David Copperfield

TNT theatre Britain & ADG Europe presents:
DAVID COPPERFIELD
A dramatisation of Charles Dickens’ novel
by Paul Stebbings and Phil Smith.
Original music by Thomas Johnson.
David Copperfield George Mclean
Emily and Clara Copperfield Eilidh Debonnaire
Mr Pegotty and Luther Joe Herzfeld
Pegotty, Dora and Miss Murdstone Emily Bowman
Steerforth and Mr Murdstone Peter McMillan
Other roles played by the ensemble
Director Paul Stebbings
Costume designer Juliane Kasprzik
Set Design Arno Scholz
Production assistant Monika Ondockova
Producer (ADGE) Grantly Marshall

PAUL STEBBINGS is artistic director of TNT theatre Britain and The American
Drama Group Europe. He was born in Nottingham and studied drama at Bristol
University, where he received first class honours. He trained in the Grotowski
method with TRIPLE ACTION THEATRE in Britain and Poland. Paul founded TNT
theatre in 1980 and received regular Arts Council funding for work in the UK. Paul
has also acted for NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE and TNT and directed and written
for SOUTH YORKSHIRE THEATRE, PARAGON ENSEMBLE Glasgow, TAMS
THEATER Munich, the ST PETERSBURG STATE COMEDY THEATRE, the Athens
Concert Hall MEGARON and the Russian TEATR EXPERIMENTA. His productions
have toured to over twenty countries worldwide. Festival appearances include
WIZARD OF JAZZ at the Munich Biennale (critics prize), the Off Broadway Festival in
New York, the Tehran Fajr Festival the Tokyo International Festival, and award
winning performances at the Edinburgh Festival (THE MURDER OF SHERLOCK
HOLMES, in which he played the title role). His numerous productions for ADGE and
TNT include MACBETH, BRAVE NEW WORLD, THE CRUCIBLE, DON QUIJOTE
and the recent prize winning HAMLET. One of Paul´s main areas of interest is the
integration of music and theatre which culminated in his large scale production of
production of MOBY DICK. He has directed productions in Russian, Greek, German
and is increasingly working in Spanish, while n spring he directed THE TAMING OF
THE SHREW in Mandarin at Shanghai’s leading theatre (SDAC). Productions for
TNT and ADGE this season include: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, TAMING OF THE SHREW and MACBETH by
Shakespeare, Lorca’s LA CASA DE BERNADA ALBA and his own version of
DON QUIJOTE (in Spanish) OLIVER TWIST, DAVID COPPERFIELD and A
CHRISTMAS CAROL all adapted from the novels of Charles Dickens, ONE
LANGUAGE MANY VOICES ( an exploration of Britain’s colonial legacy),and his
own play HITLER KILLED MY CANARY These varied productions tour to over thirty
countries on four continents performing in cities as diverse as Beijing, Jerusalem,
Paris, Tokyo, San Jose’ de Costa Rica, Hanoi, London and Berlin.

