After a varied career in the Prison Service, from officer in HMP Lincoln to running the lifer unit in Wormwood Scrubs (where he facilitated and performed in the first prison based opera) and Deputy Governor in HMP Holloway, Mike worked in a variety of roles in the voluntary sector focused on Hate Crime, prejudice and rehabilitation.

For over 50 years Mike has directed and acted in amateur theatre. From a 5 hour production of Nicholas Nickleby to a joyous Slice of Saturday Night and the intensity of Wit he loves a challenge and new ventures. For 15 years he has been the chair for the management board of Arc Theatre - London leading TIE production company. He has toured with them using Forum Theatre that ignited a love of improvisation and audience interaction. His love for the latter also explains his addiction to Pantomime Dames and villains.

Jean gave up a long career in the Fitness Industry 3 years ago to pursue her lifelong passions of music and drama, first as an audience member, now as a performer. She played the Queen of France in this year’s panto at Cornerhouse Arts Theatre and still gets the odd bow from Surbiton residents. She sings with Encore.



Jean also enjoys film, cooking, red wine and steam train rides which may make her appear strange or interesting, depending on your perspective.

Zoë performs with many local theatre companies including Teddington Theatre Club, OHADS and Cygnet Players. Recent acting credits include Lily in Alfie, Alice in Billy Liar, Mrs Purkiss in Matchgirls, Cynthia in The Incident Room and multiple characters in Under Milk Wood.

Zoë has a penchant for panto, appearing in four at Hampton Hill Theatre in recent years. When she’s not treading the boards, she’s swimming in the Thames or teaching leadership and storytelling. She is delighted to be playing Maggie in A Coy Mistress for Upstage.

Kate got the acting bug at school playing the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz to great acclaim, mostly from her mother. She joined an amateur theatre group and spent her formative years playing various stroppy teenagers and doughty northern women in works by Alan Bennett, Bill Kenwright, Alan Ayckbourn and the like. A career in social work and family life got in the way for a decade or three and she returned to acting in her fifties. 

These days she is often to be found at the back of the stage in musicals as she dances like a Meccano giraffe and doesn’t sing much better. She has played many a panto villain and has even played the Dame where her skills were thoroughly confused by being a woman playing a man playing a woman.

She recently compered The Vagina Monologues, played Hedda Hopper in Judy the Musical and the nurse in Romeo and Juliet.



In her spare time she writes comedy and spends a lot of time in the sea.

Juliet is a retired journalist, having worked for the BBC and Sky News. She joined Claygate Dramatic Society in 2002, playing a knitting sheep in Under Milk Wood, followed by the lead in Sailor Beware, since when she has appeared in many other local productions including Calendar Girls, 'Allo ‘Allo, and Arsenic & Old Lace.

She has written some 50s-style radio plays for performance on stage, the first of which, The Diamond Necklace, is published by StageScripts. Juliet has also directed a couple of times, most recently The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Lucy is a professional actor and has appeared in numerous roles, including the Mum in a trilogy of ‘Outnumbered’ style Direct Line ads with Saatchi & Saatchi, a politician in a filmed extract in Great Britain at the National Theatre directed by Nicholas Hytner, and Nurse in Romeo and Juliet during the RSC’s Outdoor Summer Season and on tour. 
 
First training as a ballet and contemporary dancer in her youth, more recently, Lucy gained a distinction in acting from the City Lit, completed the RSC’s ‘Making Shakespeare’ Summer School, and took part in Frantic Assembly’s ‘approaches to devising, text and physicality’ workshop.

Lucy enjoys drama, comedy, and working with accents, particularly Derbyshire and Lancashire.

Ellie Ball has acted from an early age in plays, musicals and pantomimes. In 2016 she was a founder member of the Mint Theatre Society, a pop-up theatre company which travels around various venues. 

In August 2024 Ellie will be making her debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival performing in a one-woman show.

Rachel is a professional actor who trained at Webber Douglas Drama School and has lived in Surrey with her family for over 15 years. She's appeared in the West End, worked with Sir Peter Hall, recorded over 80 audio books and has had two stints on the BBC Radio Rep company.

