Alumni News Roundup - Summer 2022
This roundup celebrates a selection of Central graduates’ news and successes, covering alumni award wins and nominations, and their numerous contributions in all areas of stage and digital theatre, television and film, as well as in the wider community.
If you’re a Central graduate and have some news that you’d like to share with us, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please email alumni@cssd.ac.uk, or complete our ‘Update Your Details’ webform.
Awards, Nominations & Recognition
Riz Ahmed won an Oscar this year in the category of Best Live Action Short Film for The Long Goodbye. Also nominated for Oscars this year was Andrew Garfield, for his performance in Tick, Tick… Boom!, and Dame Judi Dench, for her performance in Belfast.
Andrew Garfield also won a Golden Globe in the category of Best Actor — Motion Picture — Musical/Comedy for his performance as Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick…BOOM!
Martha Watson Allpress, Sarah Power, and current student, Patrick Swain, are among those named as Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE 2022 Writers.
Nicole Acquah was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2021 for her play Sankofa.
Nonso Anozie was nominated for a BAFTA Television Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Sweet Tooth. Also nominated was Graham Norton for Best Entertainment Performance.
James Clarke won the Drama Inspiration Award at The Music & Drama Education Awards 2022 for his work as part of Central’s project work with Imperial College NHS Trust.
Kate-Lois Elliott was nominated for a Writers’ Guild Awards 2022 for best online comedy.
Michael Feldsher produced and performed in Brilliant Traces at White Bear Theatre, which received an Offies nomination for Best Lead Performance in a Play.
FlawBored, a disability-led theatre company co-founded by Class of 2020 grads, Samuel Brewer, Chloe Palmer, and Aarian Mehrabani, won the 2022 Greenwich Theatre Award. They were also selected for the CRIPtic showcase at Barbican.
Andy Pryor co-won a 2022 CDG Casting Award for his involvement in casting Russell T Davies’ hit show, It’s A Sin, and Jacob Sparrow was co-nominated for two Casting Directors’ Guild Casting Awards in the category of Best Casting in Musical Theatre (inside M25) for Carousel at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, and Singin’ in the Rain at Sadler’s Wells.
Vanessa Redgrave was made a dame in the New Years Honours 2022.
Karina Wiedman won the Woven Voices Prize, which is dedicated to celebrating migrant playwrights, for her play The Anarchist.
At the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, Cush Jumbo won Best Shakespearean Performance for Hamlet at The Young Vic Theatre and Igor Memic won Most Promising Playwright for Old Bridge at The Bush.
This year’s Olivier Award nominations included Cush Jumbo, nominated for Best Actress for playing Hamlet at Young Vic; Dino Fetscher, nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in The Normal Heart at National Theatre, and Carolyn Downing, nominated for Best Sound Design for her work on West End’s Life of Pi.
The Offies Award-winners included alumni Ben Jacobs, who won in the category of Lighting, Igor Memic, who won Most Promising Playwright, and Rachel-Leah Hosker and Terry O’Donovan who co-won in the category of Idea Performance.
Stage & Digital Theatre
Opened in February
Dee Ahluwalia, Anushka Chakravarti, and Hasan Dixon all performed in The National Theatre’s production of Our Generation, which included lighting design from Zoe Spurr, dialect coaching from Charmian Hoare and company voice work from Jeannette Nelson. The production ran from 14 February to 9 April.
Nari Blair-Mangat and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo both performed in Cyrano de Bergerac, which ran at the West End’s Harold Pinter Theatre from 3 February to 12 March, and also included movement direction from Polly Bennett.
Jack Boissieux was production manager for When the Dead Awaken, running at Coronet Theatre from 24 February to 2 April.
Lucy Carter was lighting designer, and Jenny Ogilvie was movement director, for The Cunning Little Vixen, running at the West End’s London Coliseum from 20 February to 1 March.
Matt Concannon performed in The Glee Club, running at Theatre by the Lake from 24 February to 12 March.
Nastazja Domaradzka was assistant director for Almeida Theatre’s production of The Chairs, which also included sound design from Pete Malkin, and ran from 5 February to 5 March.
