WHO'S WHO

These are the people, the movers and shakers, that help to make it all happen; whether it be Dartmouth Shakespeare Week, a One Act Play presentation, getting the publicity sorted or dealing with the myriad forms of officialdom that we encounter in the process of getting a production out there, in the public domain. Doing all of that is part and parcel of the fun, frustration and fulfilment of being involved with The Inn Theatre Company. Here are just a few of the faces, in all their glory!

This is Jane Windsor-Smith, Janie, who, in a moment of Baileys - fuelled enthusiasm at The Cherub Inn in 2002, said to her friends, 'Wouldn't it be a great idea to put on an outdoor Shakespeare production?'
Her friends, knowing no better, thought so too.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In the very early days, the original team had to do literally everything. Janie made costumes (it's thanks to her and many dedicated ladies that we have the wardrobe we have today), made sure the generator was up at the Castle so that we could see what was going on (it helped the audience too) and

also got the programme together, hunted for props and appeared on stage.
She has been involved in Theatre, in one way or another, for most of her life, also running a Theatre in Education company and appearing with The Dartmouth Players. She won Best Actress at both the Teignmouth Drama Festival and the NDFA Regional Final in 2003, for her role in 'Early Blight', presented by The Dartmouth Players.
2003 was a busy year then. Janie played Maria in our first production, Twelfth Night, and the following year, in The Taming of the Shrew, role-shared the part of the Tailor. The Merchant of Venice (2005) saw her not only making many of the costumes for the production (those that we didn't hire from The Royal Shakespeare Company) but also appearing, often unannounced, in the courtroom scene towards the end of the play. In Romeo and Juliet, the following year, Janie gave an inspiring performance as Angelica (The Nurse), not the easiest role in Shakespeare. Last year we all had an incredible experience putting on 'A Misummer Night's Dream' and Janie had another first: she played a man, Snug the Joiner (rooooaaar!), complete with beard and bad habits.
In 2008 she directed 'The Tempest' - another first for her - but seems to be doing very little else! Oh yes...Janie is also our Company Manager and acts in the one act plays we present.

This strapping young fella is Malcolm MacIntosh, our Artistic Director, and he has probably forgotten more about live theatre, and acting in general, than we can ever hope to know!
Another victim of that fateful night in The Cherub Inn, Malcolm is a founder member of The Inn Theatre Company, and an ex-professional 'luvvie'.
Having left Drama School, Malcolm spent a deal of his professional life in Rep, working in such diverse Theatres as the Liverpool Playhouse, Watford, York, Bath, Farnham and Wimbledon, where he appeared with James Fox and Timothy Dalton in 'Henry V'. Then there are the television plays...but you get the picture!

Malcolm has directed four of our Shakespeare productions - Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream - and appeared in two of them,
playing Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Biondello in The Taming of the Shrew. He also appeared in
'Ritual for Dolls' and directed 'The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish', two of the plays in the 'Revealing Briefs' programme.
His organisational skills are legendary; had he not gone into 'thespianism' he would have been an invaluable addition to the Diplomatic Corps or, perhaps, become a phenomenal juggler...ah well! It's their loss.
Malcolm is working behind-the-scenes this year and concentrating on some of the other projects that we have in the pipeline - hit the Sugary Cove link, at the top of the page to see what's happening there!

Meet Lynne Deller, who has had more jobs with The Inn Theatre Company than you can shake a cod-piece at! She stitches, she keeps notes, she smiles a lot, she direct's plays (Joining the Club, mentioned on a previous page), she's a movement coach, she's a stage manager, she smiles a lot, she's a set designer, she teaches drama at Torquay Grammar School for Girls, she keeps calm in a crisis (thankfully), she's recently become a computer whizz and she was the Assistant Director for 2008's 'The Tempest'. And directed the movement sections for the Nymph's and Dog's. Did we mention that she smiles a lot too?
There is a lady (or gentleman) like Lynne in every Company, and we thank our lucky stars for her being there when she's needed, and when she isn't.

On top of everything else that Lynne manages to accomplish, she has recently agreed to take on the role of Education Officer for the Company. It was Lynne who directed the February production of the Stoke Fleming Junior Amateur Dramatic Society (affectionately know as 'Little S.O.D.S) production of 'Olivia!' We are so proud of all that she, and the youngsters and the Mum's and Dad's and volunteers accomplished. And they're doing it all again this year!
If something needs doing, then Lynne will step up to the plate - somebody, tie the woman down!

