BY DAVID PEACE
ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE AND DIRECTED BY PHILLIP BREEN
Welcome To
Hello and welcome to the Royal Court Theatre and this production of Red Or Dead.
We first discussed Red Or Dead with Phillip Breen (writer and director) back in 2019. We have to say my first reaction to Phil’s idea of a cast of 200 was that ‘it would never happen’. Phillip is a Liverpool director making his debut with us. Red Or Dead has been a labour of love for him to bring this production to the stage. We’re delighted that we have been on part of Phillip’s journey. His commitment to this production is only matched by his passion for LFC.
And here we are almost 6 years on and maybe it’s not 200 performers onstage but 52 isn’t bad.
In those 52 faces on stage, you may see some of our past cast members.
Les, Paul, Oliver, George, and Liam have all been with us before. Which means that 8 of the cast are new to us the Royal Court and importantly new to you the Royal Court audience. Welcome to Peter, Dickon, Gordon, Allison, Matthew, Jhanaica and Keith.
They’ve heard much about you and we know they will not be disappointed.
But this show is not just a professional cast of 12. Our cast are joined onstage by our Community Chorus who have been rehearsed by our Associate Director Nicole. Shankly was a man of the people and he impacted the lives of so many of us. Phillip’s
idea of having a chorus of ‘real’ Liverpool people (no offence to our 12 actors!) to tell Bill’s story is both obvious and genius at the same time.
A warm welcome to some great creative folk who have played such an important part in getting this show on. Max (Set and costumes), Paddy (sound and music), and Ian is back with us (lighting). A special thank you to Mitch who is our costume supervisor for this show. There’s a lorra lorra costumes!
Talking of special thank yous, I’d like to mention Charles Holloway. Red Or Dead is a huge undertaking for the Royal Court both in terms of logistics and financially. We could not have created the show you watch today without the support of Charles. Thank you.
And a final thank you to David Peace. Without his love of Shankly and his love of words we would not have had the amazing book ‘Red Or Dead.’ And without the book you would not be here today.
So, sit back as we are about to celebrate Bill Shankly’s love for Liverpool and Liverpool’s love for Bill.
Kevin Fearon
Executive Producer Liverpool’s Royal Court
Liverpool’s Royal Court presents David Peace’s Red Or Dead by Phillip Breen
Starring Les Dennis, Matthew Devlin, Paul Duckworth, Keith Fleming, George Jones, Gordon Kennedy, Oliver Mawdsley, Allison McKenzie, Peter Mullan, Liam Powell-Berry, Dickon Tyrrell and Jhanaica Van Mook
Directed by Phillip Breen • Associate Director Nicole Behan • Music Paddy Cunneen
Design Max Jones • Costume Supervisor Mitch Fujii-Williams • Fight Director Renny Krupinski • Casting Director Helena Palmer CDG
Lighting Design by Ian Scott • Sound Design by Kate Harvey • Video Design by Jamie Jenkin
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Talent Development
Liverpool’s Royal Court continues on its journey to work towards talent development across the city
There is no doubt Liverpool is renowned for its wealth of talent but we, along with the rest of our city’s theatre organisations and institutions, recognise we need to do more to ensure we are accessible, engaging and aspirational if we are to be truly representative and inclusive of the communities we serve. It is a long-term continuing process and funding is key as is working together with the theatres across the region.
Over the past three years we have laid down the foundations, initiating our plans for meaningful and real change. This includes the theatre’s programming, engagement, accessibility and relationships with artistes, communities, creatives, individuals, institutions, organisations, Schools/FE. We are working towards ensuring our talent development programmes are applicable, realistic and robust.
Listening and engaging in the first instance to a wide cross section of creatives and communities – recognising and taking ownership of our failure to be fully inclusive and to take a proactive approach to ensure there is inclusivity and diversity across the sector
A brief look at a few of our talent development projects so far:
Community
Music AAA (Access All Areas) is a partnership project together with three grassroots organisations: Positive Impact, Capoeira For All, and Catalyst performing arts supported by funding from Youth Music. Children and young people aged 6 – 25 can access free musical instruments, musical theatre, hip hop, dance, singing, drama and performance
Raw Talent
Young people from our youth theatre continue to have access to auditions and employment opportunities – during the past 3 years, 6 young people have been cast in Terriers, written by Maurice Bessman touring to schools and venues across the country.
More recently working with Fury films, 120 young people aged 15 – 25 from across the city took part in audition workshops for the film of Terriers at Fire Fit in South Liverpool, MYA’s Space in Bootle and The Vibe in Huyton. 8 young people will be working with the Director to support the script development.
New Mentor Creatives Scheme
Building on our pilot Mentoring Programme, the new Mentor Creatives Scheme from Liverpool’s Royal Court – in partnership with Shakespeare North Playhouse, Everyman & Playhouse Theatres and Curious Minds seeks to help develop and nurture Global Majority Creatives working right across the artistic sector.
• Mentor Creatives offers
• One-on-One Mentorship
• Goal Setting and Achievement
• Skill Development
• Regular Networking Opportunities
• Continuous Support
The project is supported by PH Holt Charitable Trust and Liverpool BID, find out more on our website
Boisterous Stage Write
Music Access All Areas
Maurice Bessman
Becoming Bill
Red or Dead sees actor Peter Mullan return to the stage after 30 years.
A star of the big, and small screen, his credits include Harry Potter, After the Party, Mum and Westworld. At Liverpool’s Royal Court he is Bill Shankly in the story of a man of two halves.
