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Each production created by Little Earthquake is developed through long periods of close collaboration between a team of artists, writers, designers, musicians, performers and a network of consultants who contribute to the research of our projects.In addition, the audience members who give feedback about our work have an enormous influence on what happens in the rehearsal room.
Below, you can read about those collaborators who have worked most closely with Little Earthquake on our first two projects. We'd also like to say a massive thank you to all those not listed but who have offered invaluable support and assistance along the way.
Please click on a name or scroll down to get to know us better...
- Gareth Nicholls - Creative Director
- Philip Holyman - Artistic Associate
- Hu McEvoy - Music & Sound Score
- Erica Reed - Music & Sound Score
- Megan Whelan - Performer
- Natalie Wilson - Performer
- Nick & Barbara Nicholls - Design
- Matthew Harper - Lighting
Gareth Nicholls - Creative Director
Gareth trained as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, and later under celebrated Brazilian theatre clown Angela de Castro. At Guildhall he received a scholarship to study the plays of Chekhov at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Moscow. Before moving to London, he was a member of the Central Television Workshop in Nottingham.
Gareth created and performs Little Earthquake's first production, Gogol's Madman (currently touring) and directed/performed their second The Premature Burial.
Gareth's theatre credits at Guildhall include: Andrei in Chekhov’s Three Sisters; Sir Charles Easy in The Careless Husband; Granpa in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Doctor Otternschlag in Grand Hotel. Subsequent theatre includes: Casimir in Aristocrats for Runaway Theatre; Will Scarlett in The Adventures of Robin Hood for Big Adventures; Peter in The Diary of Anne Frank for The Birmingham REP and The Touring Consortium; Homing Instinct for The Other Way Works. Film and television work includes: The Bill; Peak Practice; and Jo 90 for Meridian Films.
Gareth is currently developing Little Earthquake's next project and preparing The Premature Burial with Philip Holyman for a 2007 tour.
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Philip Holyman - Artistic Associate
Philip is the Artistic Director of The Happiness Patrol and Artistic Associate for their affiliate company Little Earthquake.
His upcoming projects with The Happiness Patrol include a stage adaptation of Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death and Hit The Baby, Natasha!, a reworking of Chekhov’s Three Sisters which combines live actors and puppetry. For Little Earthquake, Philip has written The Premature Burial and acted as script consultant on Gogol's Madman.
As a writer Philip's performed plays include: Half Marathon (Midland Arts Centre and Edinburgh Fringe, 2004); Asgård and Vanaheim, Professor Yaffle Speaks To The Nation, The Flamingo Seventies (Transmissions 2002/3/4, Birmingham REP); Fourmis, A L’Attaque! (Pleasance London, rehearsed reading, 2002).
He also works as a freelance reviewer for Metro Newspaper, and as a freelance translator, having worked on scripts from the Comédie de Valence and Birmingham University’s MPhil Playwriting course.
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Hu McEvoy - Music & Sound Score (Gogol's Madman)
Currently on the first leg of a trip around the world, Hu collaborated with Little Earthquake on their first production Gogol's Madman. His main interest lies in the marriage of sound and image in film. Gogol's Madman was his first score for the theatre, and his first foray into 19th century minimalist piano music. A keen player of various instruments, he had never actually played the piano before but "knew what I wanted this score to sound like, so I squeezed an old green piano into the front room, learned the pieces by ear and developed my own system of piano notation. Poprishchin, the 'madman' of the story, is essentially a peasant with ideas above his station, so I wanted the music to reflect this - not just in its folky undertones but also in the unorthodox manner it was written. It was around the time that the play is set that the 88-key piano became more popular, so the score tries to reflect the period’s experimentation with higher and lower registers". Hu’s next project is a symphony for the pedal steel guitar.
Based in London, Hu also designs websites and used to run Blue Million Miles, a successful live acoustic music club.
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Erica Reed - Music & Sound Score (The Premature Burial)
Erica graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2004 with BMus (Hons.) in Music.
Before university, Erica had compositions performed for a National Music for Youth competition; at the York Theatre Royal; by leading saxophonist “Snake” Davis at the York De Grey Rooms; and in school and Sixth Form concerts. At university, Erica’s compositions were performed at the Barber Institute; and Cold Shoulder, her Final Year composition for chamber ensemble, was performed by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Dominic Muldowny.
Post-university, Erica worked on Never Land, a new musical co-written with Catherine McDonald and based on J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (Custard Factory and St. Augustine’s Church, Edinburgh Fringe, 2005), with all proceeds donated to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Upcoming projects include original music for a new animated feature by Tristan Pritchard.
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Megan Whelan - Performer (The Premature Burial, Original)
Megan trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre credits at Guildhall include: Sonya in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya; Lady Betty Modish in The Careless Husband; the title role in King Lear; Jacker in Smoke.
Subsequent theatre includes: Mrs. Winter in Sherlock Holmes, The Early Years (Oxford House, London); Corine in The Triumph of Love (Watermill); Bertha in The Accrington Pals (Chichester Minerva); Andromache in The Women of Troy (Orange Tree Theatre); Clare in Hitting Town (Courtyard, London); Cordelia in excerpt readings from King Lear with Oliver Ford Davies; workshops for RSC and National Theatre Studio; rehearsed readings at the Gate Theatre
Film credits include: The Last Horror Movie; Familiar Faces; Fairytale of Docklands; The Perfect Son In Law. Radio credits include: Julia in The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (First Writes for BBC Radio 4).
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Natalie Wilson - Performer (The Premature Burial, Tour)Natalie has recently completed her training at the Birmingham School of Acting, after previously studying at Brunel University.
Theatre credits at BSA include: Billy Downs in Stephen Jeffreys' The Libertine, Nina in Chekhov's The Seagull, Yokobue in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
Since graduating, Natalie has become joint Artistic Director of Kipepeo Arts alongside fellow BSA graduate Kate Kavanagh, with whom she recently devised, directed and performed in Belongings as part of Birmingham's Festival of Xtreme Building. She has also appeared as Emily and Sarah in I Love You, Let's Foot It for Theatre Central at the Unicorn Theatre, London.
Natalie's film credits include Molly in The Screenwriting Detective, Flick in The Ranger and Zoe in 9:15. Her radio credits include Jackie in Conscripts, Bertha/Cerise in Easy Traumas and Willis Is Barking, Mark in Crisp and Even Brightly.
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Nick & Barbara Nicholls - Design
Keeping it in the family, Gareth's Mum and Dad have been responsible for the overall design of both Gogol's Madman and The Premature Burial.
Between them they have achieved the seemingly impossible task of building large sets that fit into the back of Gareth's little VW Polo, found an ingenious use for mole hills, and have done amazing things with chocolate. That's not to mention strait-jackets, butcher's grass or miniature coffins.
Back to list of CollaboratorsMatt has recently completed the EQUAL lighting apprenticeship at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He has worked on all of the Rep's in-house and visiting productions over the last year including Promises & Lies, Alice In Wonderland and The Snowman. He is currently touring the UK with Birmingham Stage Company's production of Danny The Champion Of The World.
For Little Earthquake, Matt has acted as the Lighting Designer/Technician for Gogol's Madman, Lighting Consultant/Technician for The Premature Burial, and as the Effects Consultant for The Tell-Tale Heart.
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