Thomas Johnson (Composer and musical director) After graduating from Oxford
University Thomas joined DR.FOSTERS THEATRE CO., where he spent 5 years as
resident composer/MD. He has subsequently composed the music for many theatre
companies, including THE NATIONAL THEATRE, LUDLOW FESTIVAL,
BIRMINGHAM STAGE COMPANY, THE UNICORN THEATRE, EXETER
NORTHCOTT, PLYMOUTH THEATRE ROYAL, CHELTENHAM EVERYMAN,
NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE, LONDON BUBBLE, THEATRE ALIBI (with the West
End hit WHY THE WHALES CAME), POLKA THEATRE, TRAVELLING LIGHT,
CHIPPING NORTON THEATRE, and FAIRGAME. His music has been performed
worldwide, from Singapore to St. Petersburg, including a Broadway run of the awardwinning
TIR NA N-OG. He has worked with TEATRO DIONYSUS in Costa Rica,
SEATTLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE in the US, and THE VEDOGON THEATRE in
Moscow. Choral work includes GILGAMESH, a 90-minute oratorio for STROUD
COMMUNITY CHOIR. Tom has also written the scores for several BBC RADIO 4
drama productions. OTHELLO is his 14 th production with TNT/ADG, for whom he has
written the scores for KING LEAR, HAMLET, ROMEO & JULIET, CHRISTMAS
CAROL, OLIVER TWIST, THE MURDER OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE GREAT
GATSBY, DAVID COPPERFIELD, GULLLIVER’S TRAVELS, THE GRAPES OF
WRATH, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE,
OTHELLO and HITLER KILLED MY CANARY.
GEORGE MCLEAN I am delighted to be playing David in TNT’s and the ADG’s
production of DAVID COPPERFEILD, it is a great opportunity to work both with a
company I love and on a rich Dickensian tale. I have worked for the company before
in DEATH OF A SALESMEN and GULIVERS TRAVELS so know exactly what iv got
my self in for! The biggest perk of the job is the travelling to all the varied places and
experiencing all the different audiences and theatres. I graduated from drama school
in London (ALRA) in 07 and since then have worked for the BBC, both on Radio and
TV, in classical text, new writing and theatre in education. One of my previous
favourite roles was Tybalt in ROMEO AND JULIET for the Oxford Shakespeare
Company (always fun playing a bady!). I am keen fan of pretty much all sport (not
golf), and follow England in Football, Rugby, Cricket and Athletics, and am a massive
Liverpool fan in the English Premier League. I hope you enjoy the show!
PETER MCMILLAN grew up in Hull, Yorkshire and trained as an actor at the
University of Hull and the Oxford School of Drama. His UK theatre work includes:
LARK RISE (Oxfordshire Museum) WIDOWS (Battersea Arts Centre), THE BALD
PRIMA DONNA (Juno Theatre Company), BLAIR ON BROADWAY (Arts Theatre,
London), CIRXUS (Arcola Theatre), THE MAN OUTSIDE (Theatre Royal
Haymarket), THE LESSON BEFORE BREAK (Theatre 503), BOUNCERS (Hull Truck
Theatre Company) and TEECHERS (Hull Truck Theatre Company UK
Tour). Peter first started studying the clarinet at age nine and was Principal
Clarinettist in the City of Hull Youth Symphony Orchestra which toured to Budapest
and Venice. He also plays the piano and has always wanted to combine his passion
for music, drama and travel in his work. Peter is very much looking forward to
bringing DAVID COPPERFIELD to an international audience.

JOE HERZFELD trained at Mountview Academy after appearing in many productions
while studying history at Oxford University. Since 2008 he has toured in all weathers
with outdoor theatre company Heartbreak Productions, playing the French king in
Henry V, Jacques in "As you like it" and Colin in "The Secret Garden". Other parts
include Konstantin in the Seagull, Goldberg in "The Birthday Party", Corvino in
"Volpone", Reverend Paris in "The Crucible", Dr Astrov in "Uncle Vanya", Ajax in
"The Trojan War will not take place", Earnest Beavers in "Time and the Conways",
Dogberry in "MUch ado about nothing", and Petruchio in "Tamingof the Shrew". Joe
is also a comic writer and improviser - he wrote and performed for comedy double act
"The Habberdashers", co-directed sketch show "The Oxford Revue" and has
improvised entire performances in various independent films. As a composer he
provides original music for certain productions in which he acts. He is the frontman
and song-writerfor two darkly comic bands - "Hooverville", a maximalist rock group,
and"Joey Herzfeld and the Haunted", an acoustic cabaret band. But to his friends he
will always be the guy who dressed up as a giant fish in a Walkers crisps advert -
dignity is over-rated.
EMILY BOWMAN Trained at East 15 Acting School. Since graduating in 2001 she
has worked all over Europe on a number of different projects from Shakespeare to
Children’s Theatre. She worked with the American Drama Group on a production of
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST with Tour De Force playing the roles of
‘Gwendolen’ & ‘Miss Prism’. Emily thoroughly enjoyed the traveling and is really
looking forward to sampling some more international beverages! Other theatre credits
include ‘Miriam’ in PROJECT DANCE – THE RED SHOES (Future Shorts); ‘Celia’ in
AS YOU LIKE IT (Minack Theatre, Cornwall); ‘Musician’ in THE IMAGINATIVE
WOMAN (Camden People’s Theatre); ‘Enchantress’ in BEAUTY & THE BEAST
(Lyceum Theatre); ‘Sally Keebler’ in CHRISTINE (New End Theatre, London);
‘Helena’ in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (International Tour) and probably one
of the most memorable, the title role in HUMPTY DUMPTY IN NURSERY RHYME
LAND (Hackney Empire & Tour). Emily is also the Artistic Director of CUE Theatre.
EILIDH DEBONNAIRE trained as an Actor Musician at Rose Bruford College of
Theatre and Performance. She is a performer and a Musical Director with a particular
interest in the use of live music in Theatre. She lives in London and works for various
Theatres running Musicality workshops and a Young adults Choir. She is really
excited about getting out of busy London and spending some time touring the world.
Theatre Credits: Puss in Boots, (Derby Guildhall) Bizet’s Carmen (Leicester Square
Theatre,London) Brittans Noyes’s Fludde (Cheltenham International Music Festival)
The Rose Tattoo (The Rose Theatre) As Musical Director: Remember How To Fly
(Young Vic Theatre) The Red Helicopter(The Almeida Theatre) Park High School
Musical (The Unicorn Theatre, Paines Plough) Our Country’s Good (West Sussex
County Youth Theatre) The Rose Tattoo (The Rose Theatre)

