Shuggy Boats

JOCKA: DAVE JOHNS

Dave is one of the UK’s most respected and best loved stand-up comics and actors. In a career spanning 4 decades, he has consistently produced work that is both exciting and challenging. A multi-award-winning film actor, accomplished stage actor and skilled improvisor who has appeared on London's West End stage, Dave is best known for his breakthrough lead role in Ken Loach's critically acclaimed film 'I, Daniel Blake' (winner of the coveted Palme D'Or Award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and the 2017 BAFTA for Best British Film)  for which he won the Empire Film Award for Best Newcomer and BIFA award for best Actor.  Dave starred in the two ‘Fishermen’s Friends’ movies; appeared with Alison Steadman in ‘23 Weeks’; has a recurring role in ‘The Dumping Ground’ and starred in the emotional video for Sam Fender’s ‘Remender My Name’. He has just wrapped on his first Christmas movie, alongside Richard E Grant, and hosts regular chats with stars of stage and screen, in the format of Desert Island Flicks, at the Tyneside Cinema. Dave has also written for the stage and has two published plays, including ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, which is still touring. His stage adaptation of ‘I, Daniel Blake’ for Northern Stage won him the North East Culture Awards 'Writer of the Year' in 2023.

CAROLYN: NATALIE ANN JAMIESON

Natalie Ann Jamieson is an actor from Newcastle upon Tyne. She trained at Rose Bruford College and is best known for playing Amy Wyatt in ‘Emmerdale’. Her screen work also includes ‘Vera’, ‘Doctors’ and ‘I, Daniel Blake’. Natalie is delighted to be returning to the stage at Live Theatre, where she was previously a youth theatre member and has appeared in several productions over the years.

MAEVE: PHILLIPPA WILSON

Phillippa is delighted to be back at Live Theatre where she started her professional career in 1989 and has worked here many times since. Her television credits include ‘Badger’, ‘Spender, ‘Where the Heart Is’, ‘Emmerdale’ and ‘Eastenders’. Her theatre includes ‘Pitmen Painters’, ‘Bandits’ and many more and is so excited to be part of ‘Shuggy Boats’.

ANGIE: LIBBY DAVISON

Libby Davison is best known for playing DI Liz Rawton in ‘The Bill’ from 1996 to 1999. She made her TV debut as Gloria, the fitness teacher in ‘Byker Grove’. She has also appeared in ‘Our Friends in the North’, ‘Holby City’, ‘Doctors’, ‘The Royal Today’ and films ‘Little Richard Wrecked Our Marriage’ and ‘Purely Belter’. She started her career in theatre, working in and around the northeast for 12 years, most notably in Karin Young’s ‘Awkward Squad’, which played in the West End and on successful national tour.

FINGERS FOSTER: ALICYA EYO

Alicya is most famous for her role as Denny Blood in ‘Bad Girls’ and as Ruby Haswell in ‘Emmerdale’. She has appeared in numerous drama series including ‘Help’, ‘Silent Witness’, ‘Bombshell’, ‘Waterloo Road’, ‘Little Boy Blue’ and ‘The Gathering’. Alicya has performed at various theatres including the Royal Court Theatre, Theatre Royal (Nottingham), Theatre 503 and the Everyman (Liverpool). She also performed in the critically acclaimed play ‘Any Which Way’.

RYAN : BENJAMIN STOREY

Benjamin is an actor and writer from Newcastle upon Tyne, with training from Live’s Youth Group and Motherwell College, Glasgow. Recent theatre credits include 'Macbeth' & 'Midsummer Night’s Dream' (Elysium Theatre). 'The Boy & The Seahorse' (Regional Tour) and 'A Christmas Carol' (Northern Stage). Benjamin is elated to be working alongside such an inspiring creative team and cast.

KAZ : SOROOSH LAVASANI

Soroosh is a graduate of LAMDA and has toured in  'Animal Farm', 'The Kite Runner', 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong'. He performed in 'The Bounds' at The Royal Court and Live Theatre and in 'Our Laygate" at the Customs House Theatre. His feature film appearances include 'House of Spoils' and 'Every Day Objects' both on Amazon.

SHARON FROM THE CO-OP: DENISE WELCH (SCREEN PERFORMANCE)

Denise is a veritable creative powerhouse when it comes to television and theatre. She has had long running roles in ‘Soldier, Soldier’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘Spender’; and has appeared in further mainstream series like ‘The Vice’, ‘Where the Heart Is’ and ‘Inspector George Gently’. She has illustrated her comedic skills in the sublime ‘Benidorm’, ‘Boy Meets Girl’ and ‘Dead Canny’. She has a rich theatre history including the nationwide tour of ‘Calender Girls’ and has acted/produced an award-winning short film, ‘Black Eyed Susan’. Denise has recently reprised her iconic role of Steph Haydock in ‘Waterloo Road’ and is set to appear in Russell T. Davies’ new Channel 4 series, ‘Tip Toe’, as well as a new comedy for Channel 4, ‘Stepping Up’, written by Josh Pugh

GEORDIE-THE-GEORDIE: SI KING (SCREEN PERFORMANCE)

Si is a chef, musician and broadcaster having been a staple on British TV for over two decades. He has travelled the world and shared his love of food with his loyal audience. Si has inspired and entertained audiences as one half of ‘The Hairy Bikers’ with his late friend, Dave Myers. Between 2004 and 2024 they fronted over 30 television series and released 33 cookbooks – selling over 6 million copies. Si & Dave became national treasures with their infectious style, their unique blend of food expertise, humour and motorbike enthusiasm. In 2025, Si embarked on UK live theatre tour ‘An Evening with Si King’, taking audiences on a trip down memory lane. In this personal tour he reveals more about the man behind the bike featuring interesting conversations, memories and live music. He is an extremely talented singer and musician who has a passion for music.