Director Phillip Breen originally sent him the script of his adaptation of David Peace’s iconic novel Red or Dead: A Liverpool Passion. Peter had been a fan of the book (he likes a sports biography) but waited. Then Covid happened. Phillip got back in touch and he agreed to do it.
Not only that, following the 2013 release of Red Or Dead author David Peace was asked who he thought should play the iconic manager in any adaptation of the book, he didn’t hesitate to say, Peter Mullan.
“I’m loving it,” says Peter from the rehearsal rooms. He spent November, December and January learning the lines (as Bill, Peter is on stage for almost the whole show) and the hours have been, he says “hardcore”.
“I’d genuinely forgotten” he says, “how long the working day is in the theatre”.
When you do film and TV, you’re acting a performance that’s pushed forward in time. On stage, it’s immediate.
“We were doing a run through of the first half and I realised
I’m going to be doing this to a live audience. I’m really looking forward to it because it’s been such a long time since I did it”.
This is the Royal Court’s biggest show, with a whopping cast of 52! Much of that is made up of the Community Chorus. We put the call out in Autumn 2024 for anyone who wanted to be part of the chorus and had the time to dedicate to rehearsals. No experience in theatre was necessary.
Since their auditions, the Community Chorus, made up of people from every walk of life in Liverpool, have had a regular rehearsal schedule. On their own and with the cast, they are at the heart of the action.
“Their commitment puts you to shame”, says Peter. “What they bring really raises the bar”.
For many football fans, there have long been conversations about who could play Bill Shankly, on stage or screen. Peter Mullan’s name has always been at the top of the list for
many Reds. Both are Scottish (obviously) and socialists. He had never seen it himself, and knows they don’t look alike. He has worked, however, on getting the voice right.
Director Phillip Breen has voice recordings of Peter working on the voice, the Bill voice. It is, says Peter, very specific and very recognisable. For those fans who were alive at the same time, they remember Bill from the news, sports programmes and the odd chatshow appearance. For those who don’t, it’s online videos that give you an idea of what he sounded like.
It’s a very gentle, but fast talking lilt.
“I had to get the voice of a theatrical Shankly”, says Peter. “His voice, his delivery. There’s more licence in theatre. On TV, I don’t think they’d cast me because I don’t look like him”.
“The way he speaks he’s so certain and so determined. You don’t know where the humour ends and the seriousness begins”.
The witty one liners, the famous remarks, so many of those are part and parcel of the legend of Bill Shankly.
If you were watching a TV drama, or a biopic movie, the look of the actor would be much more important in terms of casting. Yet on a stage like the Royal Court, the audience knows they’re going to get lost in the story and get swept up in Peter being Bill.
To prepare, Peter watched videos of Shankly online, probably the same ones many Reds fans have watched over the years.
“Somebody said that football’s a matter of life and death to you, I said ‘listen, it’s more important than that’.”
“For a player to be good enough to play for Liverpool, he must be prepared to run through a brick wall for me then come out fighting on the other side.”
“In my time at Liverpool we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves.”
It’s hard to tell if he’s joking or not. And, from an acting point of view, Peter says that’s great fun. Is it going to get a laugh or not? There are moments of real comedy in the show. But it is, also, he thinks, a bit of a tragedy. Shankly was a real fanatic, he had an enormous drive and community. There’s huge success, huge celebration, but at what cost?
Peter has found himself coming back to the source material, David Peace’s incredible book. It’s a football book, yes, but, and let’s paraphrase Bill himself here, it’s much more important than that, he thinks.
“It’s wonderfully rich in texture. It’s as much about life as it is Liverpool Football Club”.
Photographs by Liverpool’s Royal Court
Les Dennis
Matthew Devlin
Paul Duckworth
Keith Flemming
George Jones
Gordon Kennedy
Oliver Mawdsley
Allison McKenzie
Peter Mullan
Liam Powell-Berry
Dickon Tyrrell
Jhanaica Van Mook
Cast Company
John Smith/ Tom Williams
Kevin Keegan/ Chris Lawler
John Morgan/ Roy Plomley/ Peter Robinson/ Brian Clough
Jimmy McInnes/ Jock Stein/ Erland Clouston/ Andy Beattie
Ian St. John
Matt Busby
Eric Sawyer/ Helenio Herrera/ Emlyn Hughes/ Horace Yates
Ness Shankly
Bill Shankly
Tommy Smith/ Phil Taylor/ Ron Yates
Bob Paisley
Cilla Black
David Peace
Phillip Breen
Nicole Behan
Max Jones
Paddy Cunneen
Renny Krupinski
Helena Palmer CDG
Ian Scott
Kate Harvey
Jamie Jenkin
Mitch Fujii-Williams
Eden Easterbrook
Alexandra Morton
Emily Hollingsworth
Emily Clewes
Writer (Original)
Writer (Adaptation)/ Director
Associate Director
Design
Music
