Centurion Theatre Company
consists
of
MICHAEL
SARGENT (Artistic Director)
Michael
recently took early retirement after a career mainly in education.
As teacher/lecturer/inspector in Classics, English and Drama, he directed
plays by Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Molière, Wycherley, Schnitzler, Feydeau,
Labiche, Coward, Tennessee Williams, Genet and Kopit.
Productions for Xenia Theatre Company included Kenneth McLeish’s Omma
(King’s Head and regional tour), Shaw’s Caesar
and Cleopatra (British Museum) and a double bill of Plautus’s The
Haunted House and Terence’s The
Eunuch (Courtyard Theatre). Other
recent work on the London fringe has included Molière’s The
School for Wives, Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest, Sheridan’s The
Rivals, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya
and most recently (for Centurion Theatre) Wycherley’s The Country Wife, Shakespeare’s As
You Like It, Aphra Behn’s The
Rover, Shakespeare's Much Ado About
Nothing, Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession, Farquhar's The Beaux'
Stratagem and
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. He was also the founder
and artistic director of Focus Opera Group, directing over 30 operas and music
theatre works.
DEREK
DRESCHER (Technical Director)
Derek
began his career in the theatre, immediately after leaving university, as a
lighting designer/electrician, firstly at Theatre Royal, Lincoln, then at Oldham
Rep. He then joined BBC Radio,
first as a studio manager and subsequently as music producer. He made documentary programmes on the likes of Little Tich,
Constant Lambert, Shostakovich, Miles Davis and Billy Mayerl, as well as
producing Desert Island Discs with Roy
Plomley. By the 1980s Derek was
chief jazz producer for Radio 3 and extended the output considerably.
After retiring in 1999, he again collaborated with Michael Sargent on
several theatre productions (having previously worked with him on Focus Opera).
He is also a photographer and has held 6 exhibitions, mainly portraits of
musicians.
KATY
DANIELS (Design
Consultant)
Katy
was born in Surrey and educated in Wimbledon and Sydney, NSW. She acted with the Elizabethan Players, touring Australia;
moving to England, she worked in theatre-in-education and has taught
drama and dance for many years. She
was the designer for Focus Opera Group and for many plays including Pygmalion,
Twelfth Night, Peer Gynt, The Importance of Being Earnest, The House of Bernarda
Alba and The Rivals.
Most recently she has designed for Xenia Theatre Company (Divine
Kingship, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Haunted House and The
Eunuch) and for Centurion Theatre Company (The Country Wife, As You Like It, The Rover, Much Ado About Nothing, Mrs Warren's Profession, The
Beaux' Stratagem and
Measure for Measure).
THE
COMPANY
Each
production is cast separately, although a number of actors have worked with the
company more than once. The
following (who include recent drama school graduates as well as more experienced
actors) have appeared with Centurion Theatre Company since 2004:
Karen
Admiraal, David Alderman, Matthew Ashcroft, Michael Bagwell, Cristina Barreiro, Philip Battley,
Martin Beere, Malcolm Brand, James Brough, Hilary Burns, James Burton, Georgina Carey, Maria
Carson, Rob Crouch, Nicola Cussons, Rachel Dale, Beth Dalloway, Denis Delahunt,
Jeremy Drakes, Davin Eadie, Nick Earnshaw, Mike Edgcombe,
Charlotte Endacott, Mark Farrelly, Stephen Glover, Trudi Jackson, Tara Jay,
Helen Johns, Kate Kitson, Jennie Lathan, Oliver Laundy, Lucy Le Messurier, Michael Lovatt, Fergus March, Christina Masingill,
David McGillivray, Nell McKewley, Richard McStay, Alan J Mirren, Louise Munro, Matthew Neal,
Hugh O'Shea, Iain Peacock,
Daniel Pike, Rebecca Ridgeway, Kathryn Ritchie, Beatrice Rose, Gareth Rubin, Napoleon Ryan, Orna Salinger, Roger Sansom,
Alasdair Shanks, Lane Paul Stewart, Carole Street, Paul Strickland, Susanna Tidy, Paul Thomas, Alex
Topham Tyerman, Richard Unwin
Others
who have contributed to Centurion Theatre productions
include:
Simon Bell (fight director), Tom Davies (composer), Keith Ducklin (fight director), Simone Laraway (composer), Steven Russell (scenic artist), Katy Sargent (choreographer) and Neil Sheriff (design consultant)