TV includes East Enders, Casualty, Call the Midwife and she will be in the next season of The Crown. A Nags Tale  is Rachel’s first radio play for Upstage.

Matthew Baylis is a stand up comedian, actor and writer. He has performed across the UK, in Oslo, Prague, Budapest, Australia, South Africa and many venues in France and Spain. He has credits for acting in film, on stage and on radio/Audible - mostly comic parts - whether they were written that way or not!

His claim to fame is that he was once a brand ambassador for a laxative.

Claire trained in dance (ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap) after leaving school and went on to complete a music degree in her thirties.

Her professional life has been spent working as a vocalist, so it’s novel for her to be cast in our radio plays The Allotment and The Phonecall.

Claire is the mother of two boys ages 3 and 7 and when not mummying, or  working with us,  she is running her children’s theatre company Pop Star Performers.

Clare Bond is from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and enjoys visiting the theatre for amateur and professional performances.

Her first appearance on stage was as a crow in The House that Jack Built and has recently joined Upstage to take part in one of the Overheard radio plays.

Clare also enjoys walking, singing and keeping fit. 

Pat has enjoyed an international career in theatre, radio, tv and film, as well as directing and teaching in London, Toronto, Hong Kong and Cape Town. 

She trained at Teacher’s Training College in Cape Town and George Brown College in Toronto (Drama) and Oxford (BADA Drama).

Her theatre highlights are in THREE TALL WOMEN, in Toronto, many Ayckbourn comedies, including HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES, in Toronto, Blithe Spirit (Madame Arcati), also in Canada, INHERIT THE WIND at London’s Old Vic and ELLA’S SECRET, a two-hander, in which she performed and produced at London’s Baron’s Court Theatre. She has appeared in a Tesco xmas ad, various short films, including BAG LAD, voice-overs and radio.

Her website www.patboothman.com is linked to Spotlight UK.

 Lorraine Chappell trained at Arts Educational School and The Royal Ballet School.

Some of her theatre credits include; Aspects of Love, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Alfie the Musical, Fame, The Secret Garden, South Pacific, Martin Guerre, Peter Pan, Pirates of Penzance, Acorn Antiques the Musical, Gone with the Wind, Mamma Mia and most recently Mamma Mia the Party at The O2.

Lorraine also runs 'Mini Molesey Theatre Club' a children's musical theatre school and 'Molesing Ladies Choir' a singing group for ladies; keeping her love of jazz hands, high kicks and singing alive in the local community.

Most recently Lorraine has been helping create jingles for our radio plays and next live production.

Sahera has always had an interest in performing arts. She comes from a family of broadcasters and actors and started her career with BBC television working in production, before becoming a presenter, fulfilling a long-held dream to present for the BBC. She reported on several programmes, including Countryfile, with John Craven.

Sahera has studied acting for several years and performed in Richmond Orange Tree Theatre’s Community Production, Seven Celebrations in July 2022. She plays Crystal in SSIA, the Spring 2023 production for Upstage Theatre Company.

In her spare time, Sahera enjoys travelling to the Arizona desert where she used to live on a horse ranch, learning equine therapy

Steve's first role was Old King Cole at primary school in Wales. He has since then spent sixty years trying to perfect his performance!

He has directed What the Butler Saw, Our Country’s Good, Blood Brothers, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, The Ladykillers, and A Christmas Carol to name a few. Steve has enjoyed the challenge of playing Bob in Somewhere, Sometime in America.



He considers his finest achievement, however, to be in 1996 when he met the love of his life, Anne, through their mutual love of all things theatrical.

Steve is currently acting at working as being retired!

Over the past 28 years Bill has been involved in over 79 productions either as an actor, director or designer. In 2017 he was nominated for an Arts Richmond Best Supporting Actor Swan award for his portrayal of Christopher Tavistock-Smyth in Jimmie Chinn's Too Long an Autumn.

This is Bill’s second stint as the enigmatic and mysterious Terry, having appeared in the 2019 revival of Close Encounters at The Barn Theatre. In November 2022.  Bill will also be directing Dracula for Youth Action Theatre at the Hampton Hill Theatre.