Fight Director
Casting Director
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Video Designer
Costume Supervisor
Sean Gannon
Stephen Petit
Jamie Haining
Andrew Lock
Elizabeth O’Sullivan
Chloe Wilson
Charlotte Jones
Miriam Bell/Martyn Case
Jack Walsh
Phil Dickinson/Andrew Parkinson
Running Wardrobe Supervisor
Dresser
Dresser
Dresser
Workshop Manager
John Kavanagh
Scenic Art Manager
Jen Baron
Workshop
Scenic Artists
Abbie Jones Banner
Marina Diamantidi
Thanks to
Gary at Envision
Joe Baron
Stephen Petit
Laura Spallen
Alicia Southerton
Helena Smythe
Production Manager
Production Assistant
Technical Manager
Technical Stage Manager
Company Stage Manager
Deputy Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
LX No 1
Sound No 1
Sound No 2
Crew
Crew
Crew
Crew
Wigs
Carpenters
Joe Baron
Mike Gray
Shaun Gillespie
Connor McLeod
Barry at Colourcreate
Community Chorus
The Kop - Community Company
Charlie McKevitt
Erin McGowan
Adnan Shaan
Asli Dualeh
Beatha Sunjaya
Bobby Owens
Charlie Diable Toner
Conor Morris
Dan-Jude Robinson
Daniel Duffy
Gary Rogers
Georgia Taft
Helen Jones
Jack Eaton
Jade Fortune
Joshua Williams
Kieran Gregory
Keith Usher
Laura Purcell
Malcolm Peet
Mark Nelson
Matthew Berry Swinnerton
Mike Roberts
Nathan Evans
Nicky Brown
Ostin Ronald-Price
Pat Brewin
Paul Armstrong
Paul Wise
Paula Cullinan
Reice Carmichael
Sacha Hales
Sean Robinson
Susan Segar
Sylvia Rogers
Tabby Thomas
Yvonne Leonard
Voices of Red Or Dead
Abbie Reader
Alicia Shanahan
Alison Stockley
Andy Fitzpatrick
Andy Keenan
Anna Miller
Annuncia Skeldon
Chris Stokes
Chris Yorston
Christina Thomson
Claire Murphy
Clare Mcgrath
Colin Fulton
Conor Morris
Darren Edge
Dee Spencer
Diane Griffiths Smith
Dimitri Dematteo
Don Danks
Donna Smith
Eliza Appiah
Gilda Possible
Glennis Brown
Hayley Brown
Helen Clar
Janet Birch
Jason Porter
Jo Robinson
Joanne Sime
John “Tj” Hilton
Judith Cain
Kathleen Grice
Linda Turner
Liz Stewart
Luke Johnson
Margaret Ryan
Margaret Whitehead
Maria Sakizli
Martin Carrick
Maureen Molyneaux
Neil Burke
Olivia Mannion
Paul Chaloner
Paul Seddon
Paula Seddon
Phil Curry
Phil Parsons
Robbie James Williamson
Steven Banwell
Susan Holmes
Tiffany Purwanti
Tommy Tyler Morgan
Cast Biographies
Les Dennis John Smith/ Tom Williams
Les Dennis is one of the UK’s best-known entertainers with a career in showbusiness spanning over 50 years.
Born in Liverpool, he came to prominence as a comedian in the 1970s after honing his craft on the northern Working Men’s Club circuit and turning pro after a winning set on New Faces. He cemented his place as a mainstay of Saturday night TV in the 80s and 90s, with comedies including The Russ Abbot Show and The Les Dennis Laughter Show, and most famously as the host of ITV’s Family Fortunes between 1987 and 2002. In 2023 he returned to Saturday night TV on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
In recent years Les has enjoyed a thriving career as an actor, starring with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English National Opera and in numerous hit plays and musicals in the West End and on tour, as well as a regular role on Coronation Street.
A dad of three, Les lives in Cheshire with his wife, his two youngest children.
Theatre includes: Ghost The Musical (National Tour), Twelfth Night (Shakespeare North Playhouse), 42nd Street (Sadlers Wells & Tour), Spring & Port Wine (Bolton Octagon), Only Fools & Horses The Musical (Theatre Royal Haymarket), HMS Pinafore (ENO, Coliseum), Hairspray (Coliseum), Venice Preserved and The Provoked Wife (RSC), End of the Pier (Park Theatre), The Miracle of Great Homer Street (Liverpool Royal Court), The Addams Family (Tour), She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory), Down the Dock Road (Liverpool Royal Court), The Perfect Murder (Tour), Spamalot (West End), Hairspray (UK tour), Jigsy (Liverpool Royal Court – Best Actor, LPD Arts), When We Are Married (WYP), Eurobeat (No. 1 tour/West End), Certified Male (Edinburgh Festival), The Servant of Two Masters (Wales Theatre Company), Marlon Brando’s Corset (Edinburgh Festival), Neville’s Island (Birmingham Rep), South Pacific (Birmingham Symphony), Art (UK tour), Cherished Disappointments in Love (Soho), Chicago (Adelphi), Just Between Ourselves (Theatre Royal Bath), Skylight (Watermill) Me and My Girl (Adelphi).
Film includes: Sideshow, Wounded (winner of Best Feature, Marbella Film Festival), Intimate Relations
Television includes: Death In Paradise, The Madame Blanc Mysteries, Moving On, Birds of a Feather, Coronation Street, Holby City, Hotel Babylon, New Street Law, Extras, The Quest 2, Casualty, Mersey Beat, Doctors, Brookside, Les Dennis and Dustin Gee’s Laughter Show.
Matthew Devlin Kevin Keegan/ Chris Lawler
Matthew Devlin is a Liverpool-based actor known for his work in television and theatre.
He gained recognition for his roles in ITV dramas Little Boy Blue and Anne and starred as Ye Ma in the BAFTA nominated comedy G’wed. His stage credits include Fade at The Lowry, Leeds Playhouse and multiple BBC radio dramas. He trained at Rose Bruford College and is represented by United Agents.
