A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - May 2025
REVIEW
“Without a tree in sight, in a bare room illuminated by domestic ceiling lights, without wings (neither of the fairy nor stage-side variety), without even, frankly, a stage, this show creates a kind of magic rarely seen in more lavish productions. It’s a magic that comes not from special effects, but from an intelligent, original, refreshing interpretation of the script that is founded, above all, in love.”
“This production finds that rarest of things: the narrow path through the woods between innovation and tradition. A Midsummer Night’s Dream has always been there. But tonight it felt like it had just been written.”
CAST
PETER QUINCE Tom Allen
FRANCIS FLUTE Callum Beardmore
PUCK Arthur Bellamy
TITANIA Kitty Brown
OBERON Rowan Brown
TOM SNOUT Megan Bruton
PHILOSTRATE Josh Clare
COBWEB Emily Cullinan
PEASEBLOSSOM Rebecca Harper
SNUG Freddie Houlahan (covered on Fri matinee by Wren Talbot-Ponsonby)
ROBIN STARVELING Carys Howell
NICK BOTTOM David Ingham
EGEUS Laurentien Jungkamp
MUSTARDSEED Sophie Kempenaar
DEMETRIUS Hugh Linklater
HELENA Katie Maybin
FAIRY Gigi McCauley
MUSICIAN Cara Nicol
HIPPOLYTA Esther O’Neill
LYSANDER Tom Onslow
THESEUS Tom Pavey
MOTH Princess Raji
MUSICIAN Anna Volstad
HERMIA Elouise Wills
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DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Priya Toberman
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Antonia Anstatt
ARRANGER Cara Nicol
CHOREOGRAPHER Rebecca Harper
INTIMACY CO-ORDINATOR Sophie Cooch
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Emily Polhill
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Wren Talbot-Ponsonby
ROMEO AND JULIET - February 2025
Following its run in College, this production toured to schools in Abergavenny and Port Talbot.
REVIEW
“For this production, the latest in Jesus College’s thirteen-year quest to perform all Shakespeare’s plays in order of composition, Sutton has taken the remarkable, almost unprecedented, step of avoiding any sort of ‘angle’ on the play at all. It’s not set in a sink housing estate, it doesn’t shove the homosexual subtext down your throat, and it doesn’t even give house-room to the by-now-standard reading of the ending as being an immediate return to the inescapable cycle of vendettas that have dogged the Capulet and Montague families for so long. Instead, this production hands responsibility for the play’s meaning to William Shakespeare. This is both brave and powerful.”
“Powerful, because, as it turns out, Romeo and Juliet works extremely well if you trust the lines. This cast trusts them, understands them, and delivers them with all the emphasis and character they merit – no more and no less. […] That stripped-back style is a by-product of the intentional bareness of its vision, and the foregrounding of some of the most beautiful love poetry ever written. This is not just a night for Shakespeare’s young lovers. It’s a night for all Shakespeare lovers.”
CAST
CHORUS Tom Allen (covered on tour by David Ingham)
PRINCE ESCALUS Antonia Anstatt
MERCUTIO Luke Bannister
ROMEO Callum Beardmore
BENVOLIO Arthur Bellamy
MONTAGUE’S WIFE Nathalie Bond
CAPULET’S WIFE Kitty Brown
GREGORY Aria Chakravorty
PETER Josh Clare
TYBALT Gilon Fox (covered by Freddie Houlahan in Oxford (Sat eve) and Ross Patey on tour)
NURSE Lydia Free (covered on tour by Rowan Brown)
OLD CAPULET Ollie Gillam
SISTER JOAN Isabella Hickman (covered on tour by Priya Toberman)
SAMPSON David Ingham (covered in Oxford by Freddie Houlahan (Fri) and Tom Onslow (Sat))
VOCALIST Laurentien Jungkamp
FRIAR LAURENCE Lam Guanxiong
PARIS Hugh Linklater
APOTHECARY Tom Onslow
OLD MONTAGUE Ross Patey (covered on tour by Tom Allen)
JULIET Emily Polhill
PETRUCHIO Princess Raji (except tour)
BALTHASAR Mark van Eykenhof
MUSICIAN Anna Volstad
ABRAHAM Ellie Yau (covered by Priya Toberman on Sat eve in Oxford)
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DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Rosie Morgan-Males
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Priya Toberman
ARRANGER Laurentien Jungkamp
INTIMACY CO-ORDINATOR Sophie Cooch
WELFARE OFFICER Rowena Sears
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST - November 2024
REVIEW
“Traditionally, this play is neither the most popular nor the most accessible of Shakespeare’s comedies […] And the idea of a bunch of irresistible women happening to turn up and besiege the castle with romance, while the reclusive scholars instantly fall madly in love with them, can seem contrived at best… Until, that is, you set the whole thing at Oxford University in 1974. Then it all makes perfect sense. I don’t know what that says about Oxford, but it certainly makes for one of the most hilarious, moving and relevant versions of this play I have ever seen. In 2024 Jesus College is celebrating 50 years since women were first admitted as undergraduates. It was a momentous year, and director Peter Sutton pays tribute to it with this timely and inventive interpretation.”