Nathan Ellis wrote and directed work.txt, which ran at Soho Theatre from 28 February to 12 March.
Rosie Elnile provided set design for An Unfinished Man, running at Yard Theatre from 12 February to 12 March.
Philip Glenister performed in Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, running at Southwark Playhouse from 9 February to 5 March.
Bethany Gupwell provided lighting design for The Woods, running at Southwark Playhouse from 24 February to 26 April.
Kit Harington starred in Donmar Warehouse’s production of Henry V, which also included performance from Millicent Wong and sound design from Carolyn Downing. The production ran from 17 February to 9 April.
Chi-San Howard was movement director, Jack Knowles was lighting director, and Jacob Sparrow was casting director for Crucible Theatre, Sheffield’s production of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, running from 5 to 22 February. Chi-San Howard also provided movement direction for Orange Tree Theatre’s Two Billion Beats, running from 5 February to 5 March.
Danielle Kassaraté was assistant director for Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch’s production of All My Sons, which included performance from Kibong Tanji, and ran from 10 February to 5 March.
Jonathan Kent directed The Forest, running at Hampstead Theatre from 9 February to 12 March.
Kieran Knowles performed in 71 Coltman Street, running at Hull Truck Theatre from 17 February to 12 March.
Emma Laxton was sound designer for Young Vic’s The Collaboration, running from 16 February to 2 April.
John Owen-Jones starred in Mimma the Musical at Cadogen Hall on 28 February.
Vinay Patel wrote, An Adventure, which ran at Octagon Bolton from 4 to 26 February.
Daniel Rainford performed in Nottingham Playhouse’s production of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful, which included sound design from Daniel Balfour and ran from 12 to 26 February.
Kala Simpson was company stage manager for Bush Theatre’s production of Red Pitch, running from 23 February to 26 March.
Jessica Turner performed in the production Bloody Difficult Women, which included lighting design from David Howe and video design from Matthew Powell, and ran at Riverside Studios from 24 February to 26 March.
Diana Vallverdu performed in The Axiom of Choice at the Oxford University Mathematical Institute, which was co-directed by Lu Curtis, and ran from 17 to 19 February.
Opened in March
Andreas Ayling was production manager, and Joshua Gadsby was lighting designer, for Gulliver’s Travels, running at Unicorn Theatre from 6 March to 16 April.
Archie Backhouse co-created and performed in Telethon, running at Shoreditch Town Hall from 30 March to 14 April. The production included performance from Kamaal Hussain, dramaturgy from Terry O’Donovan, and lighting design from Rachel Sampley.
Emma Baggott directed Almeida Theatre’s The Key Workers Cycle, which ran from 9 to 12 March.
Rebecca Brower was set and costume designer for Watford Palace Theatre’s production of Abigail’s Party, which ran from 10 March to 2 April.
Lizzie Clachan provided set design for Hampstead Theatre’s production The Fever Syndrome, running from 24 March to 30 April.
James Cooney, Jenni Maitland and Cherrelle Skeete all perform in The 47th, produced by Sonia Friedman, and running at Old Vic Theatre from 29 March to 28 May.
Sonia Friedman produced To Kill A Mockingbird, which includes performance from Patrick O’Kane, and runs at West End’s Gielgud Theatre from 10 March to 13 August. She also produced Funny Girl, running at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre from 26 March to 22 November.
Christina Fulcher was movement director for Cherry Jezebel, running at Liverpool Everyman from 8 to 26 March.
Ben Harrison directed The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, running at Perth Theatre from 24 March to 2 April.
Richard Irvine is production manager for Punchdrunk’s production Burnt City, running at Woolwich Work’s from 22 March to 4 December.
Ella Leigh starred in Night on Boob Mountain, a surreal and raucous teen-horror show, which ran at The Vaults Theatre from 16 to 20 March
Toby Olié provided puppetry design for the stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli anime, Spirited Away, which opened at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.