In his spare time Bill likes to dabble with a full time job, see his beautiful wife as they pass each other by the back door and spend time playing Star Wars / Lego / Disney Princesses with his four wonderful children.

Helen is a versatile professional actor, comfortable on stage, screen or radio. She has played a variety of roles such as a murderer, a socialite, an addict, a witch and even Queen Nefertiti to name but a few!

Some of her TV appearances include Vera, George Gently, The Dumping Ground, Wolfblood and Joan of Arc.

She enjoys both serious and comedy roles and loves to create different characters using physicality with different voices and accents, however she most definitely cannot sing…

Laura trained at The Arts Educational London School and has appeared in commercials and a range of short films.

She has played a variety of roles in the theatre and performs regularly at The Barn Theatre in Molesey.

Laura loves being one of the three original Esherettes and enjoys the way they have become a regular feature of Upstage shows.

Lindsey has performed in over 50 amateur performances, ranging from Shakespeare to Restoration comedy to farce.

A Speech and Drama teacher, she currently teaches the LAMDA exam syllabus to over 100 students ranging in age from 6 to 18 as well as teaching several adults who do not have English as a first language. 

Carl is an avid theatre goer from fringe to the latest musical and attempts to get to a theatre for an escape at least once a week. His love of the arts started aged 10 when he saw the original Miss Saigon, followed by annual trips to the panto.

He studied theatre arts to A Level, has performed at the National Youth Arts Festival with Forkbeard Fantasy and has a particular passion for Musical Theatre.   Actively performing daily as a hospitality manager at Heathrow Airport, he resides in West-End of Esher with husband Philip and their French Bulldog, Blu.

Katie began acting professionally as a child. She spent almost two decades working in TV and film, with appearances in Goodnight Sweetheart (BBC) The Politician’s Wife (Channel 4) Bramwell (ITV) Casualty and The Demon Headmaster (BBC).

After training with the Courtyard Theatre in London, Katie went on to appear on stage in Othello at The Courtyard, Exclude Me at the Chelsea Theatre and took the lead role in an Artaud inspired piece of new writing at London’s historic Theatre Museum.

Katie qualified as a teacher in 2012 and established a thriving Drama department at Cobham Free School in 2015.

Katie loves being part of Upstage, working with such a talented team of actors, directors and writers close to her home in Molesey.

Rebecca trained at Goldsmiths College, London and went on to travel round the country in various touring productions before becoming a primary school teacher.

Rebecca became a member of The Ember Players in 2015 and has since played Polly in Fawlty Towers, Anna in Cat and the Canary, Fiona in Four weddings and an Elvis, Olga Daniloff in Lavender Ladies and Young Irene and Shelly in Bothered and Bewildered.

Rebecca is delighted to be taking part in a production for Upstage Theatre Company and looks forward to performing at Esher Theatre. Rebecca lives with her husband and 2 year old son in Claygate and when not performing is now a wedding, funeral and family celebrant.

Amanda has a key role backstage sourcing, placing and managing props for our productions.

Having had leading roles in productions at primary school, as an ex-pat in the UAE and various other amateur dramatic productions, Mandy is now resuming her on-stage presence as Kay, the world-weary usherette, in our Esherette trio.

Sarah has 25 years experience in live theatre and recorded work, at a semi-professional (paid) and amateur level. Past projects have included interview/ testimonial style adverts, voice overs and radio plays for university students as well as small film projects, both on camera and also during the script development stage. 

Known as a confident performer, her many accents have landed parts like Gladys in Hi De Hi, panto dames and nearly everything in between! During lockdown she led a local group into the world of green screen, directing, recording and producing the panto Rumplestiltskin. 

Also a scriptwriter, Sarah concentrates mainly on pantomimes, writing under the name of Edgar Stephenson www.pantofun.com.

She looks forward to the opportunities Upstage can offer her.

Vaughan Evans is a highly active, non-professional playwright and actor. His trilogy of plays, Interesting Times, was published in November 2020, with each taking a major socio-political issue of the 2010s, blending it with a #MeToo inspired sub-plot and culminating in a debate involving audience participation.

