Biographies
Core company members
Julian is a director, designer, writer, maker and teacher whose career has spanned Theatre, Opera, Film and Television. Initially a mask and puppet maker, Julian co-designed CHARIVARI for Trickster Theatre Company, a company he toured the world with from 1985 to 1986. In the following years, Julian specialised in site specific design, including seventeen productions for Welfare State International. In 1992 he began a successful creative partnership with Phelim McDermott, for whom he designed DR FAUSTUS, IMPROBABLE TALES, THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (which earned him a T.M.A nomination for Best Designer of the Year). They also co-directed and designed THE QUEST FOR DON QUIXOTE which received a Best Design Nomination in the London Fringe Awards and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (TMA Best Touring Production Award) for the English Shakespeare Company. Along with Lee Simpson and Nick Sweeting, Phelim and Julian formed their own company, Improbable, in 1996. Their productions of ANIMO, 70 HILL LANE, LIFEGAME, COMA, SPIRIT, STICKY, Angela Carter's CINDERELLA, THE HANGING MAN (winner Best Design 2003 TMA award), STARS ARE OUT TONIGHT with Amici Dance Theatre Company and THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS (winner Best Show for children and young people 2006 TMA award) have gained far-reaching national and international recognition, winning several major awards. Julian and Phelim’s most enduring collaboration to date has been SHOCKHEADED PETER for Cultural Industry (Olivier Awards - Best Entertainment, also nominated for Best Direction and Best Design, TMA Best Director Award, Critics Society Best Designer Award and a South Bank Show Theatre Award Nomination). This production, based on the Struwwelpeter book, has returned to the West End after four years of record breaking international touring. In 2000 they produced a German version, STRUWWELPETER for the Deutches Shauspielhaus, Hamburg. They returned in 2002 to mount EIN SOMMERNACHTSTRAUM. In 2000 Julian collaborated with Balinese puppeteers and musicians in THE THEFT OF SITA for the Adelaide Festival, which appeared in London as part of LIFT.
More recently Julian was Designer on the multi award winning JERRY SPRINGER - THE OPERA (Best Musical - Evening Standard awards, Olivier Award, Critics Circle), A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM for the National Theatre, and THE MAGIC FLUTE for the Welsh National Opera. Julian is currently in receipt of a NESTA fellowship.
http://julian.improbable.co.uk
Phelim McDermott has been directing and performing since 1984. He co-founded dereck dereck Productions with Julia Bardsley, and productions include Cupboard Man, as solo performer (Fringe First), Gaudete, as co-director and performer (Time Out Director's Award), and The Vinegar Works, The Glass Hill and The Sweet Shop Owner, all as director. Other directing includes The Ghost Downstairs at Leicester Haymarket; Dr Faustus and Improbable Tales (an entirely improvised two-hour play) at Nottingham Playhouse; The Servant of Two Masters, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Government Inspector for West Yorkshire Playhouse; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the English Shakespeare Company in 1996/97 (TMA Award for Best Touring Production). He co-wrote with Lee Simpson and appeared in Get Off My Foot. He directed Shockheaded Peter in London and at the Little Schubert Theatre, Off Broadway, with Julian Crouch; a junk opera collaboration with The Tiger Lilies for Cultural Industry (Olivier Award for Best Entertainment, TMA Best Director Award and Critics Society Best Designer Award).
Productions with Improbable include the multi award-winning 70 Hill Lane, Lifegame, Animo, Coma, Spirit, Sticky, Cinderella, The Hanging Man and Theatre of Blood, a collaboration with The National Theatre. He is currently directing Philip Glass’ Satyagraha, in collaboration with the English National Opera.
A regular improvising guest with the Comedy Store Players, Phelim McDermott has also worked as an actor in radio, film, TV and theatre, including Too Clever By Half, A Flea in Her Ear and The Illusion (Old Vic, also assistant director). Film: Robin Hood, Peter Greenaway's The Baby of Macon, Tomorrow La Scala! and Home Road Movies (BAFTA winner). Radio: The Masterson Inheritance, an improvised series co-created with Lee Simpson.
In 2003, he was awarded a NESTA fellowship to research new ways of rehearsing and creating theatre using Improvisation and Process Oriented Conflict Facilitation Techniques. As part of this work, he recently facilitated the second Open Space Technology event called ‘Devoted and Disgruntled: What are we going to do about theatre?’ for the theatre community.
Lee grew up in Great Yarmouth by the sea, where he found gainful employment cooking burgers in a Wimpy, as a croupier in a casino, and as a cinema projectionist.
Unable to get a proper showbiz job, he became an improviser. The money was bad but there was precious little hard work involved, and the people seemed nice. Since then, apart from his work with Improbable, he's become a member of the Comedy Store Players; he’s written plays; appeared in some sit-coms; acted in some proper telly drama and some films; performed a very poor poodle act at the London Palladium and spent six months as a Breakfast Show DJ.
It is this obvious lack of direction that he feels is the real essence of his work. His real name is Len.
Since starting a freelance career with a short spell at The Chicago International Theatre Festival, Nick has worked with a broad range of national and international clients, including The David Glass Ensemble, Phoenix Dance, Lip Service, Wierzalin Theatre (Poland), Nada Theatre (France) and Mouthpeace (South Africa).
In the mid 1990s he was a co-founder of both Told by an Idiot and Improbable. Over the last few years he has concentrated more and more on his work with Improbable, as they tour more widely, working in collaboration with a series of key presenting partners in Europe and North America.
Sarah-Jane has been General Manager of Improbable since 2007.
For Improbable Lucy has worked as the assistant director on Theatre of Blood, a co-production between Improbable and The National Theatre, and The Wolves in the Walls, a collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland. She has also been involved in the setting up and running of Improbable’s Cooking Chaos workshops, Devoted and Disgruntled events and the Mentoring Resource and Fête.
Other assistant directing work includes Jason and the Argonauts for Beggars Belief, and several productions at The Bush Theatre. Lucy runs her own theatre company, Jumbled, which she founded in 2003. For Jumbled Lucy has directed and devised 22 Death Scenes as part of the Enterprise festival at The Space and at The Blue Elephant Theatre, Love-Knot and Party Piece, both at The Chelsea Theatre, Crossed Wire at the Burton-Taylor Theatre, and Inside at The Lyric Hammersmith studio, as part of the NYT Shorts season 2004. For Jumbled she also produces Jumble It Up, nights of work in progress performances and feedback cafes, at the Oxford Playhouse Studio. Previous work includes Crave by Sarah Kane, which won the Bush Directing Award and the Judges’ Individual Award at the National Student Drama Festival 2002. Lucy also works as a youth theatre tutor and workshop leader.
Sharon Kean has been working in publicity for the past 20 years. Over this period she has delivered all sizes of campaign from the smallest pub production to major West End shows, and worked with a variety of performers on cross-media production, new plays, major dramas, outdoor events, dance, music, festivals and comedy.
Some of her clients alongside Improbable include Cheek by Jowl, Australia Council, The Lyric Hammersmith, English Touring Theatre, Method and Madness, Bill Kenwright, Maly Drama Theatre and Offshore Productions.
She has also delivered campaigns for building launches, including The Lowry, The West Yorkshire Playhouse and The Lighthouse, Poole.
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