Katy Owen wrote new play Come in, Oxford, about Oxford’s queer past, inspired by oral history recordings collected by Tales of Our City and the Queering Spires exhibition, which ran at Museum of Oxford from 24 to 25 March.
Fernando Sakanassi directed Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, running with the National Theatre Company of Mexico and Teatro Nomada, for which he is the Artistic Director, from 6 to 26 March.
Rakhee Sharma was movement director for Nora: A Doll’s House, running at Manchester Royal Exchange from 4 March to 2 April.
Yvonne Stone was puppetry designer for Frankenstein, running at Greenwich Theatre from 1 to 5 March.
Sophie Swithinbank wrote Bacon, which was performed at Finborough Theatre from 1 to 26 March.
Deborah Warner directed Royal Opera House’s production of Peter Grimes, which ran from 17 to 31 March.
Opened in April
Oliver Chris and Tracy-Ann Oberman were among the cast performing in The Joy of Text on Monday 25 April at Savoy Theatre.
Angelina Chudi, Emma Tracey and Richard Cant all perform in Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Henry VI: Rebellion/Wars of the Roses, running from 11 April to 4 June in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Michael Elcock, Paul Higgins and Remi King all performed in The Meaning of Zong, which included movement direction from Ingrid Mackinnon, and ran at Bristol Old Vic from 2 April to 7 May.
Gareth Fry provided sound design for Leicester Curve’s Jungle Book: Reimagined, which ran from 2 to 9 April.
Lady Aria Grey (AKA Callum Tilbury) wrote and performed Grey Widow, taking an audience on an eerie, entertaining journey into the darkest corners of drag, which ran at Kings Head Theatre as part of Springboard Festival from 5 to 9 April.
Bethany Gupwell provided lighting design for Hampstead Theatre’s Wolf Cub, running from 8 April to 7 May.
Simona Hughes wrote award-winning play, About 500, which ran at Kings Head Theatre from 19 to 23 April as part of Springboard Festival.
Gbenga Jempiji was among the cast of new play The Audition Process, by Lucie Lutte, which ran at The Space between 26 and 27 April.
Belinda Lang directed The Children, which ran at Salisbury Playhouse from 7 to 23 April, and included production management from John Titcombe and performance from Joanne Pearce.
Colin McPhillamy stars in the Broadway production of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen, which is running at Golden Theatre from 8 April to 18 June, and was cast by Amy Ball.
Anna Morrissey is movement director, and Donato Wharton is sound designer, for National Theatre’s production of Middle, running from 27 April to 18 June.
Hector Murray was lighting designer for Dirty Hearts, running at Old Red Lion Theatre from 5 to 30 April.
Josh Parr is resident assistant director, and Hazel Holder provides voice and dialect coaching for Donmar Warehouse’s production of Marys Seacole, running from 15 April to 4 June.
Steffan Rizzi performs in National Theatre’s production of The Corn is Green, which includes set and costume design from Ultz, company dialect work from Penny Dyer, and company voice work from Jeannette Nelson. The production runs from 9 April to 11 June.
Richard Roques has written a new play titled, Short Memory, performed at the Golden Goose Theatre from 23 April.
Victoria Willing wrote SAD, a brand-new dark comedy about escaping your problems and the messiness of life, which included sound design from Joe Dines, and ran at Omnibus Theatre from 5 to 30 April.
Ellen Wilson was set and costume designer for Dirty Corset, running at the Pleasance Theatre in London, from 5 to 24 April.
Fanjin Ye and Haoyu Wang were two of the artists involved in devising Brunk Presents’ Better, a production about alcoholism, memories, dreams and hope, running at Drayton Arms Theatre on 10 April.
Screen
Fisayo Akinade played Mr. Ajayi in Netflix’s hit show Heartstopper, which included intimacy coordination from David Thackeray, and voice and dialect coaching from Nick Trumble.
Joe Alwyn stars in BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversation with Friends, for which Neil Swain was Dialect Coach, and Ita O’Brian was Intimacy Coordinator.
Hugh Bonneville (Webber Douglas) and Michael Fox reprised their roles in Downton Abbey: A New Era, written by Julian Fellowes (Webber Douglas).