Paul Duckworth
John Morgan/ Roy Plomley
Theatre credits include: Grand Old Lady (Epstein Theatre); The Big I Am, Othello, Paint Your Wagon (Everyman Rep Company); Beating Berlusconi, Twelfth Night, Bright Phoenix, The May Queen, Urban Legend, Sweeney Todd (Everyman Theatre Liverpool); A Barry White Christmas (Liverpool Echo Arena); Sink or Swim, Baron Munchhausen, Backwater, Jason & the Argonauts, The Man Who Cracked (Spike Theatre Company); Mam I’m Ere (Life in Theatre Productions); Reds And Blues The Musical, Little Scouse on the Prairie, Scouse Pacific, Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, Down The Dock Road, Father O’Flaherty Saves Our Souls, The Lonesome West, The Scouse Nativity, The Scouse Cinderella, Yellow Breck Road, The Menlove Avenue Murder Mystery, Bingo Star, Haunted Scouse and Lost Soul 2 (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Family Business (M6 Theatre Company); The Quiet Little Englishman (ZHO Productions); Microdots (Contact Theatre, Manchester); The Corrupted Angel, The Golden Boy (Base Chorus); River Fever (Unity Theatre Liverpool); My Bit of Sky (M.Y.P.T) and Horrible Histories (Christmas 2019, Blackpool Opera House).
Television credits include: The Courtroom (Lime Pictures); Brookside (Mersey Television), The 4 O’Clock Club (CBBC). Film credits include: I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This, Donohue, Reds and Blues, Backbeat, To Know Him (short film).
Keith Flemming
Jimmy McInnes/ Jock Stein/ Erland
Clouston/ Andy Beattie
As a big Beatles fan, I am delighted to be back in the city, having been here last year with Ralph Fiennes’ Macbeth. Recently seen on TV in Mayfair Witches, and Outlander, I have also performed in Peer Gynt, Black Watch, Miracle Man, The Making of Us, Cyrano De Bergerac, Dunsinane (National Theatre of Scotland), Miss Julie, This Restless House, Macbeth, Vanya (Citizens Theatre)
George Jones
Ian St. John
This is George’s second production at the Royal Court having played Tony in Homebaked: The Musical in 2021. He previously worked with Red Or Dead director Philip Breen in 2022, in The Marlowe Sessions. Other theatre includes: Cherry Jezebel (Liverpool Everyman), Bloody Difficult Women (Edinburgh Fringe), The Mousetrap (West End), Farm Hall (UK Tour) and Witness For The Prosecution (County Hall).
Gordon Kennedy Matt Busby
Gordon has been acting, producing, directing and writing scripted comedy and drama since the mid 80’s. Twice nominated for the Perrier award with the sketch group The Bodgers on the Edinburgh Fringe Gordon moved to London where he began his professional career writing and acting in Channel 4 sketch show Absolutely.
In the Theatre Gordon starred in the original cast of the West End revival of The Rocky Horror Show and in Tariq Ali and Howard Brenton’s New Labour satire Ugly Rumours. More recently starred in The National Theatre/National Theatre of Scotland history cycle The James Plays and played Gordon Brown in The Audience in the West End
On Television Gordon has starred in many notable TV series from Glasgow Kiss and Red Cap to playing Little John in the BBC’s worldwide smash hit Robin Hood. More recently he starred in The Halcyon for ITV and James Corden’s Mammals on Amazon Prime. In the US Gordon starred in Red Faction a pilot for NBC Universal/Syfy and guest starred in ABC television’s Combat Hospital and most recently Harlots for Hulu and The Spanish
Princess for Starplay.
Trainspotting 2 and the cult horror film The Borderlands, also known as Final Frontier in the US, are two of Gordons most recent Film credits.
As a producer Gordon has been producing and directing award winning radio comedy and drama for BBC Radio 4 and Radio3 through the production company Absolutely since 2006, where he is managing director, twice winning coveted BBC Audio Drama Awards. Most recently his shows include Alone, The Break and Mrs Sidhu Investigates
Gordon, through Absolutely Productions, partnered up with Monumental Television and writer creator Suk Pannu to develop Mrs Sidhu Investigates, starring Meera Syal for television. This culminated in the TV series premiering in September 2023.
Most recently Gordon has appeared in Death In Paradise for BBC and The Diplomat Series 2 for Netflix, and, as a producer, is currently developing Mrs Sidhu Investigates Series 2.
Dickon Tyrrell Bob Paisley
Othello [2007/2014], Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, The Duchess of Malfi, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Julius Caesar [2014/2022], Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, The Oresteia, Dr Scroggy’s War, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Bartholomew Fair (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Julius Caesar, Richard II, Henry IV part 1 and 2, Richard III, Merchant of Venice and The Devil is an Ass ( RSC).
Eurydice (Jermyn Street Theatre) Anatomy of a Suicide, Harvest (The Royal Court) Labour of Love (Noel Coward) Rutherford and Son (Northern Stage) Major Barbara (Peter Hall Company) The Romans in Britain (Sheffield Crucible) Animal Farm (Derby Playhouse) Romeo and Juliet (Contact Theatre, Manchester) A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet and Dracula (Northern Broadsides) The Plough and the Stars, The Taming of the Shrew (West Yorkshire Playhouse) Much Ado About Nothing (Sondheim Theatre.)
Television: Spender (BBC) Harry (ITV) Coup (Channel 4) Coronation Street (ITV) Doctors (BBC) Rough Crossings (BBC) Peak Practice (ITV) Law and Order (ITV) and Going Forwards (BBC4).
Radio: Antony and Cleopatra and Major Barbara (BBC Radio 3).
Video Games: Blasphemous 2 and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
Film: The Isle.
