Represented by 

https://www.freshagents.co.uk/models/real-and-relatable-artists/female/heather-leech

https://www.starnow.co.uk/heatherleech1

https://www.talenttalks.co.uk/profile/heather-leech/

Show reels

Guy Fawkes Mother https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fCuVolXB0

Perfume shop commercial https://youtu.be/VRWI1En5qX4

Acting Reviews

Guy Fawkes’ Mother: Joseph Rowntree Theatre October 2024

History, eh? Depends whose eyes you see it through. There’s the arch-baddie plotting to blow up king and parliament, immortalised as a villain for centuries in fireworks and flames. And here’s the sensitive, intelligent son, a voracious reader with beautiful handwriting, defending the faith of his fathers. Well, his stepfather, anyway.

And what’s the worst thing he did in the eyes of his mother? Change his name to Guido while fighting for Spain in the Netherlands. This is the history we see in this compelling one woman show, researched and written and performed by Heather Leech. It’s a totally different and microcosmic perspective on a fascinating period of English history, the legacy of the Reformation, of Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic church so he could marry Anne Boleyn. And we all know what happened to her.

The persecution of Catholics persisted (until 1829. Yes, it was illegal to be a Catholic until then) and was at its most draconian under James I, he whom the gunpowder plotters wanted rid of. Edith Fawkes, reminiscing here as autumn draws in and with it the anniversary of her beloved son’s death, tells it all in a domestic setting. Her two marriages, the second after she was widowed. Her other children. And the most famous is just “my son”, not named until near the end.

It gives us a glimpse of life when religion and politics were inseparable, when people were fined for not going to church, when Catholics maintained their faith, their beliefs, not just in private but in secret. And it’s particularly poignant here, in this lovely little art-deco York theatre, just a mile away from the Clifton estate owned (and sold, to pay those fines) by the Fawkes family, and within bell-ringing distance of the brooding Minster in whose shadow Edith lived.

It’s a credit to the team at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre who offer an ambitious programme of concerts, drama and touring productions, and to Gleowit Productions who have brought this show from Hastings in Sussex. It’s on again tonight (Friday) at the Skipton Little Theatre and tomorrow at Leyburn Arts Centre (Saturday 26th.)

And November 5? There are still firework displays at this time of the year, but as a national event, a “celebration”, it’s been superseded by the bizarre fascination of Hallowe’en and its ghastly American trick or treat import. Remember, remember a mother’s grief instead.

Eileen Jones

https://stageylady.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/the-real-guy-fawkes

October 2024 Skipton Little Theatre

This is just a short note of thanks for the excellent production of 'Guy Fawkes' Mother' that you gave us in Skipton last night. Those who did not come to the Little Theatre missed a real treat!

I found it by turn moving, thought provoking and educative. Even though I'm a child of the 50's/60's and so had Bonfire Night in my cultural landscape, to my shame I knew little beyond the foiled plot and vilification of the protagonists. Thanks to you, I now know how much more turbulent and divisive a time it was. The context setting opening section was very helpful and the comparison to Brexit really resonated with me, returning to my thoughts frequently as the play unfolded.

I wish you every, and continued success with this little gem of a play that deserves the plaudits you are hopefully receiving.

November 2024 Hailsham Community Centre

Heather Leech’s performance of her self-penned play, “Guy Fawkes’ Mother” held our WI group in thrall as we were transported back in time and space to the home of Edith, a middle-aged woman mourning the loss of her son, and reflecting on the chain of circumstances which led to his death.

The play, which begins as Edith returns home from church, tells us of the difficulties she and other Catholics faced as England veered from Catholicism to Protestantism under Mary and Elizabeth Tudor, and the deep disappointment they experienced when James 1 failed to reinstate Catholicism. In a country divided along religious lines, where mere suspicion could lead to a death sentence, Edith must negotiate a path of safety for herself and her children, outwardly professing to support the religion of the day whilst at the same time maintaining her loyalty to the Pope.  

In a virtuoso performance, Heather gives us glimpses into Edith’s first and second marriages, allowing us to hear the words of her two husbands, the first a Protestant, the second a Catholic. We see her tender relationship with her beloved only son when he was a small boy, and her pride in his learning: unable to read herself, she treasures a letter which he wrote to her. We learn of her horror, anger and grief at the way he was tortured and executed and understand how difficult the years after his death were, when, as others prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ each December, she must endure the constant reminders of the loss of her own son and reminders of the horrors he experienced prior to his death.  

At its heart, this play is about the struggle of one woman to survive in a world over which she has little or no control, something to which so many of us can relate. Heather’s performance is mesmerising, bringing Edith to life as she speaks to us across the centuries. 

Judith Hawth 

MODELLING REFERENCES

Athena Models

What can I say that hasn't already been said!? Heather  is a fabulously beautiful, natural model, She has the ability to shorten time .. the shoot flew by! A wonderfully natural, fun loving woman who's company I enjoyed almost as much as I did photographing her. Thanks x 

Simon M

Firstly, Heather is wonderfully natural lady, intelligent and with a great sense of humour. She’s passionate about what she does and expects the same standards in return. As a model, she is beautifully natural and easy to work with, requiring little to no direction - just chat and the photos flow.

Had a fabulous time and can’t wait for the next shoot. Thank you

(Report)(View Images)

cliffd

Had a great shoot shoot with Jessica and hubby also took part he was a great help. Jessica is adelight to work with Highly recommended also her hubby, they are a very nice couple

Analogue Life

Absolutely delightful afternoon spent working on some Victorian style photos with this talented and genuinely lovely lady, and her model partner grey gent. Jessica works really well with a theme and as a photographer struggling with the technical aspects of shooting with cameras and projector lenses over 100 years old it was a real blessing that Jessica easily worked through a series of poses telling a story so I had less thinking to do. she is a joy to work with. Highly recommend .

