ‘The Wind in the Willows’, The Nuffield Theatre, ‘The Annual Dinner 40th Anniversary’ Northern Stage and ‘Office 925’ Match Theatre Company.
She also designed her first touring production as part of the InterACT scheme called ‘4 Play’ which toured venues around the North East.
Currently Anna is working free lance as a theatre designer/maker based in the North East and has worked on burlesque costumes as well as wardrobe and dressing jobs. She is very excited about working with NTC again on their production of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’.

Lizzie Craig – Costume Maker

Lizzie Craig is a Freelance Costume Maker and Assistant based in the North East and has worked in various sectors including theatre, film and carnival.
She has worked around the country including most recently at the Welsh National Opera where she was a Men's Costume Maker for two years.
Previous to this she worked at theatres including; The Dukes, York Theatre Royal, The Journal Tyne Theatre and two productions with the NTC; Pinocchio'07 and Lola Montez'08.
In 2006, Lizzie graduated with a BA in Entertainment Design Crafts with Textiles and Surface Design, specialising in costume. Whilst on her degree Lizzie worked in seasonal employment for Bravura Ltd on Carnivals around the North East and in 2006 she was delighted to join the team to go to Beijing and work with Chinese Communities for the Beijing Chaoyang International Festival Carnival.
Lizzie particularly enjoys working in theatre and the camaraderie of all involved and is thrilled to be working back with the NTC on 'The Old Curiosity Shop'.

Ben Steppenbeck – Production Manager/Lighting Designer

Ben had worked off and on for NTC since 1999 starting as a trainee Assistant Stage Manager on a tour of Pinocchio. Ben has also worked with Tutti Frutti Productions, The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield and Phoenix Dance, Leeds. Ben tried his very hardest NOT to have to work in London! He also spent around 2 years working in some of the countries finest Jobcentres before returning as a permanent Company Stage Manager in 2003. Since that time he has worked on 24 tours and 25 new productions before he became a full time member of the office team in 2009.

Ben now Production Manages, builds the set and designs the lighting for the tours as well as managing the InterACT scheme with Gillian. Ben very much enjoys having more time at home with his young family and spends a lot of time annoying people at work with a video camera.

Liam Walsh – Touring Stage Manager

Before entering into the arts, Liam worked as a carer for various companies around the UK, providing both physical and emotional support for those who needed it.
A change of direction led him to begin a four year study program, finalizing in 1st class hon’s degree in Creative Arts from Birmingham University.
Since then, he has worked intensively as a tour manager and a light/ sound technician with various organizations around the UK, particularly in the West Midlands where he resides. He has worked with companies such as Midland Creative Projects Ltd, Hanyong Theatre Company and Women And Theatre as well on festivals such as Decibel, Fierce and Artsfest.
He believes in both working and playing hard. When employed, he commits himself full time to his work in order to achieve the smoothest results possible. Between projects, he likes to fill his time with travel and festivals.
He also enjoys making sculptures and delving into the world of animation.

Amy Wardley – Rehearsal Assistant Stage Manager

InterACT
Amy Wardley is twenty four, has lived in Newcastle for the past six years and has recently graduated from Newcastle College where she achieved a foundation degree in 'Live Music and Theatre Production'. During her time with Newcastle College Amy has worked on a variety of shows within different backstage capacity's including Lighting Design, Sound Design, Stage Management and Production Management, Amy also has some experience of events management within Newcastle which includes the organisation of a local 'open mic' night which was very successful. Having found that her natural skills lie in Stage management, Amy applied to the Interact scheme as she wanted something that would give 'on the job'
experience as well as allowing her to build on her current abilities.

Jim Kitson – Composer/MD

Jim Kitson is an actor and musician who has worked in the north east for the past twenty years. He was a member of the permanent ensemble at Northern Stage, and has worked at Live Theatre, and , Theatre Sans Frontieres and NTC touring Theatre and recently completed a short stint with the RSC . He has composed music for Northern Stage, Live Theatre, Polka Theatre and many shows for NTC. Last year he completed a Master of Music degree at Newcastle University.

You can find details of the full time office based NTC staff by following the links on the top left of this page.

NTC Staff:

Artistic Director
Gillian Hambleton.

Tours Manager
Hilary Burns.

Finance Coordinator
Karen Hirst.

Designer
Michelle Huitson.

Production Manager
Ben Steppenbeck.

InterACT Students 2011/12
InterACT.

Board of Directors.