Riot..Creative Team
WRITERS - Dom Grace & Boff Whalley
Together with writer Dom Grace, Boff is aiming to be one half of a post-modern Clement/La Frenais. Or a post-punk Morecambe/Wise. Boff is the one with the short fat hairy legs. Dom was born in Leeds and is much younger than Boff.
His is obsessed with the Battle of Stalingrad. No, but really, obsessed. There's no other word for it. He's also a bit obsessed with Mark E Smith. But less so than the Battle of Stalingrad. Punk rock changed Dom's life. That and going bald. To contact Dom Grace or Boff Whalley
SET & COSTUME DESIGN - Ali Allen
Ali was born in Somerset and studied Fine Art at Newcastle University.Her work has extended over a wide variety of areas including carnival, sculpture, pantomime, opera and outdoor theatre projects.Carnival work has taken her to Trinidad where she and Marise Rose won best float in 1996, and to Brooklyn for Labour Day parade in 1997.Ali has designed many touring sets for companies such as Major Road, Pilot Theatre and Red Ladder, for whom she has designed around 6 sets.
Other theatre credits include Rumblefish, Bloodtide, The Twits, Fungus the Bogeyman and the award winning Lord of the Flies for Pilot Theatre, Kes and Brassed off for Lawrence BatleyTheatre, Huddersfield, Bollywood Jane for Leieicester Haymarket, and Once Upon a Quarry Hill for West Yorkshire Playhouse, Look Back in Anger for Harrogate Theatre, and Camel Station for writer Trevor Griffiths. Ali also designed Madame Butterfly, Wuthering Heights and Dracula for Northern Ballet Theatre, and was assistant designer to Peter Mumford on Peter Pan. To contact Ali Allen.
LIGHTING - Tim Skelly
Tim Skelly is a resident theatre designer and academic at the Workshop Theatre, University of Leeds. He has also worked as an academic at University College Bretton Hall in Wakefield and as a resident practitioner and teacher of lighting design at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
As a freelance lighting designer recent professional work includes NHS and Union Street for Plymouth Theatre Royal; Wars of the Roses and Runaway Diamonds for West Yorkshire Playhouse; Doors and Kaahini for Red Ladder Theatre Company; Three Sisters and Romeo and Juliet for Colchester Mercury Theatre; Chiaroscuro, Playfall, Plunge, Somewhere Inside and High Land for Scottish Dance Theatre; and technical management and lighting support for Cattlecall, Picadores, and Paseillo for Phoenix Dance Theatre.Tim also works as a lighting consultant for Yorkshire Sculpture Park and has collaborated with several artists, including lighting designs for Sir Anthony Caro's The Trojan Wars, and retrospectives for Philip King and Christo. In his academic capacity he has won an award from the British Academy Arts and Humanities Research Board to complete a survey of key British Lighting Designers from the late twentieth century.
SONGS BY CHUMBAWAMBA
Boff Whalley
Boff was born on New Year's Day in 1961, in Burnley, Lancashire. After school he limped awkwardly through a few months at art college and University before calling it a day and starting a band, diving headlong into a life as writer and guitarist for the group 'Chumbawamba', a band with a proud history of one hit single and a well-aimed bucket of water.In a parallel life Boff has also written drama for theatre and radio, written prolifically for several magazines, composed soundtrack music for films by Ken Loach and Alex Cox, and had an autobiography ('Footnote') published. He runs (somewhat erratically) for Pudsey & Bramley Athletics Club and is a lifelong fan of the musical, wishing to reclaim it from the clutches of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Ben Elton.
Jude Abbott
Originally hailing from Essex, Jude Abbott joined Chumbwamba in 1996 and became probably the luckiest woman in pop. She can be found playing her trumpet all over West Yorkshire - in a big band, symphony orchestra and the infamous Peace Artistes street band. Her theatre experience up to now has consisted of being narrator in the school play, aged nine.
Neil Ferguson
Neil has been part of the Chumbawamba experience since 1985, initially as recording engineer on the first single the band released. Before that his thespian highlight was finding himself in the make-up room at Granada TV between Albert Tatlock and Emily Nugent in 1980. Ask your parents.He is at least jointly responsible, either as engineer,
producer or musician for such cultural landmarks as “Agadoo”, “Heartbeat”, and that one about getting knocked down and getting up again…….
Phil Moody
Phil joined the ranks of Chumbawamba in 2005, where he plays accordion and sings. He also works on photographic projects, graphic design and film. He has been known to work on the odd panto. Oh! yes he has.