“Portrayed not as a Princess and her retinue, but as female students battering at the door of a male educational stronghold, and conquering it, they recreate the events of 1974 with hardly a textual tweak of the original script. It all fits perfectly. […] Not only is this one of the most natural, fitting, modern adaptations of a Shakespeare play you could hope to see, it also isn’t afraid to have fun, adding judiciously chosen songs and phrases whenever appropriate.”
CAST
HOLOFERNES Tom Allen
SCOUT Antonia Anstatt
DULL Callum Beardmore
MOTH Arthur Bellamy
SCOUT Nathalie Bond
ROSALINE Kitty Brown
THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE Aria Chakravorty
SCOUT Emily Cullinan
VOCALIST Ben Gilchrist
BEROWNE Ollie Gillam
MARIA Isabella Hickman
COSTARD David Ingham
VOCALIST Laurentien Jungkamp
DON ADRIANO DE ARMADO Lam Guanxiong
LONGAVILLE Hugh Linklater
SIR NATHANIEL Matthew McConkey
DUMAINE Tom Onslow
FERDINAND Ross Patey
BOYET Riley Plaut-Deweese
JAQUENETTA Emily Polhill
VOCALIST Aditya Raj
VOCALIST Nikhil Singh
VOCALIST Priya Toberman
MARCADE Mark van Eykenhof
SCOUT Lleucu Wiliam
KATHERINE Elouise Wills
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Rosie Morgan-Males
DRAMATURG Caroline Taylor
ARRANGER Ben Gilchrist
WELFARE OFFICER Rowena Sears
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Ellie Yau
ACCESS AND OUTREACH LEAD Shelby Knighten
KING JOHN - May 2024
REVIEW
“The Jesus College Shakespeare Project reveals King John to be not just a thrilling watch, replete with betrayal, murder, battles and unexpected twists, but also stylistically and thematically in step with our own cynical age.”
“As ever, the Jesus College company members deliver their lines with a degree of clarity, pace and perception that would leave many a professional troupe blushing. From the humblest messenger to the lead role, the verse-speaking is so immaculate that it makes you realise why experts go on about it so much. Basically, if you do it right, everyone can understand what you’re talking about, and these actors do it so right.”
CAST
LADY FAULCONBRIDGE Deborah Acheampong
QUEEN ELINOR Antonia Anstatt
DAUPHIN Arthur Bellamy
MAYOR OF ANGIERS Emily Cullinan
CONSTANCE Helen Dallas
LORD MELUN Joseph Downing
EARL OF SALISBURY Gilon Fox
PHILIP THE BASTARD Ollie Gillam
CHATILLON Isabella Hickman
CARDINAL PANDULPH Rijul Jain
EARL OF ESSEX Louis Johnson
DUKE OF AUSTRIA Hugh Linklater
JAMES GURNEY Adam Najmudin Hall
MAYOR OF ANGIERS’S SECRETARY Hetty Nicholls
KING PHILIP THE SECOND Roman Pitman
LADY BLANCHE OF SPAIN Emily Polhill
ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE Gianluca Rabaiotti
KING JOHN Alex Still
EARL OF PEMBROKE Edgar Viola
ARTHUR Elouise Wills
PRINCE HENRY Nathaniel Wintraub (covered by Adam Najmudin Hall)
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Geena Morris
WELFARE OFFICER Emma Haran
COSTUME ASSISTANT Maya Herz
ACCESS AND OUTREACH LEAD Megan Bruton
TITUS ANDRONICUS - February 2024
Following its run in College, this production transferred to Solihull School Chapel as part of the Inaugural Solihull School Shakespeare Festival.
