TEAM WOR BELLA
Ed Waugh
Writer & Producer
With his 'marra' and now internationally acclaimed author Trevor Wood, Ed co-wrote 14 plays (three remain un-produced) from 2002 to 2015, including the international hits Dirty Dusting (New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and ten UK tours, and three sell-out runs at Newcastle Theatre Royal) and Waiting For Gateaux (New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Belgium, UK tour and Newcastle Theatre Royal).
Their other hit plays include Good to Firm (national tour), Maggie's End (Gala Durham and off-London's West End, UK tour), Alf Ramsay Knew My Grandfather (North East tour and Newcastle Theatre Royal), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Durham (North East tour), Amazing Grace (North East tour), Son of Samurai (North East tour and Latitude Festival) and The Revengers (national tour and London).
Their film script, The Liquidator, won the Best Comedy Script at the Gotham Film Festival, New York, USA, in 2010. Their radio sitcom, It's Grim Up North, was broadcast by the BBC in 2011.
Ed's critically acclaimed solo plays include Dracula: Die Laughing (North East tour 2013 and Whitby Goth Festival, April 2014), The Accidental Activist (North East tour 2015, with additional stand-up material by John Scott and John Gibson), Hadaway Harry (2015), Mr Corvan's Music Hall (2017, North East tour), The Great Joe Wilson (2018) and Carrying David (2019, tour).
Local history productions include Joe Wilson Night (2016 and 2017, Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle) and The Great Geordie Songbook (Vol.1) (2019, Sage Gateshead).
Ed's comedy sketch The Geordie Nativity, which has been performed many times as a monologue and multi-part radio piece, has been developed into a full-length play (in ten sketches). Now, also an 85,000-word book (written over Christmas and New Year 2020/2021), the surreal Yuletide comedy is something for Geordies worldwide to look forward to.
Since its inaugural show in December 2013 at The Stand Comedy Club Newcastle, Ed has also written at least 10 Laffalang [comedy] shows directed by Gareth Hunter and featuring the Laffalang Gang at Westovian Theatre, South Shields. In addition, he has penned sketches for the annual Christmas at the Cathedral show, hosted in Newcastle Cathedral, and Sunday for Sammy sketches with Trevor (2012 and 2014) and as a solo writer (2016, 2018 and 2020).
His two radio sitcom pilots - Where Did I Go Wrong? and Stand Up For Middle Age - were performed at The Word, South Shields, in May 2018.
Russell Floyd
Director
Russell directed Hadaway Harry to huge acclaim for the premiere tour in 2015 as well as the sold-out London and Newcastle Theatre Royal productions in February 2017.
In 2018, he directed the hugely successful The Great Joe Wilson.
Croydon-born Russell is an acclaimed theatre, film and TV actor best known as EastEnders market manager Michael Rose (1996 to 1999) and The Bill's DC Ken Drummond (2002 to 2005).
He has appeared in many TV shows, BBC Radio 4 productions, numerous films and theatre productions including the London production of Maggie's End (Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood) and Forget Me Not with Eleanor Bron at the Bush Theatre, London.
Between 2015 and 2018, he toured the UK's major theatre venues (including London's West End) playing Sharon Osbourne's thuggish dad in the Small Faces musical All Or Nothing.
After directing The Great Joe Wilson, Crystal Palace F.C. fan Russell headed straight to London's West End where he starred in The Mousetrap for nine months. Did he do it? He's not allowed to say!
In 2018, Russell played the lead actor in Offensive which won best film at the New York, Spain and Italy film festivals. In addition, he was nominated as Best Actor at each event. A recent appearance was on German television in a Rosalind Pilcher adaptation which was shown all over Europe.
Carrying David (2019) was Russell's third major success as a director with Ed Waugh. Wor Bella will be the duo's fourth collaboration.
Catherine Dryden
Wor Bella
Having burst onto the scene in 2012 starring in Amazing Grace, a play by Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, as the Northumberland heroine Grace Darling, Catherine was accepted into RADA and in 2017 graduated with a BA in Acting.