His latest play, A Rude Awokening, explores the rights and wrongs of woke culture.

Vaughan sings bass with the London Welsh Rugby Club Male Voice Choir, with whom he has performed at venues including Frascati Cathedral, Lambeth Palace and the London Palladium.

A long serving member of Toastmasters International, he is the author of Stand, Speak, Deliver! How to Survive - and Thrive - in Public Speaking and Presenting. He has also written a dozen other books related to his day job as a consultant on business strategy and planning.

He has performed in many productions for local theatre groups including Richmond Shakespeare Society, Putney Theatre Company and Teddington Theatre Club.

The Life Class is Vaughan’s debut radio play for Upstage.

A writer and arts curator, Clare Farrow is passionate about the theatre, and has performed with a number of amateur dramatic societies in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Her favourite roles include Mother in The Railway Children (Richmond Shakespeare Society / RSS 2018), Mrs Pankhurst in Oh What a Lovely War (Barnes Community Players 2018), and The Ghost of Christmas Past / Mrs Cratchit in The Christmas Carol (RSS 2019). She has also performed poetry at A Concert for Peace (RSS 2018) and has enjoyed working directly with writers on new plays and monologues, both for RSS and the Edinburgh Fringe.

She has her own play-reading group called The Woodpeckers, founded in 2020. 

Victoria loves being on stage and her many roles range from Prospera in a gender altered production of The Tempest to the land girl, Vera, in Lilies on the Land, the Leatherhead Festival Winner (2015) for which she also won best actress at the Woking Drama Festival.

For Cobham Players, Victoria’s production of The Graduate won the NODA Award for Excellence and her other forays into directing: The Odd Couple and A Bird in the Hand were sell-out successes.

Victoria has worked for the Old Vic, The National Theatre and Opera North and more recently volunteering for Grange Park Opera in West Horsley.

She was delighted to play the calculating villain, Mrs Zee, in The Smoking Gun and hopes to do more for Upstage.

Now a resident of Esher, Becky was born and raised locally in East Molesey and gained a love for theatrical arts while at school. She enjoyed learning tap and ballet at dance class and after leaving junior school, was a member of her secondary school’s drama club appearing in a Cluedo based murder mystery evening.

Fast forward 30+ years and Becky is now a mum to 5 gorgeous children and 3 beautiful grandchildren. Having battled with mental illness since she was 16 she has finally have found herself and her confidence again and wants to shine and show others there is light at the end of the tunnel and you can come back bigger and better then ever.

Upstage are delighted to welcome Becky.

Helen debuted as an angel in her playgroup Nativity aged 3.  Since then, she has taken part in countless, plays, musicals and pantos.

Most recently Helen undertook the title role in The Killing of Sister George, Rosie the rapping granny in The Wedding Singer, mum in Rita Sue and Bob Too and Geraldine in The Vicar of Dibley.

She is an event director and actor for a national murder mystery company, provides voice overs for two mental health apps and is one of the founding members of improv group, Chaos Emporium.

Celia caught the acting bug from a young age, chasing a few LAMDA exams along the way. Deciding to study the fun further, her BA (Hons) in Drama lead her to work with a troop of professional actors bringing “Shakespeare to Life” for secondary schools around the UK. This early work inspired a number of creative initiatives in making drama and acting accessible for all. Performance has mostly been stage based, ranging from the classics through to some good old English farce.

Celia also enjoys putting pen to paper, and has been known to write a play or two. She is also current training with IAMPRO

Paul has appeared with theatre companies in both Birmingham and London, most recently Sleeping Beauty (dame) Peter Pan (pirate), The Railway Children (father/train boss), Rapunzel (jester) and Aladdin (dame).

This year he will be performing a monologue and a murder mystery (hen-pecked husband/suspect!).

Paul will debut at Upstage in one of our forthcoming radio plays.

