The Director of this production is Jo Fox
Jo has been an active Masker for over 15 years and has played a variety of roles in that time, including Lady Jane Rochford in Anne Boleyn, Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest, Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing and Luna the Monkey in The Jungle Book. She most recently appeared as the confused newlywed wife Samantha Tuttle in Maskers' December studio production, Sorry! Wrong Chimney!
As well as acting, Jo has kept busy behind the scenes at Maskers and was Company Secretary on the committee from 2019 - 2023. She has also been Stage Manager, Production Manager and Props coordinator for previous productions. This show will be Jo's first foray into directing! She is excited to have the chance to bring this brand-new play to the stage for the first time and is really enjoying working with this great cast and crew.
Robert - Director of Public Prosecutions is played by Philip de Grouchy
Philip was most recently involved in Romeo and Juliet, Cash on Delivery, and Almost, Maine as an actor and Blithe Spirit as director. He has been active with the Maskers and local theatre since time immemorial (nearly).
Sarah - Chair of the Citizens' Jury is played by Emily Smith
Emily initially studied acting at Academy of Art University before moving behind the scenes for a film degree. She has been a Masker for over a year, but has only recently returned to the stage, appearing in Almost, Maine in January. Being a part of Murder in the Citizens’ Jury has been an incredible experience and she is excited to finally help present it to an audience for the very first time.
Steve - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Matthew Meehan
Matthew is a writer, actor and director with over 25 years of experience. He has appeared in plays ranging from Oedipus and Antigone to Abigail's Party. His own work includes the black comedies Searching and Pina Coladas. Outside of theatre his interests are Poe, Lovecraft and Motorcycles.
Jason - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Daniel Chopra
This is Daniel’s third play with Maskers, having previously been in The Three Musketeers and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Daniel has been in appearing in productions with other theatres since 2015, such as The Little Mermaid and Macbeth.
Naomi - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Katy de Haviland
Having begun acting as a child in the Midlands, Katy studied Drama and Performing Arts at college before joining her local theatre company. After a 20-year break, she joined Maskers last May and has since played Elvira in Blithe Spirit and Susan in Murder in the Studio.
She's excited to now be part of this brand-new production!
Marco - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Ruben Sanchez-Garcia
Ruben joined Maskers in 2010 and has since acted, directed and helped backstage in a number of shows. He has particularly fond memories of his first show with the Maskers, Treasure Island in 2011, as well as playing Peter in Zoo Story and Andrey in Afterplay, and directing both Butterfly Kiss in the Maskers Studio, and an open-air production of Don Quixote at Hamptworth. He's looking forward to playing Marco and thankful to Denise for accommodating his Spanish background by changing the character's name from Barry!
Devanika - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Clare Britton
Clare is new to Maskers. She did the costume design for Agatha Christie's Murder in The Studio recently, but this will be her first acting role with them. Theatre has been very much in her life starting with classical ballet and gaining qualifications in Theatre Makeup, Wig Making and Management. She has been a sound design technician and directed in community theatre. Some of her favourite roles include Adele in Die Fledermaus, Thelma in Pack of Lies, Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing, Mary in Flint Street Nativity, Winsome in Bombshells, and Alison in Searching. Clare has enjoyed this strong character and feels privileged to get the environmental issue message out there.
Needles - Member of the Citizens' Jury is played by Christine Baker
Chris has been a member of the company for many years, and has been involved in numerous productions both on and off stage. She can generally be found greeting the audience in our box office. She is delighted to be playing the part of Needles in this new play, and to be bringing her knitting skills to the stage.
Andrew - The Auditor is played by Paul Baker
Paul joined Maskers in 1996 and since then has been in over twenty-five shows in the open air for Maskers. He has played a variety of roles including Weasel Norman in The Wind in the Willows, Thomas Cromwell in Anne Boleyn and often multiple parts in the same production as evidenced when he played four different characters in The Three Musketeers. Paul has appeared in most of the recent productions in Maskers Studio, having played Sepulchrave in Gormenghast and Chris Kriegle, the Santa Burglar, in Sorry! Wrong Chimney!, uncle George in Cash on Delivery and, most recently, three different characters in Murder in the Studio.
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