Cougar

Alex Taylor  is our Director for Cougar and our company's Artistic director, most recently directing our maiden production of Amy's View. He has worked extensively in the UK, USA and South East Asia as a director, an actor and as a voice specialist. From 1984-1990 he was the Director of the School of Theatre, Manchester Metropolitan University. He created one of the first honours degree courses for intending actors in Britain. Subsequently, he became one of the Master Teachers at the Juilliard School, New York. In 1993 he joined the School of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. While in Hong Kong, Alex starred as Sweeney Todd in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and as Albin in Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles at City Hall. He also directed productions for the Academy, the National Theatre uof Korea and led masterclasses in Acting and Voice at the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the University of Korea. He has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company as a voice coach on a range of productions and directed productions of Once On This Island and Martin Sherman’s Bent, which won a Best Production award (Hong Kong Drama Federation). Alex was also Nominated in 2020, by the Hong Kong Drama Federation, as Best Director by the Hong Kong Drama Federation for his production of The Normal Heart.

Born on the Isle of Wight, I grew up performing music in a Marching Band. I studied at Platform One College of Music before completing a degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Chichester, where I also developed a strong interest in the technical side of live performance and production. Alongside performing, I’ve worked as a sound and lighting technician on productions including Legally Blonde, Godspell, and Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, gaining practical experience both on stage and behind the scenes.

Born in Nashville, Lucas grew up around the entertainment industry and always had a fascination with movies. He received his BFA in Theatre Performance from Florida Atlantic University. He then moved to Atlanta where he's been working as an actor for several years, booking many roles in television, film, and commercial. Most recently, he received his MA in Acting from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

A New England native, April Singley is the Co-Artistic Director of Mary Rose Productions and played Amy in our maiden production of Amy's View. She trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, obtaining her MFA in Acting after more than a decade of film and theatre work, and many many Shakespeare productions. Previous theatrical roles range from the titular role of Hamlet, Juliet, Charlotte Bronte, Beatrice, Prospero, Miss Julie, Romeo, Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Tess in Tess of the D’Urbervilles to name a few.  April’s film credits include award-winning BBC short The Body With No Face, Lady Macbeth in Armes Movie Factory’s Macbeth, The Water in the Bay, Anima Sola, and Valholl with Dark Tower Films directed by Christian Masters.  April is also a founding member of the Crowbait Club US and Crowbait Club UK, an organisation for playwrights and actors to develop their craft with a sense of play.