Marc Harris is a playwright, amateur actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist. His credits include: Goodnight Mr. Tom (Abbey Theatre, Company of Ten, 2022), a scene from Blast from the Past (Cockpit Theatre, 2016), Looking For You (Pantameters Theatre, 2016), A Slice of Saturday Night, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, High Society (Bloomsbury Theatre, Applause Young Variety Club of Great Britain, 1993 – 1996), The Tin Man, The Wizard of Oz (Norwood Theatre Players, 1995), Comedy Review (Spec Revue Group, 1988 – 2002, Bloomsbury Theatre, Mermaid Theatre, Intimate Theatre, Barnet Youth Club).

Marc has written full length plays, short plays, monologues, topical/satirical songs and comedy sketches and contemporary/folk songs and is delighted to bring his talents to Upstage. 

www.marcharris.co.uk 

Miranda Hewitt is an actor, producer,  voice over artist and speech trainer. She has worked across the spectrum in theatre, TV, radio and current affairs.

Miranda has performed in lead roles for Bill Kenwright, Lee Menzies and Michael Winner to name a few and has been the voice behind many leading UK campaigns. She has fronted The Money Programme and arts documentaries and producedcharity performances of Shadowlands (which went into West End run) and is currently producing a charity performance of Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage, playing a lead role, Miss Schoen.

Cassandra is an Actress, Writer and Producer from London. She read English and Drama at Sussex University then studied Acting at Drama Studio London.

She has recently appeared in The Comedy of Errors and Henry V at the Roman Theatre in St Albans and created web series Jonas and Jacinta which is now on Twisted Mirror TV. She runs Tales Retold production company and is a Stage One graduate Producer. Cassandra is very excited to be joining Upstage.

Steve trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and insists the fact that this academy no longer exists has absolutely nothing to do with his time there.

He has directed and acted in many lonesco and Pinter plays and describes himself as having a penchant for the absurd.  His performance in our production of the newly written Air B n B can be described in many ways, but absurd would not be one that springs to mind. Feel free to judge for yourself.

Glenn Johnson was born, raised and educated in Woking, before training at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art for two and a half years, passing with distinction.

He has worked touring TIE performing Aesops Fables - Mask work, Fringe work at Kings Head Theatre most notably working alongside Larry Lamb and George Sewell in Inherit The Wind and has even ran his own theatre company offering two one act plays adapted to be performed in peoples homes.

Glenn now works as a Senior Yoga teacher with his own private business and is delighted to have discovered Upstage.

As a diversion from plodding the beat, Glyn trod the boards at Chipstead’s Courtyard Theatre where he stayed for 10 years. Glyn has also been involved in productions at Dorking Green Room Theatre and Epsom Studios where he performed in Bouncers. 

During Lockdown he played Fairy King in Zoom, Plays for Lockdown and is an occasional film and TV extra. Most recently, Glyn played Mike in Somewhere, Sometime in America and regularly assists with editing our radio plays and many backstage tasks.

Glyn is a London Blue Badge Guide. 

Richard started acting (on stage, that is) back in 2016, in Ladies' Day but quickly gave up on the idea of being discovered. He has since performed in several Ember Players productions, including the lead role in Bolt from the Blue, and, most recently, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.

He has recently retired, a fact which he likes to describe as the best career move he ever made. Somewhere, Sometime in America is his Upstage debut.

Genilyn started in musical theatre at just six. She has choreographed many musicals for local societies and is directing her first show next year. For many years she ran the successful Geni-Lyn Dance Company.

Some of her stage roles include Jewel (Best little Whorehouse in
Texas), Erma La Tour (Anything Goes), Dulcie (The Boyfriend), Nancy (Oliver), Conchitta Alvarez (Copacabana), and most recently Paulette (Legally Blonde).

Geni loves being an original Esherette and says she will never give up wanting to play usherette, Peg.

Lisa has been actively involved with drama since the late seventies, taking part as a performer in numerous plays, revues, and special events. A keen director, her past productions include The Prisoner of Second Avenue , Arsenic and Old Lace , Amadeus , and The Dresser.

She enjoys writing plays, short stories and comic verse and has written and produced three successful pantomimes. “The great thing about pantomime is that it can introduce the whole family to love of the stage and theatre. At least two of the children whose first acting role was in one of my pantomimes have gone on to enjoy successful careers as actors and I find that very rewarding.”