Cast Biographies
Dickon trained at Liverpool University, National Youth Theatre and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is a faculty member of education at Shakespeare’s Globe. He teaches and directs at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and LAMDA. He performs regularly with Elizabeth Kenny’s Theatre of the Ayre. Dickon is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Oliver Mawdsley
Eric Sawyer/ Helenio Herrera/ Emlyn Hughes/ Horace Yates
Oliver trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatre: Boys from the Blackstuff (Royal Court, Liverpool), Little Shop of Horrors (UK Tour), The Comedy of Errors – More or Less (Shakespeare North Playhouse & SJT), A Christmas Carol (Derby Theatre), Around the World in 80s Days (Blackpool Grand), Beauty and the Beast (SJT), Astley’s Astounding Adventures, The Snow Queen, The 101 Dalmatians, & A Christmas Carol (New Vic Theatre), Miss Nightingale (Hippodrome, West End), Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty & Peter Pan (Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds), Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell & The Cowardly Porter (Frinton Summer Theatre), Gatsby (Southwark Playhouse & Cadogan Hall: Live Stream), By Jeeves & Where is Peter Rabbit? (Old Laundry Theatre), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Arts Theatre, West End), The Princess and the Pea (York Theatre Royal, UK and International Tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (South Mill Arts), Forever Oz & The Revellers’ Society (OSO Arts Centre), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Red Rose Chain).
Film: Mike Leigh’s Peterloo, L’annonce (BFT), Crossing the Line (LFS & National Portrait Gallery), Chancery Lot (Haligonian Films).
Radio: GF Newman’s The Corrupted for BBC Radio 4.
Peter
Mullan
Bill Shankly
Peter Mullan, a veteran Scottish actor and filmmaker has a huge body of work but is probably best known for his portrayal of Joe in the 1988 Ken Loach film My Name is Joe. For this work he won the highly prized Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. A few years later in 2011, the Sundance Film Festival awarded Mullan a World Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances for his role as Joseph in Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur (2011).
His feature film work over the last several decades stretches across every genre. This includes roles in Riff-Raff (1991),
Braveheart (1995), Trainspotting (1996), Miss Julie (1999), Young Adam (2003), Children of Men (2006), The Red Riding Trilogy (2009), War Horse (2011) The Vanishing, The Harry Potter film series (2010/11) and The Vanishing (2018). Mullan’s work behind the camera as a director has also collected prestigious awards. He received a Golden Lion at 59th Venice International Film Festival for helming The Magdalene Sisters. Feature film Neds (2010) saw Mullan take the gong for Best Picture at the San Sebastian Film Festival. He also picked up Best Director and Best Writer for Ned at the Baftas in Scotland in 2011. In television, Mullan appeared in Jason Bateman’s Netflix series Ozark, HBO’s Westworld, Netflix series Cursed and BBC’s Mum which saw him nominated for a BAFTA. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Matt Micham in Gerard Lee’s and Jane Campion’s acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake in 2013. Back in 2008 Mullan took the lead role in ITV series The Fixer. Mullan can currently be seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Amazon, and recently starred in the series Liaison with Eva Green and Vincent Cassel for Apple TV+ and The Hanging Sun, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Recent and upcoming releases include Jed Mecurio’s Payback for ITV and Britbox, Lockerbie for BBC and Netflix, and Outlander prequel Blood Of My Blood for Starz.
Allison McKenzie Ness Shankly
Theatre includes: The Promise, The Butterfly Lion (Chichester), Wildnerness (Hampstead Theatre), Seven Acts of Mercy, Two Noble Kinsmen, In Shakespeare’s Company (RSC), The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Birmingham Rep), Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios, Olivier Nominated), The Snow Queen, Hamlet (The Royal Lyceum), Macbeth (Nottingham Playhouse), Cabaret, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Playboy of the Western World, All My Sons, Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Dundee Rep)
TV includes: Outlander, Blood of my Blood (Sony Pictures), Line of Duty (BBC), Our House (ITV), Crime (ITV), The Victim (BBC), Press (ITV), Shetland (BBC), Rebus (ITV), Beowulf (ITV) Films include: The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford (Forensic Films), Swung (Sigma), New Town Killers (Independent Films), Club le Monde (Outlaw Films), 16 Years of Alcohol (Tartan Works)
Liam Powell-Berry
Tommy Smith/ Phil Taylor/ Ron Yeats
Liam Powell-Berry trained at LMA. Theatre credits include Boys from the Blackstuff at the Royal Court Liverpool, National Theatre and Garrick Theatre. Crave at Shakespeare North Playhouse; The Comeback Special at Epstein Theatre; A Number at Liverpool Everyman; and Fear and Misery of the Third Reich at St Luke’s Bombed out Church. TV credits include Liverpool Narcos: Ecstasy (SKY) and Moving On (BBC).
Jhanaica Van Mook
Cilla Black
Trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (supported by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.
Having recently professionally debuted as Miss Kat in Stratford Easts Pinocchio, Jhanaica is excited to take on this passionate piece as Cilla Black and others.
Company Biographies
Phillip Breen Writer/ Director
Phillip Breen is a theatre director and playwright who was born in Liverpool. He studied Social and Political Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge. He trained under Terry Hands at Clwyd Theatr Cymru. He is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and has directed over eighty productions around the world.
He collaborates regularly with the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, and Theatre Cocoon in Tokyo, where Yukio Ninagawa invited him to direct in 2015. Breen’s work has played in the West End of London, Off-Broadway in New York, the Sydney International Theatre Festival, among many cities around the world. Breen’s eclectic range of work encompasses opera, theatre, comedy, musicals, jazz cabaret, large-scale community theatre projects, new work and classics. He regularly collaborated with fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, for whom he directed and co-devised Homo-Loquax, their 2019 London Fashion Week show. His 2014 production of True West by Sam Shepard, and his 2022 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Comedy of Errors have been seen in cinemas and are available online at www.digitaltheatre.com.
