Creatives

Peter Dayson

Director / Writer

Peter has been working in the profession as an Actor, Director, Producer and Writer for over 45 years.

For eight years Peter was Artistic Director for the Shakespeare Festival Season at The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford, where he directed many open-air at Stafford Castle with productions including Romeo and Juliet with Bruno Langley (Coronation Street) and Scarlett Johnson (EastEnders); Macbeth with Russell Boulter and Glynis Barber, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Toyah Wilcox and Paul Henry, and Taming of the Shrew with Mathew Kelly and Julie Kate Olivier. He also wrote, directed and co -produced eight pantomimes at The Gatehouse, working with such artists as Hinge and Bracket, Ted Rogers and Paul Henry.

His many repertory productions include,  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,  Fatal Attraction, Boys in the Band, Murder at the Vicarage and Deathtrap, The Dice, The Mercenary Soldier (his own play) as well as the award-winning production of  Gorilla in The Roses (West End fringe).

As a Director, for over 40 years his many productions include over 45 pantomimes; writing, directing and playing the Dame with such artists as Charley Drake, Frankie Howard, Little and Large, Hinge and Bracket, and actors from  Neighbours, Home and Away, EastEnders, Coronation Street,  Emmerdale Farm and Brookside.

Peter’s production of Goldilocks and the three Bears at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, starring Kimberley Davis, Little and Large, Tony Adams, Sam Kane, Roger Stevenson and Dooby the Duck together with two ‘Gladiators’, holds the box office record.

Peter was also Executive Producer and Writer for the Disney Organisation in their award-winning pantomime production for TV, Aladdin, starring Frank Bruno, Eamon Holmes and all the Disney Presenters. This led Peter to working for Disney as a Director, Producer for their annual Disney Charity Event at The Duke of York’s, (West End) and A Night of a Hundred Stars.

Peter also directed a star-studded cast in a charity event at The Opera House, Blackpool with every major comedian in the country, including Stan Boardman, The Roly Poly’s, Ken Goodwin, Wayne Dobson, Bernard Manning to name but a few.

Recently Peter has been working as a Producer/Director/Writer for the 4 -time award-winning International Community Crossover Project with West End Productions of Godspell, Hair, Oh What a Lovely War, Inspiration (Olympics and Paralympics), and musicals that Peter has written, Strawberry Fields Forever, Strawberry Fields Forever More, Synergy Street and recently Class. These productions were performed at Her Majestys Theatre, Drury Lane and The London Palladium and subsequently transferred to Stuarts Opera House, Hocking, Columbus, Ohio. Hair and Godspell, won Best Musical of the Year over 19 other production in the State.

In 2012 Peter devised, directed and produced Inspiration, a production for The London Palladium, which subsequently was invited by LOCOG to appear at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Rod Dixon

Director Red Ladder

Rod Dixon is Artistic Director of Red Ladder Theatre Company, a national touring theatre company based in Leeds. Red Ladder was formed in 1968 and has a long radical history. Red Ladder aims to make high quality theatre which provokes debate about the world in which we live; theatre which supports struggle and gives voice to the dispossessed; theatre of dissent. Rods passion is to make theatre which provokes conversation about the world in which we live. Before working with Red Ladder, Rod was associate director at The Barbican Theatre in Plymouth and as a freelancer directed several shows at Plymouth Theatre Royal including Union Street with a cast of 230 local people. Rod ran The Hub Theatre School in Cornwall and before that was an actor with several touring companies including Kneehigh Theatre.

For Red Ladder, Rod has directed Kaahini (2006), Doors (2007), Wheres Vietnam? (2008), Forgotten Things (2008), Riot Rebellion and Bloody Insurrection (2009), Ugly (2010), Sex and Docks and Rock &Roll (2010), Big Society! (2012) and Promised Land (2012), The Thing About Psychopaths (2013), Were Not Going Back (2014), Hurling Rubble at the Sun with Park Theatre (2015), The Damned United (2016) with West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Shed Crew (2017).

Daniel Finn

Writer/Director

Daniel holds a BA (Hons) Acting from Birmingham School of Acting. Whilst primarily known as a writer, Daniel also has a firm passion for directing. His credits include: The Night Circus, The Clockmaker’s Daughter and The Year Before You (concept recordings) as well as riZen and The Clockmaker’s Daughter (studio cast albums). For stage: Miss Julie, A Dream Play for a Season of Strindberg and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Webborn and Finn

Composer / Lyricist

Daniel and Michael met during a workshop at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2010.

After working together, on Daniel’s first show riZen (with Tom Oakley), Webborn & Finn decided to attempt devising a piece of their own. Their first project was a collection of songs for a potential staging of the best selling novel The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. After issues acquiring the rights, they decided the best way forward would be the creation of a wholly original piece. Their first full-length musical: The Clockmaker’s Daughter, premiered at the Landor Theatre (Clapham) in 2015. The show went on to a sell out run, critical success and has, to date, been nominated for eleven awards. In 2016, it completed a further sell-out run at the Minack Theatre (Cornwall) and was also produced by Trinity Laban. In 2017, they marked the completion of their second original musical Animus – commissioned by the Musical Theatre Academy.

