Weds 8 Oct - 7.30pm
Thurs 9 Oct - 7.30pm
Fri 10 Oct - 7.30pm
Sat 11 Oct - 3.30pm & 7.30pm
Weds 8 Oct - 7.30pm
Thurs 9 Oct - 7.30pm
Fri 10 Oct - 7.30pm
Sat 11 Oct - 3.30pm & 7.30pm
Thieves in Satin is inspired by the Southwark based, all-female ‘40 Elephants Gang’ who came to light in the late 1800s. Also known as ‘The Forty Thieves’ they were a splinter group of the male led Elephant & Castle mob. Their first known leader was Mary Carr, a notorious thief who was well known to the police.
In the 1910s and 20s Alice Diamond, aged just 20 took over leadership of the gang along with her lieutenant Maggie Hughes, turning it into larger scale and more highly organised operation. Born in a Lambeth workhouse, Alice started shoplifting as a child. She was once arrested for stealing another girl’s identity in a WW1 munitions factory.
Changes in the layout of department stores, pioneered by Harry Selfridge, made shop theft much easier. Goods had previously not been on display and women’s clothing played to the hoister’s advantage as they allowed for hidden pockets and roomy undergarments in which stolen items could be stashed.
Subsequent leader, Lilian Rose Kendall took advantage of the rise in popularity of the motor car, allowing for smash n’ grab raids with her partner in crime ‘Ruby’ Sparks.
Shop raids dwindled during the war years when London was heavily bombed. Gang members took to the provinces where the shopping was not as lucrative.
Shirley Pitts was trained by Alice in the 1940s as teenaged school girl. She was taken into shops to try on clothes and her innocent cover as a school girl was the perfect decoy. London shop raids had picked up again after the war but the gang eventually petered out with tighter security methods making shoplifting more challenging.
Moving Stories Dance Company was founded in September 2019 by Heather Craig and Lucy Potter. The company is a collaboration of experienced dancers who have worked in many genres of dance including classical, contemporary, jazz, musical theatre and opera, spanning over three decades.
Previous MSDC productions include: Party, Party, Party!, Rebecca and R.S.V.P.
“Having moved away from performing, it is a joy for us to return to the rehearsal room and create dance-based stories to inspire, uplift and engage the wider audience. Dance is the innate language that connects the human soul. Through dance we express the joy, passion and emotion that relate the stories of our lives. We were born to move and we are moved to dance”
ACT ONE (45 mins)
Diamond Alice - Aunty Alice and her friends Lilian The Bobbed haired bandit and Baby Face Maggie
Selfridges - A ‘shopping’ spree up the West End
Maid Raid - Maggie poses as a maid for a wealthy widow
Blackmail - Lilian visits the Doctor and comes away with more than a prescription
The Party - The gang celebrate one of Alice’s many releases from Holloway Prison
Two Timing Driver - A cheating chauffeur gets what he deserves
The Hoisters Code - Alice explains the rules of the gang
Married Life - Marie goes straight and marries against the rules
Pub Brawl - Maggie picks a fight with recently defected Marie
The Lambeth Riot - Things spiral out of control when the gang take revenge on Marie’s family
INTERVAL
ACT TWO (30 mins)
Holloway Prison - Alice is once again serving time
Smash n’ Grab Raid - The Bobbed Haired Bandit & Ruby Sparks enjoy a ‘smashing’ evening on the town
Alice’s Brothel - Alice branches out, finding another lucrative business
Harrods - Shirley takes the reins after the war and continues where Aunty Alice left off
Wash me Clean - Shirley unwinds and takes stock after a hard days ‘work’
The End - Shirley reflects on the past and ponders her own demise
Total Running Time : Approx 1 hour 40
Diamond Alice - Kate Finegan
Baby Faced Maggie - Heather Craig
Lilian the Bobbed Haired Bandit - Lucy Potter
Selfridges Shop Workers - Stella Grace, Susan Wardlow
Wealthy Widow - Stella Grace
Butler - Tommi Sliiden
Doctor - Ben Garner
Chauffeur - Ben Garner
Hoisters - Rosa Huntrods, Izzy Kremer, Eva Moroni
Marie Britten - Sue Wardlow
Marie’s Husband - Ben Garner
Marie’s father - Tommi Sliiden
Prison Warden - Stella Grace
‘Ruby’ Sparks - Tommi Sliiden
Brothel Clients - Tommi Sliiden, Ben Garner
Brothel Ladies - Eva Moroni, Susan Wardlow, Heather Craig, Lucy Potter
Shirley Pitts - Heather Craig
Harrods Floor Manager - Ben Garner
Engaged Couple - Kate Finegan & Tommi Sliiden
Mannequins - Stella Grace