Lisa has performed in many radio plays for Upstage but hopes to tread the boards, write and direct again in the near future.

Susan Monteregge holds a BA hons in Drama from Natal University, South Africa. From 1993 to 2008 she worked as a professional actor, director, scriptwriter and story liner in theatre and TV before moving to the UK.

She has played lead roles such as Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie; Steel Magnolias (M’Lynn); People are Living There (Milly) Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it all for you (Sister Mary Ignatius) and a one-woman show, Intercourses. She featured in films I Dreamed of Africa; The Millennium Menace and television dramas like Justice For All and SA national TV soap Generations.

Susan worked as storyliner and assistant director on television shows Coca-Cola Popstars and Sho’t Left and wrote and directed stage productions The Loser; Defending the Planet; Chronicles of a Car Guard; Aaron McIlroy @ Work and wrote The Seven Deadly Sins.

Since moving to the UK with her family Susan has worked in Adult Social Care.

At Warwick university, Kate enjoyed performing in, directing and producing a range of published and student-written productions before embarking on a career in education. While teaching English and Drama, she produced and directed a number of school productions.

After a ten-year hiatus, Kate is keen to get back on the stage again herself and is grateful to Upstage for offering her opportunities to tread the boards once more.

Tryphena's first role was Aruntius in Ben Johnson's Sejanus His Fall and later went on to play Molossus in Peter Hall's Tantalus for the RSC. She has played Jane Eyre, Bianca in Othello, Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Alice in Wonderland and title roles in Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Laura in The Glass Menagerie for the Civic Theatre, Belfast as well as other roles for Wildcard Theatre. 

She has developed long-term drama and writing programmes with young offenders in prison, ex-offenders and those on parole.

Having given up the stage to start a family, she now runs the gallery and education programme at the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton-on-Thames. She is delighted to be in an Upstage radio play.

Richard, who originated from North East England, started acting in school plays at the age of ten and appeared in an episode of The Likely Lads in the 1970's. He went on to appear in Andrew Lloyd-Webber's original production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at The Theatre Royal in Newcastle as a teenager.

Since moving to Surrey in the early eighties, Richard successfully founded several businesses and now being semi-retired, he wants to try his hand at acting again.

Richard is a keen golfer, has two wonderful children and enjoys splitting time between his home in Esher and Mallorca.

Verity Newman gained her Drama degree at Exeter University before beginning work as an actor.

Now a mum to 4 she made the shift to TV production nearly 30 years ago starting out with the late, great Clive James and rising through the ranks to create documentaries about comedy, music and the place of popular culture in social history.

Award winning writer and actress Lesley North wrote a pilot TV series for Basil Brush and contributed to the BBC World Service. She was the sketch writer on the children’s TV series Get It Together.

In her youth she starred in the infamous musical Hair travelling extensively from her Amsterdam base. She finally returned to her Suburban roots in Surrey where she has her fingers in many pies.

Her poetry website, Versatility, provides personal poems to order. She has a one woman show Swimming in Suburbia which she performs to local societies, she has run Acting Workshops, runs an Inventory Company, deals in antiques and is in the final stages of recording a Relaxation CD for nervous fliers.

The Theatre Ghost is her first appearance for Upstage.

Darren is a veterinary surgeon and a 2nd Dan karate blackbelt. A former aerobatic pilot, mountaineer, diver and markedly unsuccessful motor racer. He thinks it important to work beyond the Comfort Zone - especially everyone else’s.

Previously a writer of short stories, Darren now concentrates on radio plays for Upstage, writing, editing and performing in several. He is very excited about his upcoming live performance in Upstage’s A Coy Mistress, a play in which nobody dies, for a change.

Darren is a former holder of a Lawnmower Racing World Record.

Sara first began acting lessons at 11 with Jean Challis and her son John, before he became ‘Boysie’. These two great teachers gave her an ear for comedy and the skills to develop character. She studied drama at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, which put her off acting completely.

