Theatre Director Julian Fox

Theatre Director Julian Fox Speaks at SW Meeting (2018-06-08 20:22:32)

Our feature visiting speaker for the Summer Session was Julian Fox, one of the driving forces behind Stage One Youth, a multi award winning amateur theatre group based in Maidenhead and aimed at 14-21 year olds. Julian talked about the challenges and delights of working with this age group, his own writing and his experiences as a theatre director.

The picture shows Harry Simmonds as the Phantom with Eve Shanu-Wilson playing Christine. This photo courtesy of My World My Eyes.

Stage One Youth aim at one professionally resourced production each year and they include among their achievements Miss Saigon, Grease and last year Phantom of the Opera. Phantom starred SW member Elaine Simmond's son Harry playing the lead. The show was awarded the District 14 NODA Best Musical Award. Julian was keen to point out that this award was for overall best musical not simply best youth musical. Several of Stage One Youth's past members are now working professionally in the theatre and one is currently in a West End Show.

Julian gave an inspiring and entertaining talk which included a lot of information about the opportunities for writers in youth theatre including a list of subjects that people in this age group are concerned about, which is an intriguing challenge for any writer.