Cougar
Our Vision for the play
Environmental sustainability is a huge part of our company. All of our set and costumes pieces are repurposed and/or given a second life after the play closed, our scripts are recycled, and our programs and marketing were offered digitally rather than on print. The reason for this is quite simple: for example, did you know that London’s theatre scene leaves an annual carbon footprint of 50000 tonnes?
• That is 1 tonne every week
• 1 tonne of carbon = 1 great white shark!
Given everything that is happening on the global stage, now is the right time for our next play, Cougar. Cougar is a play about climate change, sex, power dynamics, and corruption. Though it was written five years ago it is very very pertinent to our current global state of affairs- from Trumpian politics pulling out of the Paris agreement, forest fires in California, the war in Ukraine, and our everyday responsibility towards environmental sustainability.
We are therefore endeavouring to produce the play to spark dialogue and inspire change. The first performances are at the LENS at the Portsmouth Guildhall and then transferring to the Drayton Arms Theatre in London. This is a great opportunity for our Portsmouth- based company to extend its presence and outreach in the arts.
Director... Alex Taylor
Production designer...Christian Masters
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator...Anna Francesca Cherches
Leila...April Singley
John...Joseph John Scatley
Young Man...George Craik
Performances are at the LENS Studio at the Portsmouth Guildhall 11th and 12th September 2025
and the Drayton Arms Theatre in London the 21st and 22nd September 2025
Meet the cast and crew of Cougar
Alex Taylor, Director
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
Christian Masters, Production Designer
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 Unive
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.
Christian Masters, Production Designer
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
Christian Masters, Production Designer
Christian Masters is a world-traveller, filmmaker and storyteller with an MSc in film and television from the University of Portsmouth. Christian is a director and production designer with over twenty years of experience and is a member of award-winning production company, Dark Tower Films.
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
My name is Anna Francesca, and I am an enthusiastic Fareham-based nonfiction filmmaker with an MSc in Film and Television and a BA in Animation. I am passionate about environmental sustainability, and what that means for the film industry. I try my best to be up-to-date with all the news on greening the screen sector, and I am currently B
My name is Anna Francesca, and I am an enthusiastic Fareham-based nonfiction filmmaker with an MSc in Film and Television and a BA in Animation. I am passionate about environmental sustainability, and what that means for the film industry. I try my best to be up-to-date with all the news on greening the screen sector, and I am currently BAFTA Albert trained in Sustainable Production and Editing. I am excited to venture more into the theatre industry and assist in making Amy's View a green production.
George Craik, playing the Young Man
George Craik, playing the Young Man
Anna Francesca Cherches, Sustainability Coordinator
I am a student at the University of Portsmouth studying theatre. Outside of my studies I have experience working in immersive theatre and performing in youth theatre productions. In my own time I train as a movement artist and a sound designer, with experience making music for theatre.
Joseph John Scatley, playing John
George Craik, playing the Young Man
Joseph John Scatley, playing John
Meet Joseph John Scatley, playing John. Joseph is an associate Artist with Mary Rose Productions and played Toby in our maiden production, Amy's View.
Joseph Scatley trained at Rose Bruford College, where he received his MA in Actor Performer Training in 2021. He has been performing since he was a child, with experience working with the
Meet Joseph John Scatley, playing John. Joseph is an associate Artist with Mary Rose Productions and played Toby in our maiden production, Amy's View.
Joseph Scatley trained at Rose Bruford College, where he received his MA in Actor Performer Training in 2021. He has been performing since he was a child, with experience working with the BBC, ITV, The National theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
He is a founding member of international company ‘Lightshed Theatre Company’.
April Singley, playing Leila
George Craik, playing the Young Man
Joseph John Scatley, playing John
A New England native, April Singley is the Executive 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 ran
A New England native, April Singley is the Executive 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.