A Queen’s Hall Arts and Alnwick Playhouse production:
Cast announced for The Remarkable Robin Armstrong’s
Extraordinary Christmas Adventure
Remarkable Robin cast & creatives at Queen's Hall Hexham
10-28 December at Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
The cast have been announced for a brand new Christmas show
for all the family at the Queen's
Hall from 10-28 December. Five North East actors will take
to the stage to perform The Remarkable
Robin Armstrong’s Extraordinary Christmas Adventure, written
by Elijah Young and directed
by Mark Calvert.
Jude Nelson will play Robin Armstrong. Jude is an
actor, singer and facilitator from the North
East. She trained with The National Youth Theatre in 2016
and Project A, an actor training program
at Newcastle Theatre Royal, in 2017. Her theatre credits
include Poppy in Isolation (The Customs
House/Alphabetti Theatre), Georgina Stephenson in Rocket
Girl (Alphabetti Theatre/The Worriers),
and Sheltered (10 minutes to… at Live Theatre). And if her
voice sounds familiar, she was in the
Queen’s Halls first animated production, Christmas with the
Hobs written by Becci Sharrock last
December. Jude says, “I’m delighted to playing the part of
Robin Armstrong and can’t wait for the
adventure to begin!”
Paula Penman will play Grandma. Paula has
twenty-three years’ experience working as an actor,
director and theatre maker, most notably for regional and
national tours of solo shows Donna Disco
(Live Theatre, Winner of Wimbledon Theatre’s Best of the
Fringe Award) and Brown Bird (Bush
Theatre). Other acting credits include: The Snow Queen, Get
Santa!, The Little Detective Agency,
The Goblin Who Saved Christmas, The Hoppings (Northern
Stage), Pause, Three Shorts, Wrong
Place Wrong Time, Bricks and Mortar, Christmas Carol
(Alphabetti Theatre) and Woven Bones
(Cap-a-Pie) shortlisted for Living North Performance of The
Year in 2019.
Hannah Goudie-Hunter will play Mam. Hannah is a
theatre maker and performer specialising in
physical storytelling, puppetry and theatre for young
audiences. She is a founding member of Kitchen
Zoo and her theatre credits include The Three Bears and
WOLF! with Kitchen Zoo, and The
Emperor's New Clothes for Kitchen Zoo and Northern Stage.
Luke Maddison will play Declan and Bograt. Luke is a
North East actor whose credits include The
War of the Worlds adapted by Laura Lindow at Northern Stage,
national tour of Leaving written by
Paddy Campbell for Curious Monkey, and Der Rosenkavalier for
Opera North. His TV credits include
Inspector George Gently on BBC ONE.
Calum Howard will play the Elderman. Originally from
Hexham, Calum is an actor, musician,
composer, sound designer and producer who composes music and
sound for theatre, film and digital
media across the UK. Calum says, “The Queen’s Hall played a
formative role in the development
of my theatrical and musical skills, so I’m excited to help
bring The Remarkable Robin Armstrong’s
Extraordinary Christmas Adventure to life on its stage.”
Calum has toured extensively
across Europe as a keyboard player - appearing on Later with
Jools Holland (with Beth Jeans
Houghton, now known as Du Blonde), supporting Placebo in
Wembley Arena as part of their 20th
anniversary UK arena tour (with Minor Victories, a band
comprised of members of Mogwai, Slowdive
and Editors), and performing live several times on BBC 6
Music, XFM and Virgin Radio.
North East playwright Elijah Young is an Associate
Artist at Live Theatre Newcastle where his writing
was first performed, in 2019 he was Young Writer in
Residency at the Customs House
Takeover festival, his play Isolation premiered at
Alphabetti Theatre and he was named the British
Theatre Guide's Most Promising Newcomer. He was recently
selected to be a part of the BBC
North East writers development programme. He says, “It's a
modern fairytale that will give you all
the Christmassy feels. Writing Remarkable Robin was so much
fun, and now we’re in rehearsals I
can't wait to share it with audiences at the Queen’s Hall!”
The creative team includes Director Mark Calvert who
has a strong track record, having directed
large scale family Christmas shows for five years at
Northern Stage, including The Wizard of Oz,
James and the Giant Peach and A Christmas Carol. Mark
says,“The show is set in the mines of
Northumberland but they’re not the mines we all know. The
message at the heart of this show is
the importance of family and holding onto the idea, for as
long as you dare, that magic does exist
in our sometimes humdrum world. It has all of the
ingredients of a great Christmas tale and the
cast and creative team are working hard to give Queens Hall
audiences a proper theatrical treat.”
Elijah and Mark are joined by Set and Costume Designer Amy
Watts whose credits include The
Hound of the Baskervilles/Northern Stage and West End
Girls/Live Theatre; Sound Designer and
Musical Director Jeremy Bradfield - a composer, sound
designer and performer specialising in
multi-instrumental live music for theatre, his credits
include The Three Bears at Christmas/Kitchen
Zoo and James and The Giant Peach and The Wonderful Wizard
of Oz for Northern Stage; and
Movement Director Martin Hylton - Rehearsal Director
at Phoenix Dance Theatre and Gateway
Studios Artistic Director, Martin’s theatre credits include
The Snow Queen for Northern Stage.
Katy Taylor, Artistic Director/Chief Executive of Queen’s
Hall Arts said, “We’re delighted to welcome
local families back to the Queen’s Hall this Christmas with
a magical festive show for the whole
family set in the North East. And we’re really excited to be
working with such a brilliant cast and
creative team to create Remarkable Robin here in Hexham, our
audiences are in for a real treat!”
The Remarkable Robin Armstrong’s Extraordinary Christmas
Adventure is at the Queen’s Hall from
10-28 December and is suitable for all ages. Tickets start
from £12. For more information or to
book tickets visit www.queenshall.co.uk or call the box
office on 01434 652 477.
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