Catherine is a tremendous singer, having sung and performed all her life. After graduating from RADA, Catherine worked with Tippet Rise Art Center, then made her professional radio debut on BBC 4’s WWI radio drama Home Front.
Her numerous credits include two number-one theatre tours: Pitmen Painters and The Play That Goes Wrong (2018) as Annie. Revising her role as Annie in 2022, Catherine made her West End bow at the Duchess Theatre in London. Catherine was seen on our TVs in 2023 playing a leading role in the TV series Vera.
Von Fox Promotions
Media, Marketing & Stage Management
Wisecrack is proud to have a long-standing working relationship with Von Fox Promotions, a media company from the North East consisting of Richard Flood and Sophie Teasdale. They specialise in promoting artists, shows and local companies through video, photography, social media and graphic design.
Von Fox has worked on several Wisecrack Productions; they have produced trailers, publicity images, flyers, websites and other promotional material for Carrying David, Mr Corvan's Music Hall, The Great Joe Wilson, Hadaway Harry and The Great Geordie Songbook, as well as stage managing and offering technical support.
They have created work for North Tyneside Council, Mortal Fools, Curious Monkey, Live Theatre, Northern Stage, Kitchen Zoo, Ballet Lorent, Age Concern Tyneside South, LocknCharge, The AC/DC Experience, Washington Arts Centre, Bonnie and The Bonnettes, Newcastle University and more!
Von Fox Promotions was delighted to produce the 5-star hit Hadaway Harry (Ed Waugh) in the Spring/Summer of 2022.
Richard Flood & Sophie Teasdale
Von Fox Promotions
Richard has more than 30 years of experience in theatre and project management, having begun his career as stage crew for On the Twentieth Century at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, not long after graduating from Mountview Theatre School. He worked in the London's West End for 15 years.
Richard is a talented video editor, having worked on numerous film projects over the past decade.
Sophie is a celebrated photographer, having been awarded by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) for her theatre photography.
For the past decade, Sophie has been documenting images of performers in their dressing rooms, which she self-published into a photo book in 2021, photographs from the book include the likes of Christopher Eccleston, Niamh Cusack, Alan Cumming, Samantha Bond, Tim McInnerny and more!
Lydia Oliver
Stage Manager & Technician
We are delighted to have Lydia Oliver on board for Wor Bella 2024.
Since graduating in Theatre (BA Hons) from York St John University in 2016, Lydia has partnered with numerous theatre and arts companies across the UK. Stage managing and teaching various projects from rural tours, West End Musicals at Sunderland Empire, festivals and contemporary and traditional theatre.
Lydia enjoys all aspects of theatre, and the diversity of her experience has allowed her to keep focused whilst leading teams, performers and operating shows.
Immersive theatre is one of Lydia's main interests, and throughout her time in the arts industry, she has been able to work with inspirational individuals and collectives creating outstanding work. Wor Bella is no different, and she is looking forward to the successful future of the play.
David Haldane
Nationally Renowned Cartoonist
Blyth-born cartoonist David Haldane is proud of his hometown. Raised in Hunter Avenue, not far from Blyth Spartan's Croft Park, he attended Crofton Infants and Junior School and then Blyth Grammar School. He still lives in Northumberland.
David's cartoons have appeared in the likes of Private Eye, Punch magazine and The Times newspaper. He also wrote for ITV's Spitting Image back in the 1980s (when it was good). He is the go-to cartoonist for BBC Look North and his work featured on BBC Inside Out.
David, who worked in the art department of the Shields Gazette, South Shields, from 1977 to 1983, produced cartoons for Hadaway Harry, a previous Wisecrack production, and was only too happy to contribute another for Wor Bella, as seen below.
"The story of Bella Reay and the Blyth Spartans Ladies is incredible," said David. "It really is time the whole world knew about the tremendous sacrifices of not only the selfless women from Blyth, of which I'm extremely proud, but also all of the Munitionettes generally."