He has written and directed eleven of his own adaptations including Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and a musical adaptation of Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell. A new production of Phillip’s Crime and Punishment opened at the 54th Hong Kong Festival in March 2025. Forthcoming work includes Anna Karenina (Chichester), King Lear (Tokyo) and Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas (Birmingham Rep). www.phillipbreen.com
Nicole Behan Associate Director
Nicole is a Director from Liverpool and Artistic Director of Paperwork Theatre, with a passion for creating theatre and experiences for the stage and beyond.
Previous theatre credits include: Pass the Parcel (Liverpool’s Royal Court), My Beautiful Laundrette (Leicester Curve & National Theatre’s Theatre Nations tour), Stocking Fillers (Liverpool’s Royal Court), Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons (Liverpool Everyman), Come Closer: Memories Of Partition (Royal Exchange), Qualified (Hope Mill), You, Me & The Goalpost (Octagon), Northern Flight (Liverpool Everyman)
As Artistic Director of Paperwork Theatre, she most recently created and Directed a new immersive multi location production Lovestruck, which toured to Liverpool Everyman, Storyhouse & Shakespeare North Playhouse. Previous credits include; Deep Blue (Liverpool Everyman) and Christmas Countdown; Twisted, Baltic Alight, I Spy A Yeti, How May I Direct Your Call? & Shortcut To Bliss.
Associate Director: Alice in Wonderland (Shakespeare North Playhouse), Ghost Caller (Headlong)
Assistant Director: Corrina, Corrina (Headlong/National Theatre workshop): Boys From The Blackstuff (Stockroom/National Theatre workshop) and Tree (Manchester International Festival/ Young Vic)
Co Director for Young Everyman Playhouse: Soapbox (Liverpool Everyman), Crowd (Liverpool Playhouse), Until They Kick Us Out (Birmingham REP)
Training: Drama & Theatre Studies BA Hons, Liverpool Hope University.
Max Jones Designer
Theatre includes: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Chichester Festival Theatre); A Mirror; Ulster American (West End/Second Half Productions); Between Riverside and Crazy (Hampstead Theatre) Anna Karenina; A Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Crime and Punishment; A Streetcar Named Desire; Orpheus Descending (Bunkamura Theatre, Tokyo); The Comedy of Errors; The Shoemakers Holiday; The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC); Jekyll & Hyde (Reading Rep Theatre); Noises Off (Lyric Hammersmith/ West End); Sydney and the Old Girl (Park Theatre); All My Sons (The Old Vic/ Headlong Theatre); Meek (Headlong Theatre); Close Quarters (Out Of Joint/ Sheffield Theatres); Love and Information; Queen Coal (Sheffield Theatres); The House They Grew Up In (Chichester Festival Theatre/ Headlong Theatre); Trainspotting (Citizens Theatre); The Hypocrite (RSC/ Hull Truck Theatre, Hull); Pride and Prejudice (Regents Park Theatre/ UK tour); The York Mystery Plays (York Minster); The Crucible; Brilliant Adventures; Miss Julie (Royal Exchange Theatre); The Little Shop of Horrors; Educating Rita; Glengarry Glen Ross; Bruised; A Dolls House; Blackthorn (Theatre Clwyd); Blasted (The Other Room, Cardiff); The Broken Heart; The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe); Play Strindberg (Ustinov Theatre, Bath); True West (Citizens Theatre/ Tricycle Theatre)
Renny Krupinski Fight Director
Renny is an internationally renowned fight director, awardwinning actor, director and writer and thrilled to be working with Phillip Breen again.
Theatre fight work includes: Productions in London’s West End and RSC, National Theatre, Young Vic, National Theatre of Scotland, Shakespeare’s Globe, Glasgow Citz, Manchester Royal Exchange, Theatr Clwyd, Crucible Sheffield and many more.
TV fights include: Emmerdale (social media accolade of “Best punch ever”), Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Blue Murder, Man Like Mobeen, Jamaica Inn, So Awkward 1-8 & 2 series of So Awkward Academy, Goldies Oldies, 10 eps of Dodger, High Hoops.
Film fights include: The multi-award-winning film Tyrannosaur (with Peter Mullan), The Latent Image and most recently Think of England for release this year.
Theatre acting includes: Salieri/ Amadeus (twice), Banquo/ Macbeth, Claudius/ Hamlet, Capulet/ Romeo & Juliet, Launcelot Gobbo/ The Merchant of Venice.
TV acting includes: Sizzler/ Brookside, Mr. Gower/ The Tower 2, Harry Pettifer/ Miss Scarlet & The Duke 4 and, most recently, Lubos Sterba/ Grace 4
Other credits include: the voice and face of Oblivion at Alton Towers.
As a writer his play D’Eon was a 5* critically-acclaimed, sell-out at Hope Mill Theatre Manchester, was translated into Greek and ran for three months in Athens. He has also just completed the screenplay. Renny has written many BBC Radio 4 comedies and was a regular writer for The Bill.
Recent credits include: the fights for Phillip Breen’s RSC lauded Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe, Zorro The Musical & From Here To Eternity at The Charing Cross Theatre, national tour + China of And Then There Were None and Ulster American at Riverside Studios with Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland and The Duchess at Trafalgar Studios with Jodie Whittaker. Renny will be directing the fights for Anna Karenina at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas for Birmingham Rep later this year, both directed by Phillip Breen.
