THE FESTIVAL PLAYERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Composer and Musical Director
Job Titles:
- Administrator / the Festival Players Theatre Company
- Administrator and Tour Booker
Michael studied at the Rose Bruford Drama School and began his professional career as an actor with a season of weekly repertory in Folkestone. Then followed several years in provincial rep and various roles on television. During a career which has so far spanned over 45 years he has been an actor, theatre manager, director, teacher and lecturer. He became Artistic Director of the famous Minack Open-Air Theatre in Cornwall in 1981 and in an eight year tenure he directed such productions as War and Peace, The Tempest, The Jew of Malta, and played Salieri in Amadeus, and Aslan in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Michael toured the South-West with Cornwall Theatre Company and on several occasions was guest director at the Lake Worth Playhouse, Florida; for his contribution to the Arts in South Florida he was awarded the Freedom of the City of Lake Worth. In 1989 he became Artistic Director and Manager of the Palace Theatre, Redditch, directing 10 seasons of Professional Repertory, Pantomime, and an annual Shakespeare production. In 2001 he joined The Festival Players to co-direct Henry V, and subsequently became Artistic Director.
Trish Knight-Webb founded The Festival Players Theatre Company in 1986, directing its first production Romeo and Juliet for the Three Choirs Festival. She directed and performed in most of the productions and was Artistic Director of the Company until 2001.