HELEN HARPER: CHARLIE HARDWICK (SPECIAL SCREEN PERFORMANCE)

Charlie is best known for her long running role as the inimitable Val Pollard in Emmerdale, winning several awards including Best Comedy at the British Soaps. She has performed in a wealth of productions for Live Theatre, including ‘Cabaret ‘(EMCEE), ‘Your Home In The West’, Close The Coalhouse Door’, ‘Clear White Light’ and ‘Cooking With Elvis’. She has toured extensively in plays and musicals including the ‘Awkward Squad’ and the original tour of Sting's ‘The Last Ship’. Her films include ‘Purely Belter’, ‘Billy Elliot’, ‘Murder They Hope’ and ‘The Scar’, which won her the best actress award at Monte Carlo International Film Festival. Charlie has also been a regular on ‘Byker Grove’, and more recently ‘Ackley Bridge’ with guest appearances in’ Professor T’, ‘Vera’, ‘Casualty’ and ‘The Good Ship Murder’. She sings with the brilliant band of women, Kissed.

GLADYS: BARBARA HESLOP

Barbara Heslop is an actress, writer, director, producer and has been the manager of Chopwell Drama Group for over 40 years. She was part of the writing and acting group that collaborated on Channel 4’s ‘Little Richard Wrecked My Marriage’. In 2012, she starred in 'Swags and Tails' for Open Clasp Theatre, written by Catriona McHugh, which toured various conferences and saw Barbara as a Finalist in the Journal Culture Awards in Best Newcomer Category. In 2019 she gave a monologue performance in 'Home Alone' created by Sharon Bailey, written by Catriona McHugh and in 2020 she starred in the short film Mind. She is part of an ongoing comedy duo performance act Magic Moments.

WRITER: JACQUIE LAWRENCE

Jacquie Lawrence is a writer/director/producer of broadcast drama and documentaries. A native Geordie, she began her career in Newcastle, producing the Channel 4 film, ‘Little Richard Wrecked My Marriage’ and directing the drama ‘Little India’ for ITV. Her first documentary, ‘Out on Strike’, is still airing on Channel 4’s digital channel. As Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 she was responsible for a raft of programming, included ‘Coming Out Night’ starring Graham Norton and Ellen DeGeneres. Her other Channel 4 highlights include the Sundance Award-winning ‘Paragraph 175’ and the Emmy Award-winning ‘Celluloid Closet’. She also co-commissioned a television drama, ‘The Investigator’, which starred Helen Baxendale and Rikki Beadle-Blair's comedy-drama series ‘Metrosexuality’. As Commissioning Editor for Documentaries at Sky One, she won the channel’s first factual BAFTA for ‘Ross Kemp on Gangs’. As writer she wrote the drama series ‘Different for Girls’ and as a director her recent feature-length documentaries, ‘Gateways Grind’ and ‘Life of Riley’, have screened on BBC4 and Channel 5 respectively.

DIRECTOR: FIONA MACPHERSON

Fiona began her career in 1984 as an actor and singer and collaborated with Monster Productions, Northern Stage, Northumberland Theatre, Tyne Wear T.I.E and NEI Theatre contributing both as an actor and a director. Her notable works during this period including ‘Falling Knives and Runaround Wives’, ‘Tonic’ (a Journal Culture Awards nominee), ‘A Twist of Lemon’ and ‘Stand and Tan’. She has always been interested in working with playwrights in realising new plays. One such venture, the political comic play ‘The Awkward Squad’, by BAFTA winner playwright, Karin Young explored themes of female empowerment post-1985 miners' strike. It was extremely well received in London's West End following a national tour in 2012. Among her other productions, the award winning ‘Get Up and Tie Your Fingers’ by Ann Coburn told the story of the Eyemouth Fishing disaster from the perspective of the women left behind. Other works include ‘Cain and Abel’ for the Durham Mysteries, ‘Why Do Bees Buzz’ at Sheffield Crucible, and ‘The First Wave’ at Edinburgh’s Trad fest. Fiona is a founder member of The Guild of Lillians, a theatre production company committed to putting women’s stories centre stage.

DESIGNER: ALISON ASHTON

Since gaining a 1st class degree in Theatre Design, Alison learnt her trade at the Birmingham Rep , RSC , Young Vic & Half Moon, London. After a spell as Associate Designer at The Theatre Royal , Northampton she has forged lasting relationships with many theatre companies in the North East. She has designed productions for The Theatre Royal , Newcastle, Queens Hall Hexham & Customs House South Shields. Most recently she designed ‘Cinderella’ at Northern Stage & ‘The Cold Buffet’, ‘Love It If We Beat Them’ and ‘Saint Maud’ for Live Theatre & is delighted to be back at Live to design ‘Shuggy Boats’.

PRODUCER: FIZZ MILTON

Fizz Milton studied drama at Bristol and after a spell in theatre in education moved into production of film and TV, working freelance for ITV and Channel 4. She spent 20 years in the BBC progressing to Head of Production Management & Business Affairs for all TV drama, responsible for everything from ‘Dr Who’ to ‘Eastenders’, ‘Spooks’ to ‘Tipping the Velvet’. She Chairs the charity Television Workshop, producing talent including Vicky McClure, Jack O’Connell and Bella Ramsay. She returned to the independent sector to work with Jacquie producing ‘Different for Girls’ and ‘Gateways Grind’ for the BBC and as MD of Jackdaw Media is proud to be an honorary Geordie, embracing Newcastle as home for the launch of ‘Shuggy Boats’.