Elgar & Alice by Peter Sutton: Biographies

Elgar and Alice was first produced in 2007 by two professional actors based in Worcestershire: Peter Sutton and Katrina Norbury. They set up Elgar Productions for this purpose.
Peter Sutton, writer and co-producer, trained to act at Birmingham Theatre School. He has appeared in theatre tours in the UK and Germany, on television and in short films. His comedy Mr Punch was shortlisted for the 2005 King’s Cross New Writing Award, and his play My Son Will was premiered at the 2006 Yerevan International Shakespeare Festival. Previously he worked as translator, editor and writer for international organisations including UNESCO and the Council of Europe. He has published widely on languages and education.
Katrina Norbury, co-producer and actor playing Lady Elgar's maid Sarah, is related to the subject of Elgar’s Enigma Variation No. 8 and lives in a house that Elgar visited. She trained at the Paris Conservatoire of Dramatic Art. After an extensive period in repertory in the UK, she worked for BBC Radio and directed drama with performers of all ages. She has devised programmes for the Ledbury Poetry Festival and literary events in Arundel and Lincoln, among others. She has recently appeared on stage for Encore Theatre Company and Falcon Productions, and film and television roles have included The Chronicles of Narnia and Dalziel and Pascoe.
Oxford Times, 27th June 2007 As Elgar, Gerald Harper hides his filmstar profile behind vast moustaches, and changes his famed elegant trouserings for heavy Harris tweed, but strikes the right note of tetchy disappointment. Janet Hargreaves has the more difficult role as Alice - white, immobile, almost mute, movingly registering hurt and awareness by tiny gestures of eye and hand. Joy McBrinn has all the worldly vitality of the other' Alice, and Katrina Norbury is quite splendid as the devoted maid Sarah. Cast photographs by John Twinning
Gerald Harper heads the cast as Sir Edward Elgar. His distinguished career includes performances at many West End theatres, Manchester Royal Exchange, Liverpool Playhouse, the Old Vic and Broadway. He has appeared in films including The Admirable Crichton, The Dambusters, Tunes of Glory, The League of Gentlemen and The Lady Vanishes. He is probably best known for his television work in such long-running series as Adam Adamant and Hadleigh. In the latter role he was voted the most popular actor on television.
Janet Hargreaves plays Lady Alice Elgar. Jan has over 400 TV appearances to her credit, most recently episodes of Trial and Retribution, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Poirot and Doctors, and she has been a regular in many series from Compact and Follyfoot to Dr Who and Crossroads (as the notorious Rosemary Hunter). Long West End runs include The Solid Gold Cadillac, A Woman of No Importance, The Winslow Boy, There’s a Girl in My Soup, Murder at the Vicarage and The Mousetrap, and UK national tours include Anyone for Denis (Margaret Thatcher), The Dame of Sark (title role), 84 Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff) and the wicked Mother Basil in Once a Catholic. After Elgar and Alice, Jan starts rehearsing A Lady of Letters for a stage production of three of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.
Joy McBrinn takes the role of Alice Stuart-Wortley (Elgar’s ‘Windflower’). Joy’s theatre credits include Rent Strike for the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Grace in America for the Edinburgh Traverse Theatre, the acclaimed Bag Lady for the Kings Head Theatre and Edinburgh Festival, and My Husband and I for the Kings Head. Television includes Doctors for the BBC, White Teeth for Channel 4, Cardiac Arrest for BBC Scotland, Taggart and Dr Finlay for SMG. Joy is presently working in Romania, where she is shooting the new Joel Schumacher film Town Creek, co-starring with Dominic Purcell from television series Prison Break.
The Director, Gene David Kirk, is the Complementary Programme Director for Theatre 503 in London, responsible for finding, nurturing and programming emerging artists for a theatre dedicated to new work in all forms. Recent directing credits include the world premieres of The Ox and the Ass by Gillian Plowman and The Ash Boy by award-winning playwright Chris Lee, Equus by Peter Shaffer and Arabian Nights by Dominic Cooke. He also worked on the world premiere of Futures by Rebecca Pritchard and the UK premiere of Last Tuesday by Donald Margulies for Theatre 503.