Introducing the Company: Sonia Beck, Cast

Sonia trained at the Arts Educational Schools, London. Her recent work includes Mrs Llantristant/Valentine (Aberystwyth Mon Amour) King Of The Sky (Pontardawe Arts Centre) Hell's Bells by Lynne Truss (Pleasance Theatre) Stevie in Barkin' by Frank Vickery (Grassroots); Edith Piaf in Piaf (Swansea Grand); Shirley Valentine and  An Inspector Calls Back  (Cheltenham Everyman); Murder On Air (Bill Kenwright Ltd); Present Laughter (Ian Dickens Productions); Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Arundel Festival). She has toured nationally for  Compass Theatre, North Country Theatre  and Oxfordshire Touring amongst others, as well as two Shakespeare seasons for Vienna's English Theatre playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Phebe in As You Like It.

Film roles include: Julie in The Blast Project (Shoot Productions), Fran in Shelter (Edge Picture Co), Nurse in Dementia (WhiteboatTV), Kristina in Jawbone (EMU Films)  and WPC in The Golden Years (Moli Films) Roles for Lighthouse include Shirley Valentine; Mrs Llantrisant/Valentine (Aberystwyth Mon Amour) Laura/Myrtle in Brief Encounters; Mrs Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer; Ebeneeza Scrooge (Dickens And Dylan) and the singer in Reminiscences of Childhood.

CHARACTER INSIGHT: Sleary, Proprietor of a Circus

"People must be amused. They can’t always be a learning, nor yet they can’t be always a working, they aren’t made for it.”

From Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Introducing the Company: Vern Griffiths, Cast

A performer for over twenty years, Vern trained at The Poor School in London, and has toured all over the world. His credits include: Lt Pascoe in Trafalgar: Battle Surgeon for C4, Dewi Morgan in Stella for Sky One, three series of Those That Can't and Social Club FM on BBC Radio Wales as well as being the resident Geek on the Chris Corcoran Show (BBC Radio Wales) He is passionate about traditional pantomime and has appeared as Dame all over the country – oh, yes he has! Vern also performs as Julian D’Angelo, South Wales’ Leading Psychic Phenom.

CHARACTER INSIGHT: Mrs. Sparsit

“Nothing that a noodle does can awaken surprise or indignation: the proceedings of a noodle can only inspire contempt.”

Mrs. Sparsit had not only seen different days, but was highly connected....And here she was now, in her elderly days, with the Coriolanian style of nose and the dense black eyebrows which had captivated Sparsit, making Mr. Bounderby’s tea as he took his breakfast.

from Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Introducing the Company: Tic Ashfield, Composer

Tic is a composer and sound designer based in South Wales. She has created music and sound for numerous projects including work for film, TV, contemporary dance, theatre, animation, installation and educational outreach projects. Notable projects and collaborators include Hinterland / Y Gwyll (Fiction Factory/BBC/S4C/All3Media), Die Fledermaus - Digital Workshop Leader (Welsh National Opera), Romeo and Juliet (Omidaze Productions), A Bird In A Cage (Winding Snake Productions), {150} (National Theatre Wales), Henry VI (Omidaze Productions), The Gathering (National Theatre Wales), The Men Who Invented Scotland (BBC2), The Girl In The Diary (S4C), Isaac Newton: The Last Magician (BBC2), Tir Sir Gar (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru). She is a creative team member at both John Hardy Music and Winding Snake Productions. Tic has led music workshops for companies such as Welsh National Opera and Winding Snake Productions.  She is also a lecturer in composition with Technology at RWCMD. 

CHARACTER INSIGHT: Louisa, Gradgrind's Daughter

When she was half a dozen years younger, Louisa had been overheard to begin a conversation with her brother one day, by saying ‘Tom, I wonder’—upon which Mr. Gradgrind, who was the person overhearing, stepped forth into the light and said, ‘Louisa, never wonder!’

from Hard Times by Charles Dickens