NICK RICKETTS | MACBETH
Nick graduated this July from King's College, Cambridge with a degree in Geography. His most recent credits include Romeo & Juliet (Romeo), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), The Alchemist (Subtle), and The Crucible (Reverend Hale). In addition, Nick featured as Laertes in Hamlet, the inaugural production of the British Shakespeare Association at Elsinor Castle, Denmark. He played Gregor Samsa in Metamorphosis at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009. He has also toured Europe in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Demetrius and Flute), and is an alumnus of the Marlowe Society, alongside Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Trevor Nunn, Sir Derek Jacobi, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Sam Mendes. Nick also regularly wrote and performed comedy with the Cambridge Footlights, including numerous fortnightly 'smokers', and the Footlights' Spring Review, 2011: Odds.
VICTORIA BALL | LADY MACBETH
Victoria is in her third year at St John's College, Cambridge. She is reading Arabic and Spanish with Social Anthropology, but spends much of her time rehearsing, learning lines and performing in various plays and shows. She holds the Cambridge University Winchester Prize for Oration for 2011-2012. Lady Macbeth is her first Shakespearean role and the prospect of playing her is something which both delights and daunts Victoria. Recent acting credits include: The Seagull (Arkadina), The Alchemist (Dol Common), The Important of Being Earnest (Lady Bracknell), Cambridge University ADC/Footlights Pantomine: The Pied Piper (Mother), The Invention of Love (Katherine), Peter Pan (Mrs Darling), Bedroom Farce (Kate), Valued Friends (Marion), The Big Book for Girls, (Brenda), Doctor Faustus (Lucifer) and Les Miserables (Fantine).
MATEO OXLEY | MACDUFF/SERGEANT
Mateo is about to enter his third and final year at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, where he studies Popular Music & Culture (although admittedly sacrificing much of his degree to Theatre and Starbucks!). Recent acting credits include: RENT (Benny), Spring Awakening (Moritz), West Side Story (Chino) and Romeo & Juliet (Tybalt). Mateo is ridiculously excited to be touring the U.S.A in Macbeth with such a talented group of people who he hopes will be able to endure his spontaneous outbursts into song, passion for pungent Chorizo and Harry Potter. He would like to thank his wonderful surrogate family The Blakes for their constant support and faith in him ever since a swarthy, scrawny teenager showed up on their doorstep six years ago.
ALEX MACKEITH | BANQUO/LENNOX
Alex is a first year studying Classics at St John's College, Cambridge. He has been startled like a startled thing by his first year of University, and has been rowing and strumming a guitar (but not at the same time) besides performing in some plays. Recent acting credits include: True West (Lee), Noises Off (Tim Allgood), DNA (Phil) and The Misanthrope (Acaste).
HUGH WYLD | MALCOLM
Hugh Wyld is a second year at Homerton College, Cambridge studying Education with Drama and English. Recent amateur acting credits include: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Doctor Baugh) Journey's End (Raleigh), Noises Off (Frederick Fellowes), Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio) and Hayfever (Simon Bliss). He also co-directed The Shape of Things at Corpus Playrooms. Previous professional credits include: Billy Elliot the Musical (Victoria Palace), Pillars of the Community (The National Theatre), Titus Andronicus (The Globe Theatre) and The Winslow Boy (The Rose Theatre).
JASON FORBES | DUNCAN/MURDERER/SIWARD
Jason has just completed his second year studying English at Jesus College, Cambridge. Flitting between ‘serious’ theatre and writing and performing comedy around Cambridge always makes him feel rather licentious – like he is engaged in some theatrical love affair between two modes. He is determined, however, that he shall do both, and that neither of them will suspect a thing. Recent voice credits for the audio resource, Open Shakespeare, include: Hamlet (Horatio), Macbeth (Ross), and Antony and Cleopatra (Agrippa). Additional recent theatrical credits include: The Shape of Things (Phillip), Noises Off (Gary Lejeune), The Taming of the Shrew (Tranio), Doctor Faustus (Chorus), The Invention of Love (Jackson), Twelfth Night (Duke Orsino), The Merchant of Venice (Balthazar), and Measure For Measure (Elbow). He is also a member of the National Youth Theatre, as well as the Cambridge Footlights, and was a co-writer of the Footlights Spring Revue 2011.
