Team
Collaboration is integral to Tell Tale Hearts' work. It is an important means for the artists to make connections, share their ideas/skills and explore the possibilities of exploiting cross art forms.
"Early childhood is a faraway place and theatre can be one of the many ways to try to reach it,
because it is a 'human' language. It forces human beings to meet each other face-to-face, showing all
kinds of diversities."
Roberto Frabetti
For a visual theatre show to work fluidly, the distinctions between the different contributing art forms must appear seamless.
Director: Natasha Holmes
Theatre Designer: Sophia Lovell Smith
Designer: Jo McFarlane
Sound Designer/Composer: Michael Szpakowski
Technical Producer: Lars Jensen
Company Administrator: Jane Nicholson
Trained at Ecole d' Philippe Gaulier and The City Lit, London. Natasha worked for 10 years as a performer & puppeteer in London working for many theatre companies & venues including; Theatre Rites, DNA, Little Angel Theatre, BAC and ACT based in Paris.
"To be able to ignite a child's joy and imagination is a treasured experience, one I never take
for granted and one that constantly inspires me to create more theatre. Children are the best
possible audience an actor or director could hope for."
Natasha Holmes – Director
She co-founded Tell Tale Hearts in 1997 with Isabel Caballero and they toured internationally with the company, performing comic physical theatre shows for adults. In 2003 Natasha took over the role as sole artistic director of the company and changed the focus to an exclusively children's theatre company, intent on raising the profile of theatre for early years. Since then the company has continued to chart unknown seas, embarking on fantastical journeys, always inviting the audience 'on board'.
Sophia has extensive design experience with some of the UK's leading theatre companies including: Theatre by the Lake (Keswick), Graeae Theatre, Little Angel Puppet Theatre, Trestle, Unicorn Theatre, Theatre Rites, and Tam Tam Theatre.
"As a child I made dens and mud pies at the bottom of the garden, created miniature worlds
with shells, seeds and flowers in a shoe box or a 'garden on a plate'. I still am having
fun, only now they're called theatre sets with real people who like dressing up."
Sophia Lovell Smith – Theatre Designer
Sophia has been up in Cumbria again with Keswick's Theatre by the Lake, having previously designed for the summer seasons back in 2002 and 2005, she has this time designed The Bogus Woman, The Lonesome West and The Caretaker.
She has also been artist in residence on three Creative Partnership London projects; Sheep shearing and felt making for Tudor Slippers, designing two nursery role play areas and a city woodland learning centre. And as a change from theatre she has been designing for Bennison Fabrics for their 2009 calendar.
Sophia's 2007 designs include Graeae Theatre's The Flower Girls (Hampstead Theatre), Trestle Theatre's Little India (Arts Theatre & tour), Unicorn Theatre's Jemima Puddleduck and Her Friends, Hot Mikado (Mountview Theatre school at Chelsea Theatre), The Last Line of Defence (PBAB 7 Farnham Maltings) and Handa's Surprise (The Little Angel Puppet Theatre) at Unicorn Theatre.
Sophia is delighted to be back with Tell Tale Hearts for Space Hoppers having previously designed A Story for All Seasons and Beneath The Waves.
"I have loved working on several Tell Tale Hearts projects over the past years. I especially
love the strong sense of collaboration amongst all members of the team and the opportunity to turn
everyday objects into the building blocks of inviting theatrical worlds for young children. I
strongly believe in leaving time and space to allow children's imaginations to blossom and for these
young theatre goers to be allowed to fill in the gaps themselves."
Jo McFarlane – Designer
Jo McFarlane studied Theatre Design at Bretton Hall, University of Leeds. Since then she has worked for many companies including Lawrence Batley Theatre, Full Body and the Voice, Figment Theatre and Impact.
She also enjoys working on community projects and most recently was involved in the Huddersfield Carnival.
Jo has been working with Tell Tale Hearts for several years now as part of the design team on Beneath The Waves, as designer for Rumpelstiltskin, Suitcase Stories and in 2008 she created the stunning set, puppets and costume for the innovative Black Light Theatre project Arctic Antics.
Artist, composer & educator. He has worked professionally in the arts since 1977. His music has been performed in Russia, the United States and all over the UK, at venues including the Purcell Room on London's South Bank and Birmingham Symphony Hall, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and the World Service.
"For me the beating heart of theatre is still the simple fact of the human being on stage; the body, the voice, and the immediacy of the human presence. Without that, nothing. The rest of us are there to support, to focus, maybe even to gild a bit, that fundamental magic. I guess that's where my specialisms of music and video come in…"
"…Music's been doing that thing since the birth of theatre, but the last twenty years have
seen the sophistication & I hope, the subtlety too, of what we can do grow exponentially. Video
is a newcomer. Again if it's used sensibly and doesn't think it's the guest of honour it can really
help, and help in its own particular way, to heighten atmosphere, storytelling, humour, wonder.
That's what I try to do anyway."
Michael Szpakowski – Sound Designer/Composer
His short videos have been screened in the US, Russia, Canada, China, Croatia, Turkey, Sweden, Finland and the West Bank and he has exhibited work in galleries in both the US and the UK. He is joint editor of the leading online video resource dvblog.org.
Originally launched as a computer programmer, his voyage of discovery has taken him to many ports, notably those of theatre and boatbuilding.
"The taking part and sharing in a creative activity, surely ranks amongst the most satisfying and
rewarding of experiences. I like to think our performances enable children to do exactly that."
Lars Jensen – Technical Production.
He has worked for Horse & Bamboo, The Royal Court, Faulty Optic, Twisted I and The Faceless Company amongst many others and has now moored his barge 'Simpol' with the good folks of Tell Tale Hearts, where he keeps the 'poop deck' ship-shape. Lars is a skilled technical designer and inventive set builder who uses his talents in lighting design, electrical production and carpentry to create stunning performance environments.
Jane works freelance as a part time office administrator alongside her proper job as an Artist which is actually just a very expensive hobby. Before Tell Tale Hearts, Jane worked for many corporate companies but decided that the freedom of incorporating her office and organisational skills in a creative sector suited her much better.
"When I was young my favourite games were to sing, dance, play dressing up and use my surroundings to create new worlds. Therefore to be part of a team that helps form wonderful and lasting memories for children is a treasured thing."
Jane Nicholson – Company Administrator
