Staff
Jez Bond, Artistic Director
Jez graduated Hull University with a BA (Hons) in Drama then gained the Channel Four Theatre Director Bursary, training as assistant director at Watford Palace Theatre ‐ during which time the theatre was undergoing an £8.8m Arts Council supported refurbishment. Working closely with the Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Jez gained valuable insight into the operation of a mid‐scale theatre and into the complexities of a capital project. Jez brings this experience to the table at The Park Theatre.
Directing includes; Fame Game (Tour of Austria), Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse), Oliver! (starring Rowan Atkinson, Oxford), I Have Been Here Before (Watford Palace Theatre), The Twits (Tour of Switzerland), Misconceptions (Hong Kong Arts Centre), Big Boys (Croydon Warehouse – Time Out Critic’s Choice), Shot of Genius (Leicester Square), Canaries Sometimes Sing (Kings Head / France) and Risk Everything (Old Red Lion).
As Artistic Director of Stages International he worked with the Old Vic producing A Season in South Africa with actors including Anthony Sher, Janet Suzman, Samantha Bond and John Kani. As Associate Director of Y Touring he company managed six national tours including Sweet As You Are (Fringe First) and Pig in the Middle (UK and Holland). As a dramaturge he has worked with writers at Soho Theatre, Royal Court and Young Vic.
Andrew Fishwick, Executive Director
After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and working successfully as an actor for number of years Andrew began producing 10 years ago. In that time he has produced and co-produced over 20 shows including Addams Family the Musical (Chicago and Broadway), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (West End), Three Days of Rain (West End), The Fastest Clock in the Universe (Hampstead and Leicester Curve), Spring Awakening (West End), Vincent River (Off-Broadway) and many more. The shows garnered numerous awards including four Oliviers, five Whatʼs On Stage awards, a Theatregoers Choice Award; Broadway.com Audience Award, Drama Desk Award, Drama League and a Tony Award. Nominations include three Olivierʼs and six Whatʼs On Stage Awards. Furthermore, Andrew was awarded The Hospital Club Award for Theatre in light of achievements as an emerging practitioner.
As well as producing, Andrew has been the Executive Director - and later Trustee - of Theatre503, a Business Mentor for the Prince’s Trust, an Ambassador for Enterprise UK and a member of the Cross-Parliamentary Arts Advisory Council.
Melli Bond, Creative Director
Melli graduated with a B.A. in Theatre and English from the University of South Carolina and an M.A. in Theatre from the University of Hull. As an actress, theatre work includes: Romantic Comedy starring Tom Conti (number one tour of the UK) and Misconceptions (Hong Hong Arts Centre), radio plays include: Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money and the award winning Trying (BBC), film includes: The Bourne Ultimatum and Super Storm. Melli regularly performs voice work and motion capture for films and video games.
She is also a dancer and choreographer, choreography credits include Oliver! (Oxford) and Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse).
An experienced workshop leader, Melli has taught in Los Angeles, Delaware, Hong Kong and London. Between 2005 and 2011 she has headed the New End Theatre Academy in Hampstead, working with young people from five to fifteen years of age.
Melli is co‐founder of Transmission – a weekly workshop for actors, writers and directors, where the emphasis is on sharing creative concepts and developing skills.
Annabel Topham, Director of Development
Annabel trained at Brown University and Drama Centre London. Since graduating from Drama Centre, her credits include playing Marguerite the 'ever present maid', Nurse Mary and the Prostitute Eugenie in the world premiere of Sir Trevor Nunn's production of Birdsong; Amy Lee in Madison Theatre Company's production of Laundry and Bourbon and the title role in In The Lamp Light's production of Lady Julia. Annabel produced Lady Julia alongside James Kenward and Emma Luffingham of the BBC, earning stellar reviews as well as working with local school groups to educate them about Strindberg, and the process of adapting classics. Her film roles include Julia in EPOH (to be released 2012), La Belle in Ode on Innocence, Belle in Fair Belles and Mrs Phillips in Refraction.
Annabel is delighted to join the Park Theatre family.
Sarah Rutherford, Writer in Residence (2012/2013)
Sarah is an actor and playwright. With a degree in English from Oxford University, she pursued a career as an arts journalist alongside a PhD on Black Farce in Jacobean and 1960s Theatre, before training at Guildford School of Acting. Her professional acting credits include popular drama series such as Murphy’s Law, Casualty and The Royal as well as theatre work in the West End and beyond.
Sarah's play What You Do To People has been showcased at the Hampstead Theatre and workshopped by Park Theatre’s Jez Bond. For Park Theatre, she has written a new play, Closer Than The Jugular, inspired by selected real-life stories of local people. The play was developed from the 'N4 Stories' project, in which a team of (mostly local) actors spent six months finding characters and bringing their stories to a series of experimental weekly workshops. Sarah also flew to Turkey to research the origins of the family she chose to focus on.
Sarah is currently working on a new script with the working title Tonight Is Your Answer.
Nouska Hanly, Press and PR Manager
Nouska trained at English National Ballet School. After graduating she toured with several ballet companies before joining the UK No1 touring production of Phantom of the Opera aged 19 to play one of the ballet girls and understudy the role of Meg. She then went on to join London’s West End cast of Phantom… for a further three years. Other credits include the UK No1 tours of Equus (starring alongside Simon Callow and Alfie Allen) and Rufus Norris’s Cabaret playing Rosie. Film credits include Madonna’s Filth, Wisdom and Streetdance the Movie. Most recently Nouska was Dance Captain and ballet dancer in the new production of Manon at The Royal Opera House and on the company’s subsequent 2010 tour to Japan.
She is a qualified ballet teacher and has taught at many of the UK’s leading performing arts colleges.
Alongside her performing credits Nouska is a published arts critic and has also worked as Sir Peter Shaffer’s PA, overseeing the script amendments for the playwright’s revival of Equus for the 2009 Broadway production.
Charlie Ward, Assistant to the Artistic Director
Charlie graduated from St Andrews University with an MA (Hons) in English and Spanish. He trained as a director with Juan Carlos Gené in Buenos Aires, and at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Directing includes: Tiny Dynamite (Cockpit Theatre), Greek (Karamel Club), The Early Bird (Karamel Club), Are You There? (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Waiting for Godot (Byre Theatre and tour), Don Quixote - Theatre of the Blind (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Krapp's Last Tape (Byre Theatre), Black Comedy (Venue 1), Oleanna (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), and Latin! (site specific). Charlie is Artistic Director of Muckle Roe Productions. In 2010 he won the Malcolm Edwards Plate for theatre directing.
Amy Lumsden, Assistant to the Creative Director
Following a lifelong passion for theatre, music and dance, Amy gained a popular music diploma from Vocaltech and then graduated from Brunel University with a BA Honours in Drama and Film & TV.
Since then she has worked in various roles in the arts sector: as Administrator for a youth circus charity, Artistic Associate on productions of a new play Little Fish (The Space, 2009 & 2010) and in Stage Management roles on a number of fringe productions.
Her main interest is in bringing new, exciting and innovative theatre productions to communities; providing opportunity for all people to get involved with creativity.
Amy is thrilled to be a part of the Park Theatre adventure and assist the development of a new theatre near her home.