Interviews were conducted and filmed with some of the cast of Henry V over a number of weeks. Many of the cast, who were made up of the West End Players, Morecambe and students from Lancaster University, had not acted in a Shakespeare play before. Hear what they had to say as rehearsals built to the final performance.
Maggie (Role: Henry V)
| Maggie Wignall is an actor from Lancaster. She throughly enjoys performing early modern texts and has previously played Musella in Lady Mary Wroth’s Love’s Victory. Maggie performs and directs with the Smashed Project GB – a global alcohol awareness campaign which is on track to reach 10 million young people by 20230, and has worked on different projects like a sensory pupplet show for children in hospises and SEN schools.
Maggie is thrilled to be playing the role of Henry V in her first professional Shakespeare role. Maggie trained at ALRA North and is represented by LJP Management. |
Anthony (Role: Westmorland and Fluellen
| Anthony is a professional actor who graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire after completing a BA in Acting. Whilst there, he performed in productions such a Terrence Rattigan’s Flare Path as Teddy Graham and Berkoff’s adaptation of Kafka’s The trial.
Anthony has since moved back to the north after performing in Physical Education, a new play by Welsh playwright Jonathan Houston that examines the environment of teenage boys. |
David (Roles: Chorus, Bedford and Gower)
| David made his professional acting debut in 1986 and has toured extensively in Britain and Ireland with, among others, Hull Truck, Major Road and Northern Broadsides.
Lancaster audiences may recognise him from his work with Demi-Paradise and Bingo Dragon, whereas in Morecambe, he is better known for his assoications with the West End Playhouse. David was delighted to be back performing in Lancaster Castle, having last appeared there in Edward III. |
Vicki (Creative Role: Stage Manager)
| Vicky Strong joined the team as a third year English Language and Literature student and took on the role of stage manager for the production. This was her first experience in a stage production and she really enjoyed the process and would love to be involved in more opportunities like this in the future! |
Alana! (Roles: Boy and Jamy)
| Alana was studying for her first year of Drama, Theatre and Performance when she joined the production team. She first performed as ‘The First Witch’ and a range of other roles, such as the Porter, Fleance and the son of Macduff in Macbeth. Alana’s most recent work was a contemporary dance performance, based upon a 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane.
She had recently been seen in a short film based upon feminist rage and feminity dancing in the style of Butoh, a form of Japanese dance theatre. |
Dorian! (Roles: Orleans, Rambures and Grey)
| Dorian has been in a variety of productions through drama clubs and school, and now through the West End Players. This includes everything from Our Day to Grease, and more recently, Alien the Musical and Robin Hood.
They have a Level 3 acting qualification (Grade 6 LAMDA). This was Dorian’s first full Shakespeare play, something which had been a long-time dream of theirs. |
Helen! (Roles: Ely, Constable, Bourbon and Herald)
| Helen is a director of the West End Players, she has written and directed shows, most recently Alien the Musical. Helen is performing her third fringe show this year and performing in Robin Hood at festivals. Previous experiences of Shakespeare include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Feste in Twelfth Night.
Helen is also a member of local music groups where she sings and plays violin and ukulele. |
Matilda! (Roles: Messenger and Court)
| Matilda Walden is home-educated. She is a singer, songwriter, pianist, dancer, Youtuber, actor and all round performer. She has directed and produced many of her own productions. |
Daniel! (Roles: Nym and Bates)
| Daniel joined the team as an undergraduate English Literature student. He elected to particpate in the production of Henry V as part of his Shakespeare module and played the roles of Corporal Nym and Bates, while also having a role in the sound and music for the play.
As an English Literature student, opportunities to participate in drama and performance can be hard to find, which is what attracted Danie to join the production. |
Emma! (Roles: Director)
| Emma is a Lancaster-based freelance theatre director and creative practitioner. Passionate about inclusive theatre, she has directed, devised, written and performed in a wide variety of professional and community performances in theatres, libraries, churches, parks, streets, squares and castles. She has particular interests in early modern texts, verbatim theatre, audio drama and new writing. Selected directing credits include: Macbeth (Rotherham Shakespeare Festival), A Christmas Carol (Lancaster Castle), I Have A Speech of Fire (The Rose Company), Right Where We Are (TramShed Inclusive Theatre Company), A North Lancashire Passion (ELART Productions), Love’s Victory and Edward III (Lancaster University/AHRA).
Emma can be contacted on social media at @elartpro (Instagram) and ELART Productions (facebook) and via LinkedIn. |
Alison! (Roles: Producer and Dramaturg)
| Alison Findlay is Professor of Renaissance Drama in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. She has published essays and books on Shakespeare and his contemporary dramatists, male and female. She produced Wroth’s Love’s Victory in 2022, and Edward III at Lancaster Castle, playing Salisbury in 2023.
Alison enjoyed researching and producing Henry V, as well as playing the cameo role of Alice, and creating the costumes. |
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