Harrods Hoisters - Lucy Potter, Susan Wardlow
Shirley Pitts/Narrator - Faye Barker
Voice of Alice (The Hoisters Code) - Janet South
Diamonds Are Forever, Shirley Bassey
Potato Head Blues, Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven
Gangsta’s Paradise, Scott Bradley’s Postmodern Jukebox
Wild Man Blues, Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven
Twelfth Street Rag, Pee Wee Hunt and His Orchestra
Somebody Stole My Gal, Pee Wee Hunt and His Orchestra
Oops I Did it Again, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
Get the Party Started, Shirley Bassey
Hit ‘em Up Style, Scott Bradley’s Postmodern Jukebox
Lejania, Electrocutango
Assassin’s Tango, John Powell
The Lambeth Walk, Django Reinhardt, The Quintet of the Hot Club of France
Ain’t She Sweet, Gene Austin
Dangerous Games, Shirley Bassey
All The Good Girls Go To Hell, Billie Eilish
Dancing Queen, Scott Bradley’s Postmodern Jukebox
Bury A Friend, KPH
Bad Guy, Billie Eilish
Tuxedo Junction, Cyril Stapleton
Topsy, Count Basie and His Orchestra
Wash Me Clean, K.D.Lang
When The Party’s Over, Piano Dreamers
Goodbye, Billie Eilish
Ocean Eyes, Piano Dreamers
Choreographer & Director - Lucy Potter
Assistant choreographer - Kate Finegan
Scriptwriter - Stuart Pallant
Lighting Design and operation - Lucy Potter, Joseph Lindoe & Tom Bass
Sound & Projection - Matthew Powell
Stage Management & Props - Stuart Pallant
Marketing - Ben Garner
Poster & Programme Design - Ben Garner
Admin & social media - Heather Craig
Wardrobe - Moving Stories Company
Costumes sewing & alterations - Lucy Potter & Kate Finegan
Rehearsal Space - Lucy Potter Dance
Suzanna Raymond School of Dance
Lucy Potter Dance
Shepperton Wigs
(Lilian the Bobbed Haired Bandit, Brothel Lady, Harrods Hoister)
Lucy trained at Elmhurst Ballet School and Arts Educational School and is Choreographer and Co-founder of Moving Stories Dance Company. She has performed in many musicals in the West End and overseas including: Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Contact, On Your Toes, Grease, The Pajama Game, Johann Strauss Gala Tour, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats. Lucy has also performed and assisted in many opera productions at The Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Glyndebourne. After performing Lucy worked as a sports Massage Therapist alongside freelance teaching. In 2013, Lucy set up her own studio in Hampton where she teaches Dance and Yoga to the local community.
(Baby Faced Maggie, Brothel Lady, Shirley Pitts)
Heather trained at the Royal Academy of Dance and The Rambert School and is also Co-founder of Moving Stories Dance Company. She danced for Wiener Ballett Theater and then went on to dance in musicals and operas including; Phantom of the Opera, The Pajama Game, Die Fledermaus and Midsummer Nights Dream with Glyndbourne Opera, The Mikado with ENO and Hansel and Gretel with Diva Opera. Heather also assisted Will Tuckett with his productions of Wind in the Willows and Pinocchio at ROH2. Heather is now a qualified Pilates Matwork and Equipment teacher and has her own business where she also teaches adult ballet. She is very excited to be a Co-founder of Moving Stories Dance Company and cannot wait to uplift and inspire audiences to keep on moving!
(Butler, Marie’s Father, ‘Ruby’ Sparks, Brothel Client, Engaged Man)
Tommi trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and worked as a performer for over 20 years within contemporary dance and music theatre in Sweden and in London’s West End (Cats, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fame, The Snowman); also toured around the world with the singer Sarah Brightman.
He can be seen as Coricopat in the 1998 video of Cats - NOT the 2019 Film!!
He retrained at the British School of Osteopathy, with a M.Sc in Performing Arts Medicine from University College London. His M.Sc research, involved the previously untested and researched area of breathing whilst singing and dancing simultaneously, was later published in Journal of Voice.
He regularly treats free-lance performers in West End, visiting UK tours and Performing arts schools; he also works as a guest lecturer.
For more information about his work as an osteopath and research, see www.sliiden.com
(Selfridges Shop Worker, Wealthy Widow, Prison Warden, Mannequin)
Stella trained at Arts Educational School Tring playing Clara in London Festival Ballet’s Nutcracker at the age of 12.