ABI TEDDER | FIRST WITCH/PORTER/ROSS
Abi has recently graduated from Girton College, Cambridge. Her Cambridge credits include: Derek - the 2009 Footlights Spring Revue, Breakfast at Night, The Odd Couple, The Cambridge Footlights Comedy Festival, the 2008 ADC/Footlights Pantomime Theseus and the Minotaur, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), the 2010 ADC/Footlights Pantomime The Pied Piper, Romeo and Juliet and the Footlights Harry Porter Prize winning Anything But (A One-Woman Play). She performed in over 50 Footlights/College Smokers and co-organised the 2009 Wolfson Howler comedy events. She won the Kill Me Comedy Award 2008, was a finalist in the 2008 RAG stand-up competition and won a Cambridge Tab Theatre Award for ‘Best Comedian’. She co-wrote and performed in the 2009 Footlights National Tour Show Wishful Thinking and co-wrote the 2009 ADC/Footlights Pantomime Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Abi was the 2009-2010 Footlights President.
LAURA BATEY | SECOND WITCH/SEYTON
Laura is originally from Newcastle, and is currently studying Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. Previous acting credits include: The Tempest (Ariel, Cambridge American Stage Tour homerun 2010), Posh (Charlie), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania), The Merchant of Venice (Jessica) and Twelfth Night (Feste). She also enjoys singing as one of the Swingbridge Singers, playing the guitar and saxophone, and is a founding member of Waiting for the Colonel improvised comedy group. Laura is delighted to be involved in Macbeth.
CHARLOTTE HAMBLIN | THIRD WITCH/LADY MACDUFF/GENTLEWOMAN
Charlotte is a first year student reading English and Drama with Education at St John’s College, Cambridge. Charlotte is a member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and before arriving at Cambridge received a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts on their Foundation Course 2009-2010. Recent professional credits include: The Queen of Spades (leader of the child chorus, Royal Opera House, London) and The King’s Speech (voiceover, dr Tom Hooper). Her recent amateur acting credits include: The Birthday Party (Meg), Relative Values (Miranda), the 24-Hour Plays, Closer (Alice), Three Tall Women (A) and Arcadia (Lady Croom).
JOHN HAIDAR | DIRECTOR
John has recently completed his second year, studying English Literature, at Trinity College, Cambridge. His recent acting credits include: Translations (Yolland), Love's Labour's Lost (Berowne), The Merchant of Venice (Salerio) and Posh (Ed) at university. In addition, he has toured with a production of The Taming of the Shrew (European Theatre Group, 2010-11), set in a 1950s travelling fairground. He is the Directors' Rep of the Cambridge University Marlowe Society and directed their critically-acclaimed production of The Alchemist, described by one critic as having "reassured Cambridge's place at the forefront of student theatre". Other recent directing credits include a 1940s-inspired, 'film-noir' Romeo and Juliet at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge, and The Marlowe Showcase at the Soho Theatre in London's West End. He is delighted to direct Macbeth for this year's Cambridge American Stage Tour.
NIALL WILSON | ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
A recent graduate of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Niall's previous directorial credits include Arthur Miller's All My Sons as well as two full-length plays of his own, Ava Adore and Res Gestae. Twice shortlisted with two plays for the Marlowe Society/RSC 'Other Prize' in both 2009 and 2011, Niall’s writing credits also include contributions to Soundtrack of Your Life, Catastrophes, and both the 2009 and 2010 ADC Theatre’s 24 Hour Plays, winning 'Best Play for the Judges' in both years. Acting credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato, Pembroke Players Japan Tour 2010) and Chekhov's The Bear/The Anniversary (Khirin/Luka). He spends the rest of his time not looking as befuddled as his photo.
AMELIA BENSON | TOUR MANAGER
Amelia has just graduated with a degree in History from Jesus College, Cambridge. Originally from south London, Amelia’s recent stage management credits include: Spring Awakening, Much Ado About Nothing (Pembroke Players’ Japan Tour, 2010), The Crucible, Annie Get Your Gun, Good. Clean. Men, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Her interest in tour management began after she produced RENT at the ADC theatre, after which she was the technical director for Passing By. She was a executive officer on her college's student union for two years, alongside work as Buildings Officer for the Jesus College May Ball and Junior Treasurer of the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society. She would like to thank all those who, over the past year, have given her invaluable advice, help and support towards producing this tour.
SIMON THOMAS | BUSINESS MANAGER/LIGHTING & SOUND DESIGNER
Simon has worked on over sixty productions in the past three years and will be studying Lighting Design for a Master of Arts qualification at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, starting September 2011. Lighting Design credits include: Twelfth Night (Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2010, dr Martin Hudson) and the Marlowe Showcase (London Arts Theatre, 2010, dr Jamie Glover), Albert Herring (Shadwell Opera's summer tour 2011, culminating in a performance at Opera Holland Park), Good For You (Cambridge Footlights’ International Tour, 2010), and The Taming of the Shrew (European Theatre Group, 2010-11).