Awards & nominations: Best supporting Actor as Wemmick in Great Expectations, Manchester Evening News awards. Edinburgh Fringe First for his play Bare + Best Director and nominated as Best Actor.
Company Biographies
Helena Palmer CDG Casting Dirtector
Helena is a freelance casting director with over 20 years’ experience.
She began her casting career at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and then with the National Theatre. She was Casting Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2008 to 2021.
Current and recent projects include: The Government Inspector and Anna Karenina (Chichester Festival Theatre), A Thousand Splendid Suns (Birmingham Rep/Leeds Playhouse/ Nottingham Playhouse) Gigi & Dar (Arcola Theatre), An Inspector Calls (PW Productions - 2024 UK tour), The Glass Menagerie (Rose Theatre, Kingston and tour), Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play (Manchester Royal Exchange/Young Vic) No Pay? No Way!, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Beginning (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Tempest and Cymbeline (Royal Shakespeare Company), Linck & Mülhahn, Mary and The Fever Syndrome (Hampstead Theatre), Dream of a Ridiculous Man, The White Factory and Dmitry (Marylebone Theatre), The Wind in the Willows and The Child in the Snow (Wilton’s Music Hall) Blackmail and Antigone (Mercury Theatre) and The Mirror and the Light (Playful Productions/Gielgud Theatre).
Helena is a member of the Casting Directors’ Guild.
Ian Scott Lighting Designer
Trained at Mountview.
Productions for the Royal Court include: Scouse Pacific, Maggie May, The Miracle of Great Homer Street, The Royal, The Scouse Nativity, Lonesome West, Down The Dock Road, Come Together, Two Of Us, Haunted Scouse, Boys From The Blackstuff and in co-production with Lodestar and the Liverpool Shakespeare Festival; Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Other theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Sheffield Crucible and Ramps On The Moon); ¡Carpa!, The Hooley and Xanadu (Giffords Circus); By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records); Up ‘n’ Under and Frozen (fingersmiths); Reasons To Be Cheerful, Peeling and Blasted (Graeae); Duet for One (Birmingham Rep; Lee Dean & Daniel Schumann); A Skull in Connemara and All My Sons (Nottingham Playhouse); Marco Polo and Messiah (Bergen National Opera); Fish Eye (Theatre Alibi); The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; National Theatre); Owen Wingrave and Where The Wild Things Are (Aldeburgh Festival); Fawlty Towers Live (Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney); Flat Stanley (Polka; West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Drummer Boy of Waterloo and The Happy Prince (Jubilee Opera); The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre); Our Friends Up North (Northern Stage); The Joke, The Summer House and The Victorian in the Wall (Will Adamsdale; Fuel); My Name is… (Tamasha); Oh! What a Lovely War and Frogs (National Theatre); Curlew River (White Light Festival, New York; UCLA Berkeley; St. Giles, Barbican); Animal Farm (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).
Kate Harvey Sound Designer
A list of sound credits include: Corporate/Outdoor: Labour, Conservative, NUT, TUC. Symphony in the Park (Hoghton Tower) Liverpool Theatre Festival (Bill Elms Productions), Grimm Tales, Jungle Book, 80 Days Around the World, Alice in Wonderland (Williamson Park, Lancaster)
TV: Stan James World Match Dartsplay (Sky Sports), Strictly Ballroom (ITV), Danny La Rue (BBC) Spirit of Shankly (Granada DVD)
Cruises: P&O World Cruises, Island Cruises, Celebrity. Arena: Hot Ice (Stageworks Worldwide Productions) You’ll Never Walk Alone (Alterean Media and Liverpool FC)
Music: The Christians, Chesney Hawkes, Sinita, Slade, Bad Manners, Toyah, Limahl, Cream UK Tour, Petula Clarke, Bobby Crush, East 17, Liberty X, Jane McDonald.
Comedy: Jason Mansford, Peter Kay, Roy Walker, Norman Wisdom, Jim Bowen, Brian Conley, Brendan O’Carroll, Paddy McGuiness.
Live Theatre: Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty (King Georges Hall) Mystique (Stageworks) Original TV Comedians (Blackpool Opera House) Paul Zerdin (Paradise Room Blackpool) Flags (Royal Exchange, Manchester) Mam I’m Ere (Life in Theatre) Eight Miles High, Council Depot Blues, Bouncers, Night Collar, Our Day Out, Shirley Valentine, Reds and Blues, Lennon, Noises Off, Canoeing for Beginners, Lost Soul 1&2, Girls Don’t Play Guitars, Golden Oldies, Come Together, Vernons Girls (Royal Court Liverpool) Twopence to cross the Mersey, Lennons Banjo and By The Waters of Liverpool (Pulse Records) SHOUT! (Max Emmerson Productions) Out of Order and It runs in the family (Ray Cooney Comedy Company) Bang Bang (A production for John Cleese at Mercury Theatre, Colchester) Omnibus (Unity Theatre) Judy and Liza National Tour (Produced by Royal Court Liverpool) Midsummer Nights Dream (Filter Theatre Company/ Lyric Hammersmith) Homebaked (Red Ladder Theatre Company) Something about George (Something About Productions) Insane Animals (HOME MCR) Cinderella (Imagine Theatre, Beck Theatre-Hayes) Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood, A Christmas Carol (Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster) Cinderella (Imagine Theatre, Crewe Lyceum)
Jamie Jenkin Video Designer
Jamie is the in-house graphic and video designer at Liverpool’s Royal Court. Starting as marketing assistant at the theatre in 2005, he has been part of the Royal Court since it’s rebirth as a theatre in 2006. He now designs artwork for all Royal Court productions alongside working on video content for the Royal Court stage and beyond.