Daniel holds a BA (Hons) Acting from Birmingham School of Acting. His compositional credits include: riZen, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Animus and The Year Before You. As well as being a musical theatre writer, Daniel has had a vast career working as an actor, director, broadcaster and aspiring novelist. As a writer: Visillion, ‘I’, (as novels) and Hidden in the Iyndaeg Tree (poetry anthology). He is currently working on several projects, including a screenplay and the novelisation of The Clockmaker’s Daughter. As a director: riZen, The Night Circus (original concept album) and The Clockmaker’s Daughter (studio cast album), in development. He also spent 4 years as a presenter, working in live broadcasts from across the globe.

Michael originally trained at Trinity Laban on the Vocal Studies course before attending the Royal Conservatoire of Music to gain his MA in Musical Direction. He continues to work around the world as a Musical Director, Accompanist and Arranger. As Musical Director his shows have included A Little Night Music (Frinton Summer Theatre); Into the Woods (Associated Studios at Chelsea Theatre); Animus (World Premiere – Bridewell Theatre); The Clockmaker’s Daughter (World Premiere), Damn Yankees, Meet Me in St. Louis (UK Premiere), [title of show] (London Premiere), Next Thing You Know, Hot Mikado and Curtains (European Premiere) (Landor Theatre); Willy Wonka (DUCTAC Theatre, Dubai), Peter Pan (International Tour), Beauty and the Beast (International Tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (International Tour), Aladdin (International Tour), Macbeth (International Tour), Pinocchio (International Tour), The Tempest (International Tour), The Little Mermaid (International Tour) (S4K International); Peter Pan, Snow White (Hexagon, Reading – Imagine Theatre); Aladdin (Harlequin Theatre, Redhill), Spring Awakening (Catford Broadway), Jack and the Beanstalk (Perth Theatre), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Tron Theatre, Glasgow). Michael also has acted as Assistant Musical Director on Blood Brothers (UK, No. 1 Tour).

Isla Ure

Screen Writer

Isla is a 2017 John Brabourne Award recipient and it will help fund her Masters in Scriptwriting at Bath Spa University and short film Shells. She has also just been selected for the 2018 New Welsh Playwright Programme with the Sherman Theatre.

Her debut feature film Halcyon Heights, starring Sheila Reid, Diana Weston, Mark Jordon and Reuben Johnson is now at completion and amongst official selections, has come in the top 3 in the Best Low Budget Feature category at the Toronto Independent Film Awards, won Best Feature Film at the International Film Festival of Wales and an Award of Excellence at the Depth of Field Film Festival.

She worked as the writer on the short film A Thousand Leaves, a Celgene commision, and it has received numerous Best Screenplay/ Film nominations. It stars the wonderful Anne Parillaud and Rosie Day.

‘The film is brilliantly told and a perfect illustration of how cinema can tell intimate stories which resonate universally.’

In pre-production for The Corps, military feature film created from interviews with past and present soldiers and their families. Also developing feature screenplay Spark set in a fictional London riots.

Isla is director of The Tommy Vine Fund, an arts charity that makes the arts accessible to all. Always looking for people to support.

Michael Webborn

MD / Arranger

Michael has worked around the world as a Musical Director, Accompanist, Arranger and Composer.

As Musical Director: For Frinton Summer Theatre: A Little Night Music (Frinton Theatre). For Associated Studios: Into the Woods (Chelsea Theatre). For The Home Office Theatre: An Evening of Webborn & Finn (St. James Theatre, London). For the MTA: Animus (World Premiere, Bridewell Theatre, London). For the Landor Theatre, London: The Clockmaker’s Daughter (World Premiere), Meet Me in St. Louis (UK Premiere), [title of show] (London Premiere), Next Thing You Know, Hot Mikado, Curtains (European Premiere). For S4K International: Beauty and the Beast (International Tour), Pinocchio (International Tour), The Jungle Book (International Tour), The Snow Queen (International Tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (UK and International Tour), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (DUCTAC Theatre, Dubai), Aladdin (International Tour), Macbeth (UK and International Tour), The Tempest (UK and International Tour), The Little Mermaid (International Tour). Other productions include: Peter Pan, Snow White (Hexagon Theatre, Reading), Aladdin (Harlequin Theatre, Redhill), Spring Awakening (Catford Broadway, London), Jack and the Beanstalk (Perth Theatre), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Tron Theatre, Glasgow). He is also Resident Musical Director at the Phoenix Artist Club, playing for Open Mic Nights and their West End Talent Competitions.

As Musical Supervisor: Peter Pan (International Tour), Cinderella (Harlequin Theatre, Fleet), riZen (Original Concept Album and Workshops).

As Assistant Musical Director / Keys 2: Blood Brothers (UK, No. 1 Tour), Bat Boy (London College of Music).

Michael returned to London after completing his MA in Musical Direction from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and holds a BMus (Hons) in Vocal Studies from Trinity College of Music, having also been awarded the Alan J Kirby Prize for Conducting and Charles Proctor Prize for Choral Conducting. In 2013 and 2015, he was nominated for Best Musical Direction in Fringe or Regional Theatre for [title of show] and The Clockmaker’s Daughter at the Landor Theatre by BroadwayWorld.com. Michael is also Deputy Head of Musical Theatre at the MTA, London.

He is the co-writer of the new musicals Animus and The Clockmaker’s Daughter, which was nominated for 3 Off West End Awards including Best Musical Production, Best Off West End Production in the West End Wilma Awards 2015, Best New Musical; and 6 BroadwayWorld.com Awards including Best New Production of a Musical (Fringe or Regions).