Just John

Arranged a home shoot at mine as soon as I knew this excellent Model was travelling to the area. Good comms as before as this was our second shoot. I had a couple of concepts I wanted to explore and we achieved both. Thoroughly recommend this very experienced model. Self directs and had obviously put a lot of thought into poses etc. Until the next time. Thank you Jessica.

Nico Art

Another excellent, productive and thoroughly enjoyable photosession. I had some very specific images to capture with Keith and Heather.  They created them to perfection. They were both excellent at following instructions, gave some very helpful feedback during the shoot and helped to create some fantastic images with their natural modelling and acting skill sets. Almost more impressive than anything was the diversity of the photos they were able to capture, from jovial to joyful to stern to intensely emotional. I recommend Keith and Heather for a very wide variety of modelling and acting needs.  Their skills and professionalism are sky high.

JJsPix

After many attempts to get together, I finally got to shoot again with the fabulous Jessica.

The wait was well worth it, as the time just flew by, with so many ideas and great shots happening.

There's still more to explore with this wonderful talent...

Thanks for a great shoot!

Images (Ray H )

Jessica and I had a coplay shoot on tuesday, great comms and super shoot.WE have worked together before and she is a dream . /Thank you for your support so far . we tried to get creative and except for the weather all went fine. Highly recommend Jessica for creative shooting, will be repeating the the experience ASAP / many thany thanks Jessica you are a star ! Ray H

Mid Sussex Guy

Had a wonderful three hour shoot with Jessica Knight and her husband Keith (greygent) in a combination of satirical and the out in the countryside. Their communication was fantastic, enabling me to turn a mad cap thought in my mind into something that works in an actual photo. There was a fabulous flow of ideas and thoughts about how to make things work, the 3 hours zoomed by like an express train through a station.

I would highly recommend Jessica and Keith

Lightful

My first session with 2 models - a perfect couple who were an absolute delight to work with. We all pooled our thoughts and with their background knowledge we had a really enjoyable time. How they both managed to be so positive and helpful having spent a happy couple of extra hours viewing the M25 I just do not know. Halfway through, we had some hiccups with the camera sulking but managed to achieve all the poses we wanted with my wife taking over as camera'man' while I painted.

It was lovely to experience and contribute to the synergy between us all, so it was just as a shoot should be, a very happy and enjoyable time with everybody working together to create our joint interpretation of our brief and in particular a Vermeer work - definitely to be repeated.

I highly recommend Jessica and Keith.

We first worked together back in 2018. I took her to one of my favourite locations in Essex - a deserted location waterside. The pandemic created a gap but today we found another waterside/seaside location on a hot sunny day. In spite of the weather the location was also almost deserted and we created great images in a number of different sets. Pre shoot communication was effective and we both had a rough idea of what we wanted to do. She arrived with choices of outfits and ideas and after a pre shoot meeting at a nearby café we got on with the shoot. We bounced ideas off each other and looked at how we could make best use of an almost deserted beach location. We had a good time together...she is a competent model who can work without direction and our time together passed quickly. Highly recommended and great fun to work with.

This is a special lady and very far from an ordinary model. As a person she is excellent at pre-shoot communications as she is at conversation over a wide range of subjects. I really enjoyed our shoot chat. The shoot itself was calm and relaxed in no small way due to her approach. She easily takes direction but anyway always knows what is required even if I don't. This was a deliberately conservative portrait shoot - exactly as I wanted - and could not have been better as the photos when posted will show. 

She is the most amazing model. She took care to understand what I wanted to achieve with the photo session well ahead. When we started the session, she had taken everything in. She came prepared with clothes and loads of ideas. She was very responsive to what I asked her to do, and continually suggested poses and ways we could achieve what I wanted. She did exactly what I wanted and came up with so many other ideas that we ran out of time to do them all. I came away with some fantastic pictures. She completely exceeded all my hopes for the session. She is an absolute pleasure to work with. I could not recommend her highly enough. 

To my recollection our latest shoot was our 6th. Working with her is a dream, she arrives fully prepared, but flexible with ideas as the shoot progresses. She has many costumes from her theatrical activities to enhance a theme. She is reliable; excellent pre-comms, and always arrives on-time. She takes direction well and is professional in her attitude and commitment to work. An excellent model, fully recommended. 

Excellent shoot after lots of planning. Got some great shots in historic costumes. Great lighting set up thanks to husband Keith. Great welcome with coffee and tea. Will be shooting again soon.

She is highly recommended and works hard to create good images. 

Just completed a 3rd very enjoyable shoot. This time, a totally different style of fun shoot involving lighted candles and a crystal ball.

As usual, pre-shoot comms were excellent. She arrived on time, with bags full of enthusiasm and outfits. She always puts 100% thought and effort into shoots and her vast array of outfits and ideas are amazing. Refreshed with coffee, she threw herself into the character she was portraying. Ideas just kept coming and the three hour shoot just flew by.

We only managed to complete half of what we had planned to shoot which means that I will be booking another shoot with Jessica in the new year.

She is a delight to work with and as usual, I have no hesitation in recommending to other photographers.

Had my first shoot and what an absolute pleasure it was.

Pre-comms were fantastic and we discussed several ideas before meeting.

She is a natural in front of camera and she strives for perfection with every shot.

Our time went too quickly and we didn't manage to cover all our ideas, but that' means we need to shoot together again.

A thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours and I would highly recommend JK.

Hoping we can shoot again in the future.