Casting

The professional director of The Golden Empress. Trevor Nunn ambition, drama school Sweet Charity execution. Fresh from directing a post-apocalyptic Annie Get Your Gun and a retelling of the assorted works of Marcel Proust in interpretive dance. Most recent new year’s resolution: to incorporate mindfulness more fully into his daily communication practice (answer his emails).

The local MD of The Golden Empress. Has been in love with musical theatre since seeing a touring production of The Pajama Game at Theatre Royal Plymouth aged 11, and would travel up and down the UK as a teenager to see as many shows as he could. Now MDs local productions when he isn’t working as an IT consultant.

The Chairwoman of GONADS, the Great Osterford North Amateur Dramatics Society. Considers herself the Steve Jobs of regional am dram and takes their productions incredibly seriously. Honoria is actually kind and generous, dedicated to a range of causes, but those characteristics are slightly hidden by her occasionally haughty exterior.

Trained at Mountview and worked as an actress for several years, culminating in first cover Fantine/second cover Madame Thenardier (UK tour 2015). Now wife to Tom and mum to Olivia, 4, and Christopher, 2; with Christopher at nursery, Rose is ready to have her life back as an independent woman and a theatrical star.

The resident leading lady of GONADS, Diana has played everyone from Mrs Lovett (twice) to Eliza Doolittle (twice) to Maria von Trapp (four times). She rules over her kingdom as a benevolent dictator, exceptionally well-connected in the local am dram world and always in demand. Somewhat in denial about her age, happily playing parts younger than her grown-up children.

Honoria’s somewhat downtrodden right hand woman, Elaine is the glue that holds the society together. Often to be found running a bake sale, a sponsored swim, or a curry and quiz fundraiser for the upcoming production, Elaine has a strong sense of right and wrong and is drawn to am dram because of her love of musicals and her love of people.

Various women involved in GONADS: New Karen, who, ‘doesn’t drink, as you know’ but never turns down a Chardonnay; Caz Karen, the pathological gossip; Big Karen, who's been in GONADS the longest; wardrobe mistress Little Karen; Carrie Karen, who wants to make sure everyone is faithful to the 1992 Tokyo cast recording; and Glasses Karen, who mostly keeps herself to herself... Karen's outfit and hair is generic, like her -- shoulder length, dark and plainly styled.