havoc presents
Dame Nature – The Magnificent Bearded Lady
Devised by the Company
Performed by Tim Bell
Co-Direction and Dramaturgy by Laurence Cook
Co-Direction by Hannah Kew
Design by Verity Quinn
Lighting Design by Penny Griffin
Made possible by Bristol Old Vic Ferment.
Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and Norfolk County Council Council.
Tim Bell – Performer
Tim trained as an actor at Webber Douglas. He is a co-founding member of Shanty Theatre Company, who formed in 2008. For Shanty he has performed in Smugglers, written for Rebel Harbour and Griselda’s Grandad, directed for Salty Socks, A Rat’s Tale, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Story Giant and Holy Mackerel!, and has made tea for most of the bits in between. He has directed for other companies too, most notably Eastern Angles, Plymouth Theatre Royal and Wassail. When he’s not wearing his Shanty hat he’s programmer for Pound Arts in Corsham. Tim is a dedicated cricket fan and an East Anglian separatist.
Laurence Cook – Co-Director and Dramaturg
Laurence Cook is a director and dramaturg. In development: The Justified, a project about burning money & a new play by Lisa Carroll. Recent credits include: Snow White & Rose Red by RashDash (Cambridge Junction), We Want You To Watch by Alice Birch, RashDash (UK Tour), Catcall (RADA), Having It Rough (Alphabetti Theatre). As Assistant/Associate; Snow White & Rose Red by RashDash (Cambridge Junction), WWYTW (National Theatre), Ages (OVNV), The Broken Heart (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Realness (Hackney Studios), In The Vale of Health (Hampstead Theatre)
Penny Griffin – Lighting
Penny is Eastern Angles’ resident Stage Manager and recently celebrated her 25th year with the company. Penny stage-managed Eastern Angles’ latest spring tour show Somewhere in England across East Anglia and to Airfield Museums in Norfolk and Suffolk. Penny lives in Suffolk on a barge moored on the River Deben with her hamster, Wesley.
Hannah Kew – Co-Director
Hannah Kew trained in Acting at Arts Ed – London graduating with a 1st, and received her MA from Goldsmiths College in Performance and Culture.
She has worked in TV, Radio and Film since then, guest leading in various TV series and most recently playing the lead in the feature film You (Us) Me selected for Busan International Film Festival. Moving into Physical Theatre work, and following various residencies with Song of the Goat Theatre Company, Hannah spent further time training in Growtowski Ensemble work with Para Active and performed in their London run of Hotel Medea .
Since 2012 she has co-founded a dance-theatre Company PINCH with support from Bristol Old Vic and The Place, London, creating original cross-disciplinary performance, most recently touring their full length show; Asking For It.
Verity Quinn – Designer
Verity is a theatre designer and maker with a background in visual theatre and puppetry, installation and site specific performance and has designed extensively on theatre for young audiences.
Verity founded and co-ran the design-led theatre company, Left Luggage Theatre from 2007 – 2011 and she currently co-runs the visual theatre company Club Adelphi who are Associate Artists at ARC, Stockton.
She was nominated for Best Set Design in Off West End Theatre Awards for Alpha Beta’
Verity trained at Nottingham Trent. Her design credits include: Septimus Bean and his Amazing Machine (Unicorn Theatre), Under the Rainbow (Polka Theatre); Big Wow (Half Moon Theatre & Justin Coe); Once Upon A Christmas (Unicorn Theatre); Holy Mackerel (Eastern Angles & Shanty Theatre Company); Beasty Baby (Polka Theatre & Theatre-Rites); Alpha Beta (Finborough Theatre); Free (Half Moon Theatre); The Fourth Wise Man, Seesaw, When I Think About the Universe I Laugh For No Reason and Dora (Unicorn Theatre); Blue Boy (New Writing North & Northern Stage); Apples (Northern Stage & Company of Angels); The Girls from Poppyfield Close (Live Theatre) and Heartbreak Soup (The Empty Space)
Bristol Old Vic FERMENT is the artist development department of Bristol Old Vic and is curated by Emma Bettridge. Ferment supports a huge community of theatre-makers from Bristol and the South West to develop exciting and adventurous new work. Within this ferment it is our job to create a playful structure through which the best of these artists can explore their theatrical ideas in an on-going dialogue with audiences.
THANKS, from the bottom of our beards, to the incredible Emma Bettridge, without whom none of this would be possible, and of course Helen Edwards and all at Bristol Old Vic, not to mention Harry Long, Lorna Rees, Jonny Hoskins, Jen Scott and Wild Rumpus, Adam Taylor and all at the Garage, David Lambert, Ivan Cutting and all at Eastern Angles, Pound Arts, Joel Horwood, Nik Whybrew, Gareth Hinsley, Peter Stickney, Simon Bubb, Molly Barrett, Sophie Moysey, all at Pound Arts, Wendy Petitdemange and all at Activate, Delphine Jones, the Wallis Agency and Beccy Allen. Tim would like to give the biggest of hugs and the sloppiest of kisses to Mick, Suzanne and Charlotte Bell, who support him more than he’ll ever be able to mumble his gratitude for in a Norfolk accent, and to Helena Johnson, who has held his hand and lit the way.