REVIEW
“Peter Sutton’s production, part of his ongoing Jesus College Shakespeare Project, conveys all the horror of Shakespeare’s original, and yet it never once descends into gratuitous violence. It is simultaneously graphic and restrained, shocking and thought-provoking, awful and beautiful.”
“This production triumphs not just at bringing home the beauty and terror of Titus, but also in underlining its contemporary relevance. The barely-believable brutality meted out by one sectarian group on another, the mercilessness of revenge attacks, the use of rape as a weapon of war… we have not moved on very far from the days of early Rome. This Titus Andronicus, with its honesty, openness and intensity, may not offer any hope for the future, but it draws the curtain to show the heart of darkness most governments and people seek to ignore.”
CAST
CLOWN Deborah Acheampong (except Solihull)
AEMILIA Antonia Anstatt
TAMORA Leah Aspden
ACCORDION Saul Bailey
DEMETRIUS Ethan Bareham
CHIRON Arthur Bellamy
FIRST GOTH Emily Cullinan
QUINTUS Jack Edis (covered in Solihull by Tom Allen)
LAVINIA Kate Harkness
ROMAN CAPTAIN Isabella Hickman
AARON Rijul Jain
NURSE Hafeja Khanam
BALLAD SINGER Solas McDonald (covered in Solihull by Peter Sutton)
SECOND GOTH Rosie Morgan-Males (covered in Solihull by Emily Cullinan)
MUTIUS Geena Morris
SATURNINUS Tom Pavey
TITUS ANDRONICUS Roman Pitman
BASSIANA Emily Polhill
LUCIUS Josh Sneddon
MARCUS ANDRONICUS Alex Still
ALARBUS Elouise Wills (covered in Solihull by Mae Lavender Forsyth)
MARTIUS Nathaniel Wintraub
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Mae Lavender Forsyth
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Rosie Morgan-Males
INTIMACY DIRECTOR Sophie Cooch
DRAMATURG & CO-WELFARE OFFICER Jules Upson
DESIGNER May Liu Cannon
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Emma Haran
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Niamh Jones
ACCESS AND OUTREACH LEAD Megan Bruton
RICHARD III - November 2023
REVIEW
“All hail the Jesus College Shakespeare Project. In just over two years it has become an Oxford institution, a standard-bearer for high-quality Shakespearean drama, and a long-term social experiment. […] Why ‘long-term social experiment’? It’s because performing the plays in order, spaced out at four-month intervals, gives a hint of something that hasn’t been seen or experienced since Shakespeare wrote them: continuity. Not just thematic continuity, but also human continuity, both for the audiences and the actors. […] With the JCSP we can feel something of the mounting excitement that must have bubbled up when a new play was being written, irrespective of its reputation. For those old enough to remember, it’s not unlike the thrill that cinema-going audiences felt in the early 2000s when a new Harry Potter film came out each year. But better.”
