The Artists

Jonny Mills

Hare

Jonny who plays Hare is a Sheffield born actor and facilitator trained at East 15 Acting School. Recent credits include Smashed Live (Touring with Collingwood Learning), Cups on a String (National tour with Riding Lights Theatre Company), Bleak Expectations (Westacre Theatre) and Death of a Chairman (Clifftown Theatre). Jonny was a 2024 Vamos Theatre Emerging Artist and strives to make fulfilling and diverse theatre for all. 

Holly Mimi Bernice

Tortoise

Holly Mimi Bernice who plays Tortoise is an Actor-Musician who graduated from The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (2021). Since then, Holly has worked with various theatre companies, including All Things Considered Theatre and Double Olivier nominated Splendid Productions. 

Elizabeth Robin

Time

Elizabeth who plays Time trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre credits include Last Unicorn Airways (Blanket Fort Club), GLOW (Buglight Theatre), Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (440 Theatre), Roger McGough’s Money Go Round (UK Tour), Romeo and Juliet (Theatr Clwyd), Peter Pan (Illyria Theatre), Shake the City (Leeds Playhouse), Atalanta Forever, A Dog’s Tale, All Hands on Deck, Redcoats (Mikron Theatre Company), The Little Mermaid (Liverpool Everyman Theatre), Departures - A Song Cycle (Pleasance London), A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer (Complicité, National Theatre Studios), and numerous pantos across the country. 

Heather Newsham

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Heather is a Leeds-based stage manager with over a decade of professional experience. She has worked as a CSM for companies including Red Ladder, Leeds Conservatoire, Wrongsemble, Stute Theatre, Utopia Theatre and Northern Ballet. Heather has toured to Geneva with Engine House theatre, and across the UK with Opera Up Close and The British Paraorchestra. 

Steve Watlings

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Steve has over 25 years of working primarily as a Freelance practitioner in Technical/company Stage Manager/ Production Manager roles with a variety different theatres and theatre companies both nationally and internationally. Steve has toured internationally with a number of shows inc, 1927-‘Animals & Children took to the streets’; Second-Hand Dance-‘Grass’ & ‘Getting Dressed’; Humanhood- “Infinity” Steve really enjoys working with Festivals and Site-specific Projects inc; Transform Festival, High Tide Festival, Proper Job Theatre Company & Bradford City of Culture 2025.

Brendan Murray

Writer

In a career of over 45 years (he’s that old!) Brendan has been an actor, director, teacher and writer. His plays for young people have been produced all over the world and won both the Brian Way and WGGB award (twice!) – once for the original version of Hare & Tortoise.

Wendy Harris

Artistic Director, Chair of PYA England

Wendy has held the position of artistic director at Tutti Frutti since 2005, touring nationally and internationally, co-producing the Little Feet Festival of Children’s Theatre, and leading on the development programs and arts engagement work.

Catherine Chapman

Set and Costume Designer 

Catherine has been a freelance designer for over fifteen years. Her designs have travelled the world with audiences seeing her work in Toyko, New York and Kong Hong. She first worked with Tutti Frutti in 2005 and over the years has designed many shows for the company including Ugly Duckling, Rapunzel, Hare and Tortoise, Monday’s Child, and The Princess and The Pea.

Sara Burns

Lighting Designer

Sara Burns is of Nordic descent and is a Lighting Designer working within the theatre, television and live production industry. Recent theatre includes; Olivier nominated 10 Nights Graeae/Tamasha/Bush Theatre; Hello and Goodbye (Athol Fugard/York Theatre Royal) Previous work for Tutti Frutti includes; Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine; The Boy Who Cried Wolf; Rapunzel. Sara also lectures in technical theatre design and specialises in textures and invoking the emotion beyond the light.

Dominic Sales

Composer

Dom loves writing music, playing music, recording music and listening to music. He has written music for lots of different people, from Atomic Kitten to Opera North and the BBC to a feature film starring John Rhys-Davies. Dom is director/producer for the record label Jellymould Jazz and also plays the triangle.

Calum Clark

Production Manager

Calum is an experienced production and technical stage manager who has toured nationally and internationally with Tutti Frutti since 2016. Other escapades include Wrongsemble’s Not So… trilogy (Leeds), Archipelago Arts’ Mother Of The Revolution (Leeds) and numerous site specific projects with Slung Low (Hull, Sheffield, Manchester).

Carly Blackburn

Carly is a Movement Director, Choreographer and Yoga teacher. With over 15 experience as a Professional Dancer (London Studio Centre 2006 -2009).

Recent work: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, Choreographer, Secret Cinema, Doctor Who: Time Fracture' West end, Movement Director, BBC/Immersive Everywhere, 'National Theatre Connections 2021' workshop Movement facilitator and ‘Swallows & Amazons’, Movement Director, York Theatre Royal.

Rachel Dean

Bradford City of Culture – Producing Hub Artist

Rachel is a Choreographer, Movement Director, Performer and Facilitator/Teacher with 18 years professional experience in a wide variety of contexts in Leeds/Bradford, across the UK and in Europe. She is also Artistic Director of Speedwell Dance and works freelance on other projects.