Friends of Scratchworks

Meet the brilliant people who help bring our productions and projects to life,
both past and present


creative collaborators

Alison Cowling - perrormer

Alison is an actor musician, director and improviser who joined Scratchworks in 2020 for the Spring Tour of Great Train Robbery. She is a workshop director & facilitator who works regularly with the Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatre and Dragonbird Theatre. She is also a member of theatre companies, Riddlestick Theatre and INKBLOC ensemble.

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Andrew Armfield - composer/actor musician

Andy is an actor, musician and composer who joined Scratchworks as Music Collaborator for their most recent show Hags: A Magical Extravaganza, and is Audio Editor for their Stories from the Sticks podcast. He has toured extensively as an actor musician across the UK with Folksy Theatre since 2016, performing open-air Shakespeare in the Summer and family shows at Christmas, which he also writes and arranges the music for. 

Steph Kempson - director

Steph has been a friend of the company for years, who joined us to direct The Snow Beast and Wild, Wild Woods.
Stephanie is a Fringe First award-winning director from Bristol. She is the artistic director of her own company, Sharp Teeth Theatre who are associate artists with The Wardrobe Theatre.

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Charlotte Warner - performer

Charlotte is an actor, performer and voice-over artist who joined Scratchworks in 2020 for the Spring Tour of Great Train Robbery. She is also Co-Director of Tell Tale Tits, who's first show 'Her Ps and Qs', which Charlotte makes up one half of the double act for, can be seen performing on the comedy circuit in London and at Fringe festivals throughout 2020.

Maddy Jevon

Happily retired, Maddy met us in 2015 when Maddy came in to draw and paint the rehearsals for our show, Nel. Maddy now enjoys life with art in a myriad of forms and satisfies her senses of the ridiculous by tap dancing which requires dressing up and laughing a lot. Maddy has been in documenting our most recent project  - Women of Wonder - through her illustrations & paintings.

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Jack Dean - writer/perfomer/
composer/sound designer

Jack Dean is a poet, playwright, performer, emcee and composer. Jack wrote The Snow Beast (2017-18) and the brand new audio book, Faina & The Snow Beast. His work tells stories that wander the lands between myth, memory and history.

Katie Villa -
Director

Katie is a freelance director based in Exeter and is the Artistic Director of Quirk Theatre. She directed our production of Hags: A Magical Extravaganza & introduced us to the epic “ball in the bin"“.

She is also a Clore Leadership Fellow, passionate about creating a more resilient, generous and sustainable arts sector in her beloved South West.

tech + production

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Anna Thairs - graphic designer

Anna is our graphic designer, creating Scratchworks’ marketing and branding. She has been working with us since the very beginning in 2013. Anna works in advertising as a Senior Strategic Planner in London and Australia. She has a background in illustration and fine art with an MA Visual Arts (Illustration) from Camberwell College of Arts (2015).

Nathan Benjamin - technical manager

Nathan is a South-West based lighting designer and technician, currently working as the Technical Manager for the Performing Arts degree programmes at Plymouth Marjon University. He has joined us on many of our shows, including The Snow Beast, Hags: A Magical Extravanganza and Wild, Wild Woods.

Marina o’Shea - producing/marketing

Marina has joined us as our Producer/Marketing lead on The Snow Beast, Wild, Wild Woods & Hags: A Magical Extravaganza (2022 - 2023)

Marina is also a performer, theatre maker and writer, and has worked extensively in theatre and film.