Behind the Scenes
For over ten years, the Drama Workhouse has been discovering London’s greatest hidden talents. We focus on developing and enhancing drama skills in children, youth and adults alike. The Drama Workhouse was developed in 1998, and we have grown quickly under the expert guidance of Kaye James into a well respected and much loved resource of the community.
Trustees
Kaye James - Director
Kaye is a professional actress and has been leading drama workshops for ten years. She has also been very involved with training for the Social Services and the Police, employing role-play techniques.
Theatre credits include: Move On Up at The Hen and Chickens - which she also commissioned and produced, and Rebuk at La Folie. TV credits include Prime Suspect and Degrees of Error. Kaye loves the versatility of her roles as an actress and professional coach. One day she could be teaching Boy George how to prepare for his theatre debut, the next, she can be teaching confidence and life building skills to young offenders. In either case, drama is what she loves and what she does best.
Marie McCarthy
Originally an actor, then retrained as a director, Marie completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Directing (University of London) where she won the Peter Cheeseman award for achievement. Her acting work included commercial tours and small scale tours; various productions of Shakespeare playing in open-air, traditional and site-specific venues, devised pieces, new writing and modern classics. In 1995, she co-founded Lightning Ensemble Theatre Company and in 2006 became co-artistic director with writer Sarah Weatherall.
Directing credits include: The Chess Players & National Poetry Day 07 (Wandsworth Arts Festival), The Mayday (Site-specific revival in Leeds) Dissonant World (WAC, Performing Arts and Media College), National Poetry Day 06 (Wandsworth Arts Festival), Like Love (European and American tour of a live advert on behalf of Visit London), Love and Understanding (Library Theatre Company, Manchester), The Mayday 1 (Wandsworth Arts Festival), Tartuffe (White Bear, London), Losing It, a devised piece (Soho Studio), Work/Life (Wandsworth Arts Festival), Slip Road (Bridge House Theatre, Warwick),
Two plays for radio: Brent Life, (Life FM), Playton Sands and Out Catching Criminals (Resonance FM).
Kathrin Bigler
Kathrin gained a first class honours degree in Performing Arts at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She has worked as a writer/director in theatre, dance and film. She is currently co-running physical theatre ensemble Bottlefed (www.bottlefed.org).
Credits include: Edinburgh Fringe 2007, Enterprise 2006/2007 (The Space, London), BAC 2007, Lost Theatre Company's One Act Festival (London), Resolution!06 (The Place, London), Lion & Unicorn Theatre (London), King's Head Theatre (London), Unity Theatre (Liverpool), Merseyside Young People's Theatre (Liverpool), Valley Community Theatre (Liverpool), Adirondack Theatre Festival (New York), Lomotion Film Ltd. (CH), Bolligen Musical Co. (Berne), Muenster Productions (Berne).
Kathrin has worked for the Drama Workhouse for four years. She has facilitated workshops for children and young people in New York, Switzerland and all over the UK. She has worked as a drama workshop facilitator for the University of Arts London (‘Creativity Matters’), East Side Arts (London), Wise Moves Ltd (UK), the Theatre Royal Bath (UK) and Amabadelo (Liverpool).
Friends
A number of people from the fields of arts, entertainment and politics have lent their name to the Drama Workhouse and have provided pastoral, moral and practical support to the organisation. A full list of trustees and friends is below:
Maxx Lundie
Jez Foster
Tony James
Kate Mansfield
Rosalie Jorda, MBE
Zee Asha
Ann Kenton Barker
Sandra Bee
Dawn Butler, MP
Sarah Teather, MP
Anna Chancellor
Sophie Dahl
Dame Judi Dench
Freddie Earlle
Clive Fryde
Tom Graham
Barbara Hatwell
Keeley Hawes
Ken Livingstone MP
Francis Magee
David Massey
Paul J Medford
Lyn Paul
Gail Porter
Stomp
Finty Williams
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