People: The Company

Mike Alfreds, Katie Mitchell OBE, Ian Rickson

Simon Groves, Alexander MacKenzie, Sian Mile, Pennant Roberts

David Schneider, Sandy McDade and Simon Allen

Robert Bowman- Joint Artistic Director

He began his career at Ireland's National Theatre - The Abbey - and went on to work at the Gate Theatre as part of Stephen Daldry's award winning season of foreign plays where he was later nominated for a Carling Fringe Theatre Best Actor Award for his role in The Crackwalker. He has worked as an actor in over thirty professional productions including Eric in An Inspector Calls (RNT/Tour), Mali in Haroun and the Sea of Stories (RNT), Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Mr Friendall in The Wive's Excuse and Ithocles in The Broken Heart (RSC). He was a member of the Young Vic Ensemble playing numerous roles in Grimm Tales and More Grimm Tales, Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors (RSC/YV), Cash in As I Lay Dying and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. After taking a year out to study directing he went back to the RNT in Ted Hughes' version of The Orestia and The Royal Court in Rebecca Gilman's Spinning into Butter. He then went on to play Ranger in William Wycherley's Love in a Wood and Roman in David Edgar's The Prisoner's Dilemma (2001/2002 RSC Season), Dr. Lvov at The Royal National in Ivanov and Kurt in Living Pictures' production of The Nest. Television, as an actor, includes The Whistleblower, The Falklands Play, Spooks (BBC), Life and Debt (ITV wales) and Charles II (BBC). Most recent theatre includes Reverend Hale in Dominic Cooke's production of The Crucible (RSC/Geilgud Theatre) and the title role in Cyrano De Bererac at the Bristol Old Vic. He is currently in Sherman Cymru's production of Deep Cut @ The Tricycle Theatre.

Directing work includes co-director Andromache (Living Pictures), Macbeth (Ways and Means TC), The Memory of Water (RSC Fringe) in Stratford/London and a workshop at the RNT Studio of Robin Hooper's The Anatomy Lesson. Since 2004 he has directed Robin Hooper's Free from Sorrow (Living Pictures), The Seagull, Ghosts (Bristol Old Vic), Small Family Business and The Seagull (RWCMD) and The Blue Room (Ustinov Studio, Bath Theatre Royal). He was Artistic Associate at the Bristol Old Vic for 2007 and he was given an Arts Council Wales Grant to use his time at Bristol Old Vic as a training opportunity to further his skills as an Artistic Director.

Robert teaches acting at Trinity College, Carmarthen.

Elen Bowman - Joint Artistic Director

Elen trained at RADA and has worked with companies such as Shared Experience and the RNT as an actress. She went on to train as a director, studying a three year course of a contemporised version of the Stanislavski technique at the School of the Science of Acting. She then assisted director Mike Alfreds with his company Method & Madness. Also during this time, Elen taught directing methods to directors at the Royal Court Theatre and became a personal tutor to Katie Mitchell, Ian Rickson and others. Elen's work has formed part of Katie Mitchell's new book on directing.

In 1999, Elen formed Living Pictures Productions with her partner Robert Bowman. Productions she has directed for the company are Andromache and The Nest.

Since 2002, Elen has been an Associate Director at Sgript Cymru and her production of Amdani won the Theatre in Wales Best stage production award 2003. When Sgript Cymru and the Sherman Theatre merged she became an Artistic Associate at Sherman Cymru Theatre in Cardiff and currently holds that post. She will be directing Gary Owen's new play Amgen in the spring this year for them.

She is a freelance television and film director with two Welsh BAFTA nominations. The first in 2002 for her short film 'What?', and the other in 2006 for A470, a twelve part series which she produced and co-directed for ITV Wales.

Elen teaches acting at Trinity College, Carmarthen.

Dan Barnard - Directors Acting Associate

Dan trained as a director with Living Pictures, attending workshops with Lilo Baur, John Wright, Dominic Leclerc, Rosemary Brandt, Elen Bowman, Ian Rickson, Rufus Norris, Paul Hunter and Katie Mitchell.

Dan is joint artistic director of fanshen theatre company. For fanshen he has directed Meetings by Mustapha Matura (Arcola) and produced Full Circle by Kobus Moolman (Oval House). He is directing fanshen's next production, Shooting Rats by Peter Turrini.

Dan's freelance directing work includes Begin Again by Elinor Cook (Old Vic New Voices 24 Hour Plays), Trouble in the Works by Harold Pinter (Kings Head Theatre) and Pale Horse by Joe Penhall (Extract, Graeae/Young Vic co-production).

In 2008 Dan was selected to participate in the Cheek by Jowl Summer School which resulted in an exhibition at the Barbican in January 2009. In 2008, he was also a runner up for both the JMK and Jerwood directors' awards.

Dan as previously worked for Living Pictures as Workshops Assistant and Project Manager. He continues to facilitate the Living Pictures Book Clubs and teaches on the acting course at Trinity College, Carmarthen.

Ben Webb - Project Manager Directors Acting 2010

Ben is a theatremaker and choreographer. His directing credits include Acker Out Loud, The Kathy Acker Mobile Library and So little of you left, for Risking Enchantment; Godfather Death for Warhorse Theatreworks; Und by Howard Barker and Newsrevue at the Canal Cafe; Less by Jack Williams at the King's Head; The Taming of the Shrew national tour for British Touring Shakespeare; He Do The Police, Salome and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant for Tooth & Nail productions at the Alma Tavern, Bristol.

Ben trained at Bristol University and with Living Pictures. He is Artistic Director of Risking Enchantment, a theatre company dedicated to exploring and expanding the possibilities of theatre art through collaborative effort.

Francesca Seeley - Assistant Project Manager Directors Acting 2010

Francesca is co-Artistic Director of Nameless Theatre. Francesca has directed Comp by John Shea (Tristan Bates Theatre), Now I Wonder What You Are by Sean Tyler (Greenwich Playhouse) and Room 1336 by Sean Tyler (Lost Five Minute Festival, Tabard Theatre). She has assisted on The Long Road by Shelagh Stephenson (Soho Theatre) and Tagged to a Number by Simon Bennett with prisoners and ex-prisoners for Synergy Theatre Project (schools tour and BAC).

Nameless Theatre produce One Night Stands - a monthly series of rehearsed readings of new writing, so far Francesca has directed The Collapse of Something Pleasant by Sam Haddow, Pink Like Paris by Maria Borland, Barefoot Rascals by Heather O'Shea, One Day I Wasn't There by David Lane and English for Foreigners by Philip Landon.

Francesca has an English Literature and Italian degree from the University of York and has trained as a director with Ian Rickson, Robbie Bowman, Paul Hunter, Dominic Cooke, Elen Bowman, Joe Hill-Gibbons and attended the Young Vic Summer School.