TNT theatre
The company was founded in 1980 by Paul Stebbings and other actors trained in the
Grotowski method in Britain and Poland. While valuing the imaginative and physical
techniques of the Polish director they wanted to extend their work into comic and
popular forms with greater contemporary relevance. Their first production,
HARLEQUIN, was a commedia dell’arte based on the life of the Russian artist
Meyerhold and his struggles with Stalin. (The play was revived in 1989 and became
the first play about Stalinism to be performed throughout Eastern Europe after the fall
of the Berlin Wall). Other productions took popular forms and explored serious
themes; such as finance and fairy tales in FUNNY MONEY, vaudeville and war in
ENGLISH TEA PARTY and the detective thriller and violence in THE MURDER OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES. Since its foundation all TNT productions have been written or
edited by Paul Stebbings and Phil Smith. The company’s approach to the classics is
to critically examine the themes of the original rather than slavishly present a
hallowed text. Since 2000 the company has extended this approach to
interpretations of Shakespeare with considerable international success.
Music plays an important role in the company’s work, and most productions include a
newly commissioned score. Notable music theatre productions include CABARET
FAUST (inspired by Klaus Mann’s MEPHISTO) and the WIZARD OF JAZZ (prize
winner at the Munich Biennale) both scored by the well known composer, John
Kenny. TNT’s most ambitious production to date was the integrated drama, dance
and music version of Melville’s MOBY DICK, with a score by John Kenny and Paul
Flush. Other long term members of TNT are the choreographer Eric Tessier Lavigne
and composer Thomas Johnson.
TNT began its collaboration with The American Drama Group Europe and producer
Grantly Marshall in 1993. Notable productions include BRAVE NEW WORLD, LORD
OF THE FLIES, FAHRENHEIT 451, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, OLIVER TWIST
and many of Shakespeare’s greatest plays including our recent award winning
HAMLET, OTHELLO and TAMING OF THE SHREW. TNT has received regular
funding from the British Council and the UK Arts Council and collaborated or coproduced
with organisations such as the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), The St
Petersburg State Comedy Theatre (Akimov), Tams Theatre Munich and St Donats
Arts Centre (Wales) and the current long term collaborations with Costa Rica’s Teatro
Terruno (Café Britt) Milky Way Productions in Beijing and the Shanghai Dramatic
Arts Centre. TNT has toured from London to Hong Kong, from Guatemala to Tokyo,
from Atlanta to St Petersburg and Tehran to Berlin in venues that range from village
halls to opera houses and from castle ruins to National theatres. We borrow our
motto from the great Russian theatre director, Meyerhold:
“Tragedy with a smile on its lips”.
Repertoire 2011-12
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, MACBETH, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and
TAMING OF THE SHREW by Shakespeare, DAVID COPPERFIELD, OLIVER
TWIST and A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, LA CASA DE BERNADA
ALBA by Lorca and our own version of DON QUIJOTE (in Spanish) and a multicultural
production, ONE LANGUAGE MANY VOICES, based on Britain’s colonial
experience with text from Salman Rushdie, Chinue Achebe and Somerset Maugham.