Shadow Road Productions

THE SHADOWS

Emma King-Farlow -
Company Founder, Producer & Artistic Director

Emma has always been passionate about all forms of storytelling. A member of the Society of Authors, the National Association of Writers in Education and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, her first children's book, Uncle Alonzo's Beard , was published in 2007. Whilst waiting for publication, however, she decided that the time was right to return again to her second love, the theatre. The result of this decision was the founding of Shadow Road Productions.

Although the theatre captured Emma's heart early on, she has also been interested in film-making for a long time. She was responsible for founding Durham University's film making society, Silver Screen, and during her year as President, managed to attract a number of respected professionals from both London and the North East to visit the city and instruct the members. Having previously studied at the Raindance independent film school in Soho, she later took a two month intensive course in film-making with The New York Film Academy in London, which culminated in the writing, directing and editing of the short film Absolution. Most recently, this was followed up with some supplementary weekend classes run by the Documentary Filmmakers Group, of which she is also a member.

Emma's own experience onstage, combined with the many examinations that she has taken in both acting and singing, and the additional drama training that she has enjoyed, have all resulted in a good understanding of and empathy with the various actors whom she has directed and occasionally written for. The work that she has done backstage on a range of theatrical productions and crewing for other film students, has also given her a healthy respect for all members of her own crew and the desire to forge a strongly bonded team, both on each individual production and, more generally, among the members of Shadow Road Productions as a whole.

Find out more about Emma by visiting her website or blog, or by following her on Twitter.

Ann Acott - Actress & Stage Manager

As a child Ann was frequently involved in school plays and productions, whether acting, narrating or singing. These days, she thinks that the singing is best left to others, but her love of acting remains undiminished! She frequently attends ad hoc acting classes and has recently completed a stage combat course which she enjoyed immensely.

Ann's previous work includes Deborah in Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Anya inThe Cherry Orchard and Joanna in Night of the Soul. She has also appeared in a number of revues and certain works of devised theatre, the Bardathon, a 24 hour Shakespeare marathon performed outdoors at The Scoop, and Voices, a rehearsed reading and recording for the charity Unifem.

Ann has appeared in three Shadow Road productions so far - Time Flies, The Road to Remembrance and Oswald's Return - and we are delighted to welcome her as a permanent member of the company!

Susan Moisan - Actress, Singer & Publicity

Originally from Southampton, Susan trained as an actor at Drama Studio London after many years working in office and retail environments.

She is a strong classical actress and is regularly employed as a cabaret/jazz singer accompanied by pianist Phil Mitchell.

Her credits include Ben Jonson's The Devil Is An Ass (White Bear Theatre); Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Trifle Productions); creating the role of both the young and old Pharoah Hatchepsut in the new musical Zipporah (Charlie B Productions); Sweeney Todd (Opera di Nepotist); a magical mannequin in The Warm Bodies (Upstart Theatre);

For Shadow Road Productions Susan has appears as Agatha Proudcock in Shadow Road's sell-out comedy Oswald's Return; and Mrs Stevenson in Sorry Wrong Number/The Hitchhiker as well as various acting/singing roles in WARRIORS.

Her short film roles include The Factory (Central Film School), Prospect House (Chasing Safety) and Je Suis Daddy (Black Light Productions).

Susan's experience as a PA and her somewhat OCD passion for spreadsheets make her perfectly suited to handle the publicity for Shadow Road, a role she is delighted to take on. Early evidence shows her shaping up to become a true publicity wizard!

Read more about Susan on her website: www.susanmoisan.com

Alice Hawthorn - Company Artist

Alice indulged her artistic talent from an early age. She graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in Architecture in 2001 and since leaving university, she has managed full time work while laying the foundations fo her creative business Alice & Charlotte which is currently going from strength to strength on the back of her beautiful new range of handcrafted bespoke children's cushions.

Alice launched the first phase of her business in early 2008 with a unique range of personally designed and hand-painted children's murals. With an unbridled passion for design and entrepreneurial flair, she has since completed a number of private commissions for friends and family, as well as work for a London-based children's charity.

Alice's other creative endeavours range from clothes accessorising and children's bracelets to handbag making and even her own DIY(!). There is truly no end to her talents and we are very lucky that she has decided to join us as Shadow Road's Company Artist!

Melanie Browne - Associate Director & Stage Manager

Melanie has been involved with the theatre in one way or another ever since she was a little girl. While trying to decide which area to specialise in, she tried her hand at everything from acting and stage management to hair & make-up. Funny, then, that it was a simple request for her to work as assistant director on a university project that made up her mind for her - she had barely even started before her passion for directing was born.

After university Melanie moved to London to work. She soon found, however, that her new job left her little time for the theatre. Needless to say, she decided that some changes were urgently required. (It was, of course, the job and not the theatre that was given the elbow!) Since making those changes, Melanie has directed two plays at the Putney Arts Theatre - David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Timberlake Weterbaker's Our Country's Good - as well as working on a number of other productions in a wide variety of different roles.

For the past year she has spent a little time away from the theatre, choosing instead to explore the world of film. She has recently emerged from a one-year part-time course with the Metropolitan Film School, having completedSequences, a ten-minute short film that she was required to write, direct and edit herself. She now intends to pursue her new interest in directing for film and television, whilst also continuing to devote a large amount of time to her oldest and best love, the theatre.

Nina Davis - Production Designer & Make-up Artist

Nina Davis is an Australian painter and illustrator who moved to the UK in 2008. Graduating from the College of Fine Arts in 2003, she has had three solo exhibitions in Sydney and has participated in a number of group exhibitions in Bangkok, New York and across the rest of Australia. An interest in function and form led her to product design. As a collaborator on Edit; a Sydney based interior project, Nina designed fabrics, bespoke furniture pieces and concepts for private and commercial interiors. She has also designed footwear and jewellery under her own name.

Nina has worked in the art department on various film and television productions in Australia and in the UK. Her most recent projects include a music video for Florence & the Machine and a commercial for Royal Mail.

Guy van der Westhuizen - Writer

Guy worked as a City lawyer before he nearly died, during the spring of 2007, of boredom. A master of neither timing nor intelligent decision-making, he left to work for an American investment bank that summer, a move which left him with much time on his hands from late 2008, one month after the birth of his daughter, Claudia. With reality biting and the grave responsibilities of fatherhood dawning upon him, Guy realised he needed to take stock of his life. So, as any dutiful father in his situation would do, he decided to use his redundancy payment to rent a villa in Provence and write a play. The time spent doing so, in the company of his young family, will always be among the happiest of his life.

Guy's experience as a writer is, to date, limited. Passionate about film from a very early age, he always wanted to be a screenwriter but despite not starting work until his late twenties, somehow managed to never find the time to pursue his dream. His body of work until then comprised a handful of film and theatre reviews for his university student newspaper, The Epigram, and a short story about his student life in Seville.

Oswald's Return was his first play and he dedicated it to his wife, Mary.