Video Designs for Theatre include:
Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff by James Graham (Liverpool’s Royal Court, National Theatre and Garrick Theatre London), A Thong For Europe, Willy Russell’s Our Day Out - The Musical, A Fistful Of Collars, Lennon, Ladies Day, Hitchhikers Guide to Fazakerley, Ladies Night, Canoeing for Beginners, The Scouse Nativity, Father O’Flaherty Saves Our Souls, A Miracle On Great Homer Street, Home, Going Halves, The Royal, The Scouse Cinderella, My Fairfield Lady, Bingo Star, Two Of Us, Royal Court Selection Box, Macca & Beth, The Scouse Sleeping Beauty, The Menlove Avenue Murder Mystery, The Scousetrap, The Scouse Jack & The Beanstalk, The Scouse Dick Whittington, Haunted Scouse, Sisters Of Mersey, The Netherely Hillbillies, Haunted Scouse, Come Together and Girls Don’t Play Guitars (Liverpool’s Royal Court); Masquerade, Knee Deep In Promises, Hey Bunny Get Loose, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio); Cured (Liverpool’s Royal Court in association with DaDaFest & Unlimited); The Dream Team and VR Family (Liverpool’s Royal Court Youth Theatre); Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Shakespeare Festival); Judy & Liza (National Tour); YNWA (Alterean Productions, international tour); The Big I Am (Liverpool Everyman); Celtic The Musical (Alterean Productions, Pavilion Theatre Glasgow and SEC Glasgow); Sunderland The Musical (Alterean Productions, Empire Theatre Sunderland); Something About George (Something About Productions, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and national tour); The Salford Docker (Salford Community Theatre, Lighthouse Salford); Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre); and Peter Pan (Storyhouse Chester). Jamie was also Sound Designer on Hey Bunny Get Loose, Offered Up, Stocking Fillers and Cosmic (Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio) and Our Country’s Good (Hope St Theatre).
Royal Court Staff
Executive Producer Kevin Fearon
Chief Executive Gillian Miller
Head of Finance & Administration Gary O’Connor
Creative Producer Jess Bolger
Head of Marketing Kofi Ohene-Djan
Head of Operations Ailsa Morris
Executive Chef David Assall
HR & Finance Manager Alison Ward
Graphic Designer & Brand Manager Jamie Jenkin
Assistant Producer Clare Carlucci
Marketing Manager Iain Christie
Workshop Manager John Kavanagh
Social Media Officer Clara Mbirimi
Head of Technical & Production Sean Gannon
Head of Sound Thomas Evans
Resident Stage Manager Andrew Lock
Scenic Art Manager Jen Baron
Chief LX Jamie Haining
Box Office & Sales Manager Lauren Macauley
Assistant Box Office Manager Laura Lees
Head of Community Engagement Miriam Mussa
Well Being Training Manager Maria Schumann
Costume Supervisor Marie Jones
Finance Administrator Izzie Litwin
Venue Administrator Phil McLoughlin
Youth Theatre Coordinator Vannessa Park
Later Life Coordinator Jay McWinen
Assistant Producer - Talent Development Harvey Robinson
Daytime Technician Gary Currin
Studio Technician Phil Dickinson
LX Technician Martyn Case
HR & Payroll Administrator Gilly Taylor
Executive Assistant Joe Morris
Building Maintenance Technician Bob Smith
Box Office Assistants
Erica Drummond, Finn Goulden-Jennings, Carl Lees, Scarlet Lees, Anna Miller, Pat O’Neill, Susan Segar, and Angela Simms
Fire Officer Sam Massen
Stage Door Allan Dodd, Sven Key and Izzie Litwin
Kitchen
Head Chefs Kyle Wardale
Chefs Thomas Alexander, Daniel Ambrose, Billie Chisam, Jay Quinn, Josh Eglin, Jack While and Nick Watson
Kitchen Porters Hezekiah Abramson, Debbie Chisam, Louise Dodd, Luke Dunn and Harry Lawlor
Front of House
FOH Manager Kathy Hutson
Assistant FOH Managers Paul Imrie and Brendan Wright
Shift Supervisors Sammy Hunter
Bar Supervisors Jordan Barkely
Floor Supervisors Michael Hall and Katie Sherman
Front of House Staff Hebron Abraha, Beth Baccino, Jordan Barkley, Hazel Bawden, Cameron Brown, Denise Byrne, Louis Carney-Smith, Azize Dia, Holly Evans, Charlotte Freyne, Michael Hall, Lauren Heywood, Samantha Hunter, Lily Hutson, Callum Johnstone, Elizabeth Kendrick, Michael James, Charlotte Kendrick Jones, Raia Kiernan, Jackie Kirton, Cherry Kim, Takunda Kudzunga, Hansol Lee, Phil Lyne, Sam Massen, Lukas Matuzevicius, Faye McCutcheon, Joseph McGee, Isabella Renshaw, Aiden Scott, Theo Stock-Best, Joseph O’Neil, Christiano Samuel, Katie Sherman, Mohan Welstand-Keryk and Samantha Woolley.
Cleaners
Cleaning Supervisor: Debbie Chisam, Billie Chisam, Joanne Kinsella, Claire Wilson and Julie Wright.
And a big thank you to all of our freelance and security staff for their hard work throughout the year.