Cast Profiles
- The Centurion – Phil Cumming
It is a long time since I have auditioned for a play, not since 6th form. At school I played a variety of different roles from wailing children, to Head Clown of a travelling circus, to a juror in Twelve Angry Men. I have been involved in Christian productions since I knew what they were, though Sunday school plays aren’t exactly ‘theatre’ darling. My only acting at University has been a couple of drama events put on by Cuths CU, and I found them a great challenge and got into them, perhaps they are why I am in this role now.
Like the Centurion I play, I am a wreck. I have been most of my life and I daresay that’ll never change. Also like the centurion I saw something special about Jesus, though it is hard to describe. My dad was a Baptist minister, so I grew up with a head-knowledge of God, but I did not feel it with my heart. Then on a Christian weekend away I was presented with the evidence, the facts and figures about the reliability of the Gospel, the sort of thing that leads to head-knowledge, but it was my heart that responded. Since then I have remained a wreck, but I am a wreck who knows Jesus as Lord, Saviour and Friend. Life is not all peachy now that I have opened the door and welcomed Jesus in, but it is fuller and more real than you could imagine! The hard times make me stronger and make the good times even better.
- The Servant Girl – Christina Maiden
I
started getting interested in theatre about twelve years ago and since
then have been involved in many different projects: straight acting and
comedy, devised and scripted, musical theatre and TIE (theatre in
education). I have done my fair share of school plays, as well as A
Level theatre studies and a few years of youth theatre. I have also
taken part in a couple of productions ('The Odd Couple' and 'Road' with
HBDS) since coming to
Tales from the Madhouse, however, is completely different from any other project I have been involved with and it has been great to be a part of something that strikes such a personal chord with me. I think it is so easy to see faith and ‘religion’ as simply intellectual but this play has reminded me that it has its roots in that ‘trouble maker from up north’ and a personal encounter with him.
The Servant Girl has been a great character to play; her naivety and energy providing a certain amount of light relief from the other characters. Her desire to be appreciated and accepted is something that I think everyone can relate to and I have found playing her a really moving experience. Every time I deliver her monologue, I am bowled over by how amazing it must have been to look into the eyes of ‘the prisoner’ 2000 years ago."
- The Best Friend– Philip Durrant
I'm
Phil Durrant, a final year student studying Theology at John's. I did
quite a bit of acting back in my school days (Henry V, Duchess of
Malfi, Much
I remember
seeing 'Tales from the Madhouse' on TV a few years ago and found it
very moving. Its fresh approach to the Easter story was a bit of a
rediscovery for me, lighting it up in a new way. The character I play -
Judas Iscariot ('the best friend') is such an interesting one. There's
always that mysterious question 'why did he do it?' shrouding him. Was
it greed? Jealousy? Disappointment at Jesus not being a military
'messiah'? I think this monologue's spin is an interesting one - maybe
the betrayer was betrayed. Or maybe he simply hid behind another of his
masks to avoid facing himself.
I grew up in a Christian home,
went to Sunday school, the whole show. However it wasn't until I was
eleven that the Jesus story hit me like a freight train; when I
realised it could be my story as well. Now, quite frankly, I don't see
how the world could make sense without it. I'm not a good man, I grow
increasingly aware of that all the time, but it only serves to make me
all the more awestruck and so very thankful when I remember that the
grace of God rests on me. I entered into this story, and I don't regret
it one jot.
- The Rich Man – John Davis
John
was in the 2005 fresher's play Our Countries Good and also played the
role of Fowler in Another Country. This is John's first performance
this year in a play though he has performed in various shows with the
improvised comedy society.
John has relished the opportunity to
play the rich man in tales from the madhouse. He feels that this role
gives him the chance to develop a character in more depth than he has
been able to before. He has found the rich man to be a character full
of opposing characteristics which he has acquired to cover up a feeling
of inadequacy and insecurity.
John came to know Jesus when he
was fifteen whilst he and his family were going through an incredibly
hard time. He felt very lost at the time and was experimenting with
lots of different things and thoughts. Whilst this was going on however
he went on an alpha course and found that the teaching of Jesus found
in the new testament to really speak to him and hold authority in his
life.
- The Mourner– Megan Taylor
Born
with a passion for being the centre of attention as a youngest child, I
was part of drama groups as a child and throughout my teenage years. I
played roles in school productions such as 'Under Milk Wood', 'The
Jungle Book', 'Our Day Out', and a variety of musicals. Since going to
College and then University, music and sport increasingly pushed drama
out of my allotted hobby time, but it's been so exciting getting
involved again as a last gasp before I graduate in the summer.
'My
monologue is really depressing', was my initial reaction. Yet the more
I've rehearsed and thought about her story, I've found the character's
devastating testimony to be extremely powerful: a roller-coaster of
hope, disappointment, belief and despair. As just one monologue in the
show, it is fascinating to see the breadth of people Jesus encountered
and how he worked powerfully in the lives of those he met, with
extremely varied reactions.
- The Thief – Alex Hovell
The
Tales from the Madhouse auditions were a highlight of my auditioning
career, a career which I have sought to grow and expand during my time
in
After I got over the initial 'I'm not sure who he is' I have managed to get into the thief character. Actually working on being him has been quite thought provoking- the last minute acceptance of Jesus, more out of desperation than anything else, says how desperate he is, and that finally, he has found what he doesn't even realise he's always been looking for. Jesus acceptance of him characterizes the potty justice of God, and his willingness to forgive.
Although I can't empathies with dealing with dandruff merchants or, for that matter, being a thief; some of his character and his familiarity with penal institutions I can. The whole notion of a God-man story being inexplicably bizarre whichever way you look at it, yet somehow striking a chord and making the daft world we live in make sense, I guess is something the thief and I share.
In between a physics, chemistry and maths course (yes, there is a little teensy gap) I've loved working on this play because it tries to explain and make simple "the gospel"- which I know to be mad and difficult to understand, yet the most important thing in my life.