LAURA SUTCLIFFE | PRODUCTION CONSULTANT
Laura is in the third year of reading for a PhD in Engineering Design at Clare College, Cambridge, where she also completed her undergraduate studies in zoology. This is Laura’s second year with Cambridge American Stage Tour, after stage managing last year’s production, The Tempest. She has recently produced a fully staged version of The Marriage of Figaro for Cambridge University Opera Society, with singers studying at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Laura has worked with the internationally renowned Cambridge Footlights on two pantomimes (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Pied Piper) and been Technical Director for productions of Journey’s End and West Side Story in Cambridge’s ADC Theatre. In the past, Laura has toured to Australia and New Zealand as a flautist and soprano. Outside of the theatre, Laura has represented Cambridge University at rowing and fencing and has run the London Marathon.
EDWARD LOUTH | TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Edward Louth is about to begin his fourth-year as an engineer at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He is currently the Technical Director for the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, and was recently the Technical and Security Officer for Trinity College May Ball 2011. Recent technical credits include: lighting and set design for Journey's End; lighting design for The Gondoliers (Minack Theatre, September 2010) and Shadwell Opera's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is very excited about the technical challenges involved with this year's Macbeth.
DEBBIE FARQUHAR | STAGE MANAGER
Debbie is just about to start her final year reading English Literature at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and has been involved in theatre for a little over a year. Indulging her penchant for Shakespeare, she has worked on five productions of the Bard’s plays to date. Macbeth will be her last venture into Jacobean drama for a while as she turns her hand to musical theatre in the autumn. Recent credits include: stage manager, Romeo and Juliet, The Seagull, Jacques and His Master, Much Ado About Nothing, The Alchemist and The Taming of the Shrew (European Theatre Group, 2010-11);producer, An Actor’s Nightmare, Measure for Measure; and assistant producer for Odds: Footlights’ Spring Revue.
TONY DENT | CHIEF ELECTRICIAN
During his two years of studying engineering in Cambridge, Tony has enjoyed a wide range of theatrical opportunities. Most recently these include working as chief electrician on productions of West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet, while previously he has also been on tour around Europe with The Taming of the Shrew (European Theatre Group, 2010-11). Living in Scotland also means that he has worked for many shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival over the last five years.
ALICIA HEATH | TECHNICIAN
Alicia is about to start her final year in Biological Anthropology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. She is relatively new to theatre, after producing The Birthday Party, assistant stage managing and deputy stage managing Spring Awakening and Posh respectively, and set painting for West Side Story, as well as trying her hand at lighting as a production electrician. She hopes her varied experience, or possible lack thereof, will make her an entertaining asset to everyone on the team.
ANNA REID | PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Anna Reid is a second year English student at St John's College, Cambridge. She first became interested in costume through her school whose ambitious productions, including His Dark Materials, Coram Boy, Little Shop of Horrors and Antigone, encouraged a huge amount of creative licence with the large, all-girl casts and small to non-existent budgets. She finds Cambridge students a little more manageable than hyperactive high school students. Anna has been allowed to continue the eclectic trend set by her school experience at Cambridge, from stylised Russian peasants in The Caucasian Chalk Circle to flapper dresses and headpieces made of strawberries and crumpets in The Importance of Being Earnest. Recent design credits include: The Taming of the Shrew (European Theatre Group, 2010-2011) and More (a new play by Connie Scozzaro).
CHRYSTAL DING | PUBLICITY DESIGNER
Chrystal is about to start her final year of English at Selwyn College, Cambridge. She fell into publicity design by accident and has since done publicity design for: macbeth (walking shadows theatre), The Cure, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, RENT, Now, Now (Care of Douglas), Pickwick & Nickleby, Passing By, Spring Awakening and Romeo and Juliet. She also dabbled briefly in acting as a pirate, prostitute and cannibal in Silent Cannonfire. She is currently working on publicity for Scrooge & Marley and music for The Glass Menagerie.
IAN BAKER | WEBSITE DESIGNER
Ian is entering his second year of studying Computer Science at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. This is the first website he has built as he usually spends most of his time on the lighting side of productions. At school he lit productions of Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest among others. His University career so far has seen him work in Cambridge's three main theatrical spaces on a cross-section of shows from traditional Shakespeare to Italian meta-theatre from the 1960s. Ian won't be coming on tour to the US this summer as he will be working as Chief Electrician on a production of The Pirates Of Penzance in an outdoor amphitheatre near Penzance in Cornwall. He is also looking forward to touring Europe this winter as Chief Electrician with a production of King Lear.