CAST
GHOST OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH Tom Allen
THE DUCHESS OF YORK Antonia Anstatt
SIR WILLIAM CATESBY Saul Bailey
GHOST OF PRINCE EDWARD OF WESTMINSTER Ethan Bareham
PRINCE RICHARD OF YORK Arthur Bellamy
LADY ANNE NEVILLE Grace Bellorini
EARL RIVERS Leo Bevan
HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND Megan Bruton
LADY STANLEY, COUNTESS OF DERBY Helen Dallas
LORD HASTINGS Jake Dann
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON Lauren Goralsky
SECOND MURDERER Emma Haran
RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER Kate Harkness
MARGARET BEAUFORT Isabella Hickman
BRAKENBURY Carys Howell
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Rijul Jain
SIR RICHARD RATCLIFFE Solas McDonald
PRINCESS ELIZABETH OF YORK Rosie Morgan-Males
FIRST MURDERER Adam Najmudin Hall
GEORGE STANLEY Hetty Nicholls
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH Roman Pitman
JOURNALIST Emily Polhill
THE BISHOP OF ELY Rowena Sears
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM Alex Still
QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU Caroline Taylor
QUEEN ELIZABETH Ella Turner
GEORGE, DUKE OF CLARENCE Jules Upson
KING EDWARD THE FIFTH Edgar Viola
SIR JAMES TYRREL Elouise Wills
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Ethan Bareham
FRESHER SHADOW DIRECTOR Mae Lavender Forsyth
DESIGNER May Liu Cannon
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Niamh Jones
CO-WELFARE OFFICER Flora Wilson
ACCESS AND OUTREACH LEAD Megan Bruton
HENRY VI, PART THREE - May 2023
REVIEW
“Powerful, grounded, clear as a bell, the actors nailed this play with passion and dignity in equal measure. There were no claims of radical reinterpretation: it was about as ‘straight’ a production as you’re likely to see. But for one of Shakespeare’s less-well-known plays, simply watching and understanding is enough. The traverse staging meant that the audience, in only two rows each side, was close to the action, and we felt immersed in it.”
“The overall impression is of a repertory family overflowing with mutual love and respect.”
CAST
KING HENRY THE SIXTH Tom Allen
THE DUCHESS OF YORK Antonia Anstatt
PRINCE EDWARD OF WESTMINSTER Ethan Bareham
EARL OF SALISBURY Alex Bridges
DUCHESS OF EXETER Megan Bruton
MOTHER THAT HATH KILLED HER DAUGHTER Audie Campbell-Eby
LADY BONA Josh Clare
EARL OF WARWICK Reuben Cooper
DAUGHTER THAT HATH KILLED HER MOTHER Ella Craddock
QUEEN LOUISE OF FRANCE Helen Dallas
FIRST KEEPER Emma Haran
RICHARD (GLOUCESTER) Kate Harkness
LORD HASTINGS Freddie Houlahan
BRAKENBURY Carys Howell
LORD CLIFFORD Eddie Laurence
RUTLAND Olivia McQuaid
SECOND KEEPER Adam Najmudin Hall
EARL OF OXFORD Hetty Nicholls
EDWARD (KING EDWARD THE FOURTH) Roman Pitman
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Aravind Ravi
CHAPLAIN Rowena Sears
CHAOS (SPIRIT OF JOAN AND CADE) Jess Steadman
QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU Caroline Taylor
ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, LADY GREY Ella Turner
GEORGE (CLARENCE) Jules Upson
EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND Edgar Viola
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Max Morgan
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Jess Steadman
DESIGNER & WELFARE OFFICER Lily Askham
HENRY VI, PART TWO - February 2023
CAST
KING HENRY THE SIXTH Tom Allen
DAME WILHELMA STAFFORD Antonia Anstatt
EARL OF SALISBURY Alex Bridges
SIMON SIMPCOX Megan Bruton
PETER Audie Campbell-Eby
DICK THE BUTCHER Josh Clare
EARL OF WARWICK Reuben Cooper
HUME Ella Craddock
MARGARET JOURDAIN Helen Dallas (covered by Ella Turner)
EARL OF SUFFOLK Jake Dann
CAPTAIN Emma Haran
DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER Kate Harkness
SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD Jonathan Honnor
DUKE OF SOMERSET Freddie Houlahan
THOMAS HORNER Carys Howell
LORD CLIFFORD Eddie Laurence
GEORGE Olivia McQuaid
WALTER WHITMORE Adam Najmudin Hall
CLERK OF CHATHAM Peregrine Neger
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Aravind Ravi
SIMPCOX’S WIFE Rowena Sears
JACK CADE Jess Steadman
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER Alex Still
QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU Caroline Taylor
NICK Ella Turner
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM Jules Upson
MICHAEL Edgar Viola
CARDINAL BEAUFORT Am Wyckoff
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Max Morgan
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Thomas Vallely
DESIGNER & WELFARE OFFICER Lily Askham
HENRY VI, PART ONE - November 2022
REVIEW
“This production was deceptively simply staged in Jesus College Dining Hall. I say ‘deceptively’ because it seemed so natural in execution that the bold directorial decisions underpinning it made perfect and immediate sense.”
