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Our Summer 2024 production was the timeless British comedy, Jeeves and Wooster in ‘Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves’ - based on the novel by P.G. Wodehouse

 

Enter the whimsical world of Bertie Wooster, an affable young gentleman with a penchant for getting himself in the most outlandish predicaments. Thankfully, he has his razor-sharp valet, Jeeves, to rescue him from all sorts of mishaps.

 

Facing misadventures, from ill-fated romances to comical escapades, all set against the backdrop of a world filled with eccentric aunts, quirky friends, and a host of unforgettable characters. 

 

Featuring live jazz music, from our ensemble of actor-musicians - a jolly good time awaits you!

COMPANY

Company

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RORY DULKU

Jeeves / Sir Watkyn Bassett

This is Rory's second year with Tethered Wits having been a part of their successful season last year. It's feeling like a very different year with the style and type of productions, and he's very much looking forward to stretching out as Jeeves: who doesn't love a beaten down butler?!

 

As an actor musician he can't wait to get cracking on the delights in store for you all! He has recently worked with Chequer Mead Theatre playing Prince Frederick in ‘Snow White’ and Heartbreak Productions on their outdoor tour of ‘Jane Eyre’ as Edward Rochester.

 

Rory trained in Acting at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he received a BA (Hons) degree, as well as a number of distinction level Stage Combat qualifications. He would like to thank everyone involved in making this production possible and is very excited to see what the season holds.

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ALEXANDRA CLARE

Madeline Bassett / Gussie Fink-Nottle / Aunt Dahlia

Alexandra is a London – based actor. She began her training at Drama Centre London on the Foundation Course and completed the BA Acting course at Mountview in 2022. Alongside this, she is an accomplished saxophonist on both the Alto and Soprano Saxophone, the Clarinet, Piano and Voice as well as having trained to an intermediate level in Puppetry at the Little Angel Theatre.

 

She has also been a member of the National Youth Theatre since 2019. Her recent credits include playing Helena / Titania / Flute and others in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Benjamin Bunny / Mother Rabbit and others in ‘The Tales of Peter Rabbit’ (Quantum Theatre UK Tour) and #11’ in ‘The Wolves’ (The Space Theatre) to which she is one of the founders and producers of the theatre company; Orange Peel Productions.

 

As well as this, she has recently filmed a couple of Short Films and has toured to Belgium / France with Wind Up Penguin Theatre Company, devising music and drama shows to take around the world, performing to refugee children. She is very excited to be joining the Tethered Wits team this Summer!

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JOE KEENAN

Bertie Wooster

Joe Keenan recently completed their master’s degree in Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music, where they played the role of Frank in ‘Merrily We Roll Along’. During their time at the Academy they worked with Bruce Guthrie, Chrissie Cartwright, Matt Ryan, Josh Roche, and Eleanor Rhode. Credits include Stephen ‘Sondheim’s Old Friends – A Celebration’ (Sondheim Theatre), ‘Maria Friedman & Friends’: ‘Legacy’ (Menier Chocolate Factory), and ‘Treason: The Musical’ (workshop).

 

Credits while training include Frank in ‘Merrily We Roll Along’, ‘Hello, Jerry!’ A Celebration of Herman’, Howard in William Inge’s ‘Picnic’, and Tristan Bernays’ ‘The Day the Sea Caught Fire’.

 

Prior to musical theatre, Joe worked as a professional cellist, having studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. In addition to the cello, Joe plays the piano and saxophone.

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OLIVIA WARREN

Emerald Stoker / Reverend Harold ‘Stinker’ Pinker / Major Plank

Olivia is an actor musician and voiceover artist who trained at Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2017. She has worked in an eclectic mix of projects ranging from musicals and children’s theatre, to short films and virtual reality experiences.

 

Recent credits include English Dubbing for Netflix (‘Sister Death’, ‘Ehrengard’ and ‘Spirit Rangers’ Season 2 and 3), ‘Peter Pan’ at Hall for Cornwall, ‘La Maupin’ (Best New Musical winner at the Off West End Awards), The Cat in Goblin Theatre's ‘Hey Diddle Diddle!’ (UK tour), Skylar White in ‘Faking Bad’, Molly Hardwick in ‘Theatre 6’s Estella’ (UK tour) and as a soloist for The Classical Roadshow’s ‘Battle of Britain’ with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

As a voiceover artist, Olivia has worked with many companies including CBBC, Penguin, Audible and Legoland.