On leaving Arts Ed London Stella joined the ballet company at Theatre An Der Wien in Vienna. Returning to London she worked for choreographers Paddy Stone, David Toguri, Carole Todd, Molly Molloy, Arlene Phillips, Tom Jobe and Anthony van Laast doing a wide variety of West End shows, trade shows, music videos and TV and film including Mamma Mia2!
West End shows include The Two Ronnies, Chess, Metropolis and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Palladium and seasons at ENO.
For several years Stella worked as an assistant choreographer and director on projects including The Royal Variety Show and Souls in Motion and the UK tour of Chess.
Stella retrained as a yoga teacher and taught locally for several years. After a long break from performing she has enjoyed being part of Moving Stories.
(Diamond Alice, Engaged Lady)
Kate trained at Laban as a contemporary dancer and danced for regional dance companies such as Influx Dance Company, Matthew Westerby Dance Company and Smallpetitklein, before becoming a full-time dance teacher. Initially working in higher education teaching contemporary dance technique and choreography, now as a freelance community dance artist, Kate works within London and Surrey delivering workshops, project managing community dance events, choreographing dances for all ages and creating flashmobs. Although Kate continues to work with children, she mostly specialises in working with older adults, leading classes for Dance West’s Bolder Not Older programme and Age UK’s Age of Grace. Kate has a particular interest in teaching dance for health classes for older adults living with Dementia and Parkinson’s. She teaches regularly for English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s programme as well as being co-director of Inclusive Intergenerational Dance, an Arts for Health Company based in Surrey.
(Doctor, Chauffeur, Marie’s Husband, Brothel Client, Harrods Floor Manager)
Ben trained at the Northern Ballet School. Ben danced with The Lewis London Ballet, Ballet Creations of London and Adonais Ballet Company. During his career as a dancer in musical theatre he was in the cast of 8 West End productions including Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma! and Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. His film and TV appearances include the Phantom of the Opera film, Blue Peter and the Royal Variety Show. Ben is currently the Marketing Manager of the award-winning English Youth Ballet. He teaches Adult Ballet and Dance Attack & Ballet for boys. He is having a fantastic time working with everyone in Moving Stories Dance Company.
(Narrator & voice of Shirley Pitts)
Faye Barker is best known as a Presenter and Reporter at ITV News but she has always had a love of theatre and dance.
As a child she was a member of the Devon Youth Dance Company and right into her 20s was rarely not involved in a theatrical production, including performances at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and venues from Plymouth Theatre Royal to the Bradford Alhambra.
Her career in journalism has taken her from undercover reporting across Europe for ITV’s ‘Package Holiday Undercover’ to hours on air covering extraordinary and every day news events for Sky News, 5 News and her current long-standing home, ITV News. Last Autumn she fronted a programme on the concerns around children’s use of smartphones and social media for ITV’s Tonight programme. She is also one of the hosts of the ITV News podcast, ‘What You Need to Know’ and a guest presenter at LBC News. In 2022 she helped launch bespoke ITV News content on ITVX.
Film work includes appearances as herself in ‘Hampstead’, ‘Survivor’ and ‘Weekender’, as well as in TV dramas ‘Silent Witness’ (BBC), ‘Casualty’ (BBC), ‘Whistleblowers’ (ITV), Four Weddings and a Funeral’ (Hulu) and ‘Pennyworth’ (HBO Max/ITVX).
(Selfridges Shop Worker, Brothel Lady, Marie Britten, Harrods Hoister)
Sue graduated in dance from Bretton Hall College in 1992. After performing with the Bretton Community Dance Company, including tour of Russia and The Ukraine, she went on to follow a career in education. Sue taught dance, PE and drama in secondary schools, was a Headteacher for ten years and is now CEO of a Multi Academy Trust. She has continued to be a student of dance throughout her adult life, taking regular classes. Sue started attending Lucy’s jazz class ten years ago and is delighted to have the opportunity to perform with Moving Stories. We are never too old to learn or try something new!
(Voice of Alice in The Hoisters Code)
Acting credits include Countess Charlotte (A Little Night Music), Jenny (Company), Anna (Closer), Mme Dubonnet (The Boy Friend), Mrs Gainsborough (Gainsborough’s Girls), Mrs Turton (A Passage to India), Lady Ashbrook (Coram Boy). Most recently she played Miss Hardbroom in The Worst Witch and The Businessman / ensemble in The Little Prince. Her movement work includes Everything That Rises Must Dance (Complicité) The Producers (choreograoher – Minack Theatre) The Boyfriend (choreographer - Tower Theatre) and Kensuke’s Kingdom (puppeteer – Tower Theatre).
Suzanna Raymond School of Dance
Rambert Graduate
LIPA Graduate
Suzanna Raymond School of Dance