Nia DaCosta will direct the film adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2019 debut novel, and #1 New York Times bestseller, The Water Dancer. She also directs The Marvels, which is set for release in 2023.
Kathryn Drysdale reprised her role of Genevieve Delacroix for season two of Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders both appear in Kenneth Branagh’s recently released adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.
Alice Herring is Junior Textile Artist for HBO Max’s upcoming production House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones. She was also Costume Buyer for the next film in the Mission Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part One, set for release in 2023.
Rebecca Gausnell was dialect coach for Netflix’s Night Teeth.
Abi Morgan recently brought back her hit BBC show The Split for its third season, for which she is writer, director and executive producer. She has also published her first book, This Is Not a Pity Memoir, which tells the story of all that happened to her family between June 2018 and June 2021.
Chris O’Shea plays Percival Pickens in the recently released sixth season of CW’s Riverdale.
Catherine Tate was writer, executive producer and star of The Nan Movie, and director, writer and performer of Hard Cell, a mockumentary style show set in a fictional female prison. It has also recently been announced that Catherine will reprise her role as Donna Noble in the next season of BBC’s Doctor Who.
Will Tudor, Paul Higgins and Corey Johnson all appear in AMC+’s miniseries The Ipcress File, an adaptation of Len Deighton’s first spy novel, published in 1962.
In our Community
James Shields has been appointed Community Engagement Coordinator for The Coro, in Ulverston, looking after the wide range of community groups and organisations.
James Broadley founded a film course called “Make a Film in a Weekend” - enabling people to write, light, act and direct a film together with up to ten other participants. All experience levels are welcome, and the course is for anyone aged 16 to 99+. Course films have previously been premiered at the BFI, and they’ve collaborated with Compass Collective to make the course free for young refugees too.
Grace Cook manages Parabolic Theatre, which creates interactive performance work, and is behind a new 50-capacity underground space inside St Peter’s Church in Bethnal Green.
Nikkita Da’Silva is now a dramatherapist for Brixton House, which has been set up to be a home for a new generation of makers, artists, writers, producers, technicians and audiences.
Henrietta Imoreh is an applied theatre practitioner and currently a trustee of Agenda: women at risk of social exclusion, and Battersea Arts Centre. She is also Participation Officer at Become, one of the country’s leading charity’s for children in care and care leavers. As an advocate for the care-experienced community, Henrietta was recently interviewed by the BBC after a recent review of England’s council-run children’s services says struggling families need early intervention to ensure they do not reach crisis point.
Wang Jenru has been appointed Head of Voice for Fourth Monkey Actor Training Company.
Harper Joseph hosts podcast, Empowered, which recently featured an episode with Central’s Principal, Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE, talking about Josette’s life, her career, and about what empowers her. Listen to the episode ‘Let The Art Find You’.
Danielle Kassaraté is now Associate Director (Talent Development) at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, job-sharing alongside Maisey Bawden, with whom she co-founded Mawa Theatre Company, the UK’s first all Black, all female Shakespeare Company.
Ben Kent is now Chief Electrician at Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Dr Joan Melton is Director of One Voice Centre for Integrative Studies and has recently published the 3rd edition of ONE VOICE: Integrating Techniques across Performance Disciplines (Waveland 2022). In addition to this, she is now also teaching a regular Vocal Cross-Training series.
Joe Monk is now a Production Coordinator for Punchdrunk.
Karl Queensborough was featured in ‘Art of London Presents Take A Moment 2022’ an exhibition communicating the positive mental benefits of pausing for a moment.
Rohan Sachdeva has been working with The Jana Sanskriti: Centre for Theatre of The Oppressed, Kolkata as the Program Officer and the National Level Co-ordinator. Her work is mostly with their field level teams and partner organisations in India, working with local community theatre teams in using Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre as a tool to work towards Social Change and Development in their communities.
Sita Thomas has launched a new development programme for directors and producers from under-represented backgrounds in Wales with her theatre company Fio and Wales Millennium Centre.