 

Olivia is also a writer, co-writing the short film 'Hard as Nails' which won 'Jury's Prize' at the Wales International Film Festival and was selected for the BFI Future Film Festival. She is currently working on a one person comedy play called ‘Eaten Mess’, which has received R+D support from CLF Art Cafe and Theatr Clwyd.

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OLIVER STOCKLEY

Adaptor & Director

Oliver Stockley is a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music, MA in Musical Theatre and Durham University, BA in English Literature. Currently performing in ‘Cabaret’ at The Kit Kat Club 23/24 as part of the prologue company, ‘Jeeves and Wooster: Stiff Upper Lip’ marks his directorial debut. Theatre credits include: ‘The Great Gatsby’ (Tethered Wits), which was nominated for an Offie; ‘Don’t Say Macbeth’ and ‘Sex With Friends - And Other Tiny Catastrophes’ (GOYA), both of which were nominated for Best Musical at the Musical Theatre Review Awards; Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Old Friends: A Celebration’ (Cameron Mackintosh/Sondheim Theatre); and ‘Maria Friedman & Friends’ (Sonia Friedman Prods/Menier Chocolate Factory).

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GABRIELLA SILLS

Producer

Gabbie is Assistant General Manager / Producer at Seventh Productions under The Partnership Group, where she plays a pivotal role in developing fresh productions and leveraging the group’s acclaimed talent and IP. She recently moved from Fiery Angel, an award winning international production company based in London’s West End. Beyond this, she is Producer and Director of Gabriella Sills Productions, focusing on new writing in the Off West End, and Tethered Wits, an open-air touring troupe. Her shows have won Best Production at the Off West End Awards and Scottish Theatre Awards, been nominated for The Stage Debut Awards and Off West End Awards, and received critical praise. 

Selected credits include: 

 

As Producer - Breeding (King’s Head Theatre, produced with Seabright Live in association with Mark Gatiss); Agatha (Theatre503); 1902 (Union Theatre, UK Tour); Blackout (Theatre503, Old Joint Stock); Bits ‘N’ Pieces (Leith Arches); The Great Gatsby (UK Tour); Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (UK Tour); The Railway Children (UK Tour); Doctor Dolittle (UK Tour).

 

As Associate/Trainee Producer – The 39 Steps (Trafalgar Theatre, UK Tour); Starry (London Workshop, The Other Palace); And Then There Were None (UK & China Tour); Murder on the Orient Express (UK Tour); Rob Brydon: An Evening of Songs & Laughter (Lyceum Theatre, UK Tour); Amy Dowden & Carlos Gu: Reborn (Adelphi Theatre, UK Tour); Everybody Dance with Claire Richards (London Palladium, UK Tour).

 

With a commitment to innovative storytelling and experience across diverse production formats, Gabbie combines creative vision with commercial savvy. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Stage One Bursary. 

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DEAKIN VAN LEEUWEN

Composer and Musical Director

Deakin graduated as an actor from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and has since performed in a range of theatrical productions including ‘Robin Hood’ (Applecart Arts), ‘The Great Gatsby’ / ‘Dr Dolittle’ (Tethered Wits), ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Young Shakespeare Company), and ‘Much Ado About Murder’ / ‘Twelfth Night’ (Heartbreak Productions). Deakin is a multi-instrumentalist, playing the piano, guitar, trombone, and is currently fine tuning his harmonica skills. He is also a composer, and has performed his own songs for Anthroplay Theatre’s ‘Femme’ Night, and is currently writing a musical. These are the first full shows Deakin has written for and he is thrilled to be on board to help tell these fantastic stories.

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ANDY MATHIESON

Technical Director

Andy loves building things for theatre shows, being a regular Technical Director with Rollers Theatre Company and Lighting Designer and Producer with Richmond Shakespeare Society. Occasionally during office hours he even gets time to work as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. Recent credits include Producer, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ (RSS, Twickenham, July 2024); Technical Director, ‘Made In Dagenham’ (RTC, Bridewell Theatre, 2023); Production Team Lead, ‘Julius Ceasar’ (RSS, Twickenham 2022); Technical Director, ‘9 To 5 The Dolly Parton Musical’ (RTC, Cockpit Theatre, 2022); ‘Ben Hur’ (RSS, Mary Wallace Theatre 2022). After very much enjoying ‘The Great Gatsby’ last year, Andy is excited to have been asked to join Tethered Wits in support of this year's productions.