Sara loves all things creative and has had a fun-filled career making and teaching the arts in its many forms: sculpture, creative writing, printmaking, textiles and ceramics.

Sara took a leap of faith during lockdown to play Serena in Zoom, a series of 6 comedies in lockdown. This experience reignited her love for comedy and character acting and she has since performed both live on stage and in several radio plays for Upstage.

Rose Shaw most recently played a bitter and disillusioned business woman in Push Up, at the Temple Theatre (previously The Actors Temple). Rose has also appeared in two short films, Phallacy, as an A&E nurse, and The Manager, as an office manager.

Her training includes Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (online), The Independent Centre for Actors Training and with Mel Churcher and James Larkin, The Actors Studio. Rose is also a social worker specialising in adoption.

Tim, an unsatisfied musician, played guitar and piano in his early years and performed a few times at weddings and parties. Now he only performs at karaoke clubs when on holiday.

A retired printer with a love of craft print processes and quality paper, he still undertakes bespoke print projects for clients.

Tim's leisure activities include charity work, long distance cycling, and padel tennis. He has cycled from London to Paris and plans to cycle across Yorkshire in the coming summer. In the summer months, Tim and his partner can be found in Mallorca cycling and walking.

Sarah played the role of Emma Thompson's law Associate, Amy Ward, in the feature film, The Children Act directed by Richard Eyre.

In 2106 she appeared at the Houses of Parliament as Jackie, the Volunteer, in the campaigning play, Food Bank As It Is.

Sarah appears in our radio play, The Launderette.

Spotlight page

Elise has performed at the Walton Playhouse, The Rose and Rhoda McGaw theatres, with a variety of local groups. Shows include Singing in the Rain, Henry, A Tudor Musical, Anastasia and Sleeping Beauty.

She’s currently studying Performing Arts at university and recently achieved a distinction in Musical Theatre at the London College of Music.

The 'bug' hit young Helen, aged 10, playing Dopey in local amateur dramatics and she’s been there ever since. Performing in amateur shows ranging from Shakespeare to Ayckbourn she really enjoys performing comedy and farce.

Having appeared in and/or directed over 40 pantomimes, she now has great fun writing new, fresh scripts with Sarah Edgar (another Upstager).

Helen particularly loves singing, having played many roles in musical theatre including the Narrator in Joseph and solo with an orchestra at Sheffield City Hall.

Jane trained at Italia Conti and then was awarded a scholarship to train at Mountview Theatre School. After graduating, she went on to win an Edinburgh Fringe First and continued to create her own work for a number of years.

She diversified by producing and writing before reconnecting with her acting after having children. Some of her favourite parts include; Erika in Mephisto, Queen Margaret in War of the Roses and the Jester in Twelfth Night.

Caroline came to acting later in life, finally fulfilling a life long ambition by taking a deep breath and knocking on the stage door! She has not looked back since and lead roles in local am dram productions followed, which led to her becoming part of a professional company touring with outdoor productions of Shakespeare and also pantomimes! 

She’s been cast in a couple of independent films and also voice over for an online commercial. 

Caroline came to Upstage having joined the cast of Zoom for lockdown and has since enjoyed being involved in the radio plays that have followed.

Caroline on Spotlight

Caroline on Mandy.com


Susanne has appeared on the stage for many years. She has played various roles, from Principal Boy in panto to Shakespeare's Jessica in The Merchant of Venice. She has also appeared on stage in, Calendar Girls, Arsenic and Old Lace, Stepping Out and Abigail's Party. 

Susanne has worked in advertising for many years, for Saatchi & Saatchi, making TV commercials and she worked with Danny Boyle in the 2012 Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics

Having completed a course in stand-up comedy and after some great gigs in front of the mirror in the bathroom, she performed a successful showcase in Camden. She loved being part of Risky Business, her Upstage debut.

Baschea Walsh works as an Independent Civil Celebrant for weddings and funerals. Previously she has worked in safeguarding and trained people to become receptionists/telephonists in the advertising /creative industries when RP was language related and not role play!

She lives in Horsley and volunteers for a couple of charities yet still manages to find time for her favourite pastime - acting!