This is Gil Garland, who first appeared on the scene in about 2005, for 'The Merchant of Venice'. He is the male equivalent of our Lynne, even down to the smiley bit! A jack-of-all-trades, for the Company at least, Gil is master of pretty much whatever he chooses to take on - particularly on the acting front.
He was Solanio in the aforementioned 'The Merchant of Venice' then came 'Romeo and Juliet', in which he played Gregory. Last year, a promotion! No longer a servant, he took on the role of Peter Quince (leader, nominally, of the Mechanicals) in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
In 2008, he took a step sideways and took on his most challenging role to date, that of Caliban in 'The Tempest'.
Gil has also just performed the role of Tom in the one act play 'Joining the Club' and, before that, was a somewhat inappropriate golliwog in the play

This is Max Brandt. He would probably be the least reliable person to ask how to get involved with the Theatre. How did he find himself part of The Inn Theatre Comapny? The simple answer is: He met Janie (they were actually married in February 2008). So being in a company is better than speed dating.
Max came late to acting (some would disagree!) and pretty much his first role anywhere was Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Then came Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, followed, in 2007, by Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He has had roles in 'Revealing Briefs' as a dumb,
drum-playing Monkey and alongside Janie, in 'Orca'.
Max has this much in common with Gil: He took on his most challenging role to date in 2008, playing Prospero in 'The Tempest'

Meet Barbara MacIntosh - the power behind the throne. Cleopatra to his Anthony; Juliet to his Romeo (though not as tragic); Betty to his Wilson and Kepple (!)
Barbara is another of those wonderful people who quietly toil away in the background; always there when the Director (or Stage Manager or irate actor) says, 'Where's the so-and-so?' and, without a flourish, but with a small smile, there she is, producing the so-and-so.
Barbara, like Malcolm, has been involved since the inception of The Inn Theatre Company, working just as hard as she can to find the right props and also make sure that they are where they should be on the night. Everything from an

Whilst this picture is lovely to look at and gives you an idea of what goes on in rehearsal's, it's really only here to fulfil the function of continuity; that's because the next group of people to appear here are inordinately shy...and they haven't had any photographs taken recently, at least none that we could get our hands on!
Administration! As much as we would like to be able to ignore the paper work, unfortunately, we can't. Right from the word 'go', there have been a small group of unsung folk who have consistently come up with the goods. End-of-production figures, sponsorship, red-tape wrangling and a cornucopia of likely things to bamboozle the un-administrative mind. When we have our meetings, which we do on a regular basis, Malcolm usually chairs them; but this is the 'formal' side of the Company, composed of the 'luvvies' and the

Admin boffins - bless 'em - and our technical crew, without whom there probably wouldn't be an Inn Theatre Company. This is the point where these shy and mercurial beings are teased from their shadowy world's of calculators, pro-forma, set-squares and lighting and scenery plans.

Kevin Hanafee's title is Company Secretary but 'facillitator' is probably a more apt title. He is a whizz with a balance sheet, and has, in the last three or four years, overseen our finances and made sure that we can afford to put on a production the following year. Not to mention signing over the hard stuff for our extra-curricular activities - like the 'Revealing Briefs' production. His is the calming voice that can be heard at these get-together's, reining in the well-meant, but potentially expensive, imaginations of the 'luvvies'...'HOW MUCH?!!?'

Charles Sutherland, if he had a title, would be called The Good Guy. Fund-raiser probably best describes what he does; all those niggly little bits of paper that appear, which need to be filled in, correctly, like grant applications and so on. He does it so beautifully. And Charles, like Kevin, will be up at the Castle as we approach the 'going live' stage, lifting, shifting, lumping and banging in nails.

Chris Brock, another body with no discernible, role-defining suffix. V.H.C. - that'll do. And he is, a Very Handy Chap to have about.*

Chris joined us almost by default, when his wife Jill, (who played opposite Gil - how confusing is that? - in 'Joining the Club') came along to one of our auditions and ended up playing Peaseblossom in
'A Midsummer Night's Dream. There was something that needed doing - a shed putting up or a Marquee erecting - and Jill volunteered our Chris.

He's another of those people who can turn his hand to pretty much anything; he has recently overseen the imminent installation of an independant power source at the Castle so we no longer need to hire a generator. Rumour has it he is also going to help with the lighting this year!

* It has since been decided that, because he's such a nice bloke and works so hard for us, that he will, henceforth, be known as Technical Director! What it actually means is that if we can't find somebody to do something, we pass it to Chris.