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Oliver Stockley

DIRECTOR'S NOTE 

'It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to our production of Jeeves and Wooster: ‘Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves’. It has been an absolute delight to return to Tethered Wits this year, having made the leap from actor to the new, and rather official sounding, title of ‘Director & Adaptor’. Tethered Wits has always sought to bring vibrant takes to classic shows, and what could be more vibrant and more classic than P.G. Wodehouse’s ‘Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves’. It has made my job at once very easy and very difficult. It was important to do Wodehouse’s novel justice, but ultimately I found all I had to do was let his creations speak for themselves. Wodehouse was a prolific writer, being the author of almost a hundred books in his time - which is at least almost a hundred books more than I have ever written. As such, it was a daunting but thrilling challenge to bring his iconic characters to the stage. These stories have a charming timelessness about them, with Bertie and his valet Jeeves first appearing in 1915 in the short story ‘Extricating Young Gussie’ and making their last appearance in ‘Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen’ in 1974. Wodehouse spent sixty years with these characters, and while they stayed the same age, we watched the world change dramatically around them. This consistency makes them figures of great comfort for so many. You perhaps suspect that Bertie is out there as we speak, narrowly avoiding some calamity at the Drones Club, carrying out an ill-advised scheme devised by his Aunt Dahlia, or stealing a policeman’s helmet on Boat Race night, all under the ever-present and watchful eye of Jeeves. Throughout the process I have been blessed with a wonderful team who have shared my love for all things Jeeves. My long-suffering partner in crime, composer Deakin Van Leeuwen, has done a stupendous job writing the music and lyrics, always adjusting with aplomb to my very very silly requests. The producers Gabriella Sills and Amy Porter have created the most incredible space to create, working tirelessly to encourage and support creatives both inside and outside of the company. Finally, the wonderful cast who have been utterly marvellous. I have had the pleasure of watching our cast discover and inhabit these iconic characters in rehearsals. They have very much made Wodehouse’s world their own, while maintaining a reverence for the material they are bringing to life.'

TOUR LIST

Fri 12 Jul

Sat 13 Jul

Sun 14 Jul

Thu 18 Jul

Fri 19 Jul

Sat 20 Jul

Sun 21 Jul

Wed 24 Jul

Thu 25 Jul

Fri 26 Jul

Sat 27 Jul

Sun 28 Jul

Tue 30 Jul

Wed 31 Jul

Thu 1 Aug

Fri 2 Aug

Sat 3 Aug

Sun 4 Aug

Mon 5 Aug

Tue 6 Aug

Thu 8 Aug

Fri 9 Aug

Sat 10 Aug

Sun 11 Aug

Tue 13 Aug - Thu 15 Aug

Fri 16 Aug

Sat 17 Aug

Sun 18 Aug

Wed 21 Aug - Sun 1 Sep

Winwick Hall

Kingshill House, Dursley

Bath Garden Theatre Festival

Tonbridge Castle

Hever Castle

Chapel Down Winery, Tenterden

Chapel Down Winery, Tenterden

The Royal Station, Wolferton

The Rectory, Sandringham Estate

Wimpole Estate, Arrington

Thorington Theatre

Giffords Hall Vineyard, Bury St Edmunds

The Arches Theatre, Clifton Reynes

Notgrove Manor, Cheltenham

Elkstone Studios, Cheltenham

Dicot Railway Centre

Belgrave Hall, Leicester

Nature in Art, Glouceste

Japanese Garden, Tudor Hall School

Billesley Manor

Greyfriar’s House, Worcester

Tewkesbury Abbey

Hill Close Gardens, Warwick

Theatre at the Bowl, Swindon

Brighton Open-Air Theatre

South Hill Park, Bracknell,

Tuckwell Amphitheatre, Cheltenham

Tamworth Castle

The Actors Church, Covent Garden

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