CAST
KING HENRY THE SIXTH Tom Allen
REIGNIER Alex Bridges
DUCHESS OF EXETER Megan Bruton
GAOLER Audie Campbell-Eby
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER Rivu Chowdhury
DAUPHIN Josh Clare
EARL OF WARWICK Reuben Cooper
BASSET Ella Craddock
BASTARD OF ORLEANS Chloe Fairbanks
EDMUND MORTIMER Jonathan Honnor
DUKE OF SOMERSET Freddie Houlahan
GENERAL LUCY Juliette Imbert (covered by Caroline Taylor)
EARL OF SUFFOLK Sam King (covered by Thomas Vallely)
JOHN TALBOT Eddie Laurence
ENGLISH CAPTAIN Olivia McQuaid
DUKE OF BURGUNDY Adam Najmudin Hall
RICHARD PLANTAGENET Aravind Ravi
JOAN OF ARC Jess Steadman
MARGARET OF ANJOU Caroline Taylor
VERNON Ella Turner
SIR JOHN TALBOT Jules Upson
BISHOP OF WINCHESTER Am Wyckoff
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Max Morgan
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Thomas Vallely
DESIGNER & WELFARE OFFICER Lily Askham
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW - May 2022
CAST
TRANIA Cosi Aslangul
CURTIS Megan Bruton
BAPTISTA MINOLA Rivu Chowdhury
BIANCA MINOLA Ella Craddock (covered by Lydia Free on Sat evening)
LUCENTIO Tijmen Dietvorst
GREMIO Jack Edis
HORTENSIO Joel Fernandez
PETRUCHIO Michael Freeman
TAILOR Jonathan Honnor (covered by Peter Sutton on Sat matinee)
GRUMIO Eddie Laurence
VINCENTIO Adam Najmudin Hall
BIONDELLO Thomas Phillip
BUSINESSWOMAN Mitra Stainsbury
BAPTISTA’S PA Myfanwy Taylor-Bean
KATHERINE MINOLA Harriet Thomas
WIDOW Chen Xu
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Vanessa Silva
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA - February 2022
CAST
TURIO Gabriel Blackwell
LAUNCE Megan Bruton
PANTHINA Coco Cottam
JULIA Lydia Free
LUCETTA Imogen Front
PROTEUS Sohaib Hassan
SPEED Alex Hopkins-McQuillan
SIR EGLAMOUR Edward McLaren
THIRD OUTLAW Max Morgan
FIRST OUTLAW Adam Najmudin Hall
SECOND OUTLAW Hetty Nicholls
HOST Jaya Rana
SINGER Emma Starbuck
DUKE OF MILAN Alex Still
SINGER Peter Sutton
SILVIA Caroline Taylor
VALENTINE Daniel Wilkinson
ANTONIA Chen Xu
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Vanessa Silva
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS - November 2021
CAST
LUCIANA Robyn Allen
LUCE Nora Baker
OFFICER Rebecca Barton (covered by Peter Sutton)
DROMIO OF EPHESUS Megan Bruton
DR PINCH Samir Chitnavis
COURTESAN Chloe Fairbanks
ANGELO Joel Fernandez
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Alice Kenny
EGEON Edward McLaren
JAILER Angus Millard
BALTHASAR Max Morgan
DUKE SOLINUS Syren Singh
ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS Alex Still
ADRIANA Caroline Taylor
LOANSHARK Josh Taylor
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Sam Thomas
ABBESS EMILIA Chen Xu
DIRECTOR Peter Sutton
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Niky Pasolini
COMPOSER Niky Pasolini
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The Jesus College Shakespeare Project is a collaboration between the Access and Development teams of Jesus College, and aims to bring Shakespeare’s work to younger and broader audiences, as well as to present performances for the College and university community and as part of our alumni events programme.
