We are the unruly regiment and we deal in stories
We tell female led stories with makers from the West Midlands
We give voices to real people who have been erased from the history books.
We re-write narratives and put women at the forefront.
But who are we?
Lizzie Wofford is an award winning actress from Lichfield. Carolyn Scott-Jeffs is an award winning playwright from West Bromwich. We have been making theatre together for over a decade and story is at the heart of everything we do.
The Unruly Regiment was founded in January 2020. We created a collective of creatives with the following things in common: they all have a strong connection to the West Midlands, a fierce desire to tell female led stories and they are all educators in one way or another. These shared traits are what make The Unruly Regiment unique.
As a company, we tell stories with a strong connection to the West Midlands, be that through the people making the work, or the actual story we tell. The West Midlands have an extraordinary cultural heritage and we want to add to that. We make stories inspired by, with and for the West Midlands.
We tell stories about things we are angry about. Generally these are female-led stories that have been lost or silenced over time. We tell these stories with the help of our wonderful male friends who are just as passionate and angry as we are.
We uncover lost history and teach our audiences something new. Both Carolyn and Lizzie come from a long line of educators so for us, storytelling and education go hand in hand. It is important to add, however, that our work is incredibly funny. We aim to create something joyous that can educate. We do not aim to lecture our audiences about social injustice.
No one wants a lecture...
Well... someone wants a lecture I’m sure, but that’s not what we do.
THE unrulies
CAROLYN SCOTT-JEFFS
THE BRAINS OF THE OPERATION
Carolyn is a Midlands based playwright, dramaturg, and academic from the Black Country.
She has written a number of successful stage plays. Having it All and Wenches were produced in Birmingham, while Out in the Garden and Tarnished Angel were both produced by the Finborough Theatre in London and transferred to the Edinburgh Festival Assembly Rooms.
More recent stage plays include: Elephants, Fanny a New Musichall (winner of Best Production, Birmingham Fest 2016) , Wolfie and the Showgirl (winner of Best New Work, Birmingham Fest 2017), Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage, and Letters to Emma.
She has written several community plays and her early writing career included several episodes of the BBC One drama Doctors.
Carolyn also writes for Radio 4, and plays include Angel of New Street, Square Circle Triangle (which was runner up for the Richard Imison Award), Tarnished Wings, 21 Conversations with a Hairdresser, 15 Ways to Leave Your Lover, and Jesus, The Devil and a Kid Called Death.
As an academic Carolyn has published articles on Mabel Constanduros and Hilda Matheson, who were both pioneers in early radio and as a dramaturg she recently supported London Theatre Workshop’s musical Judy (formerly Through the Mill), which transferred to the West End.
LIZZIE WOFFORD
THE CHAOS CAUSER
Lizzie trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and with the National Youth Music Theatre. She played Izzy Blake on The Archers for 6 years and continues to work as a Voice Actor.
She has worked in theatres across the UK including London’s West End. Recent credits include The Phantom of the Opera (His Majesty’s), the award winning Fanny A New Musichall (VAULT Festival & Lichfield Garrick), Best of the West End (Royal Albert Hall), Camelot (London Palladium) Jack and the Beanstalk (Derby Arena) & Letters to Emma (Lichfield Garrick).
Lizzie grew up in Lichfield and is passionate about new work. She works extensively with West End in Schools, performing shows, teaching dance, storytelling and Shakespeare in primary schools across the UK. She is an established voice artist and an advanced actor-combatant.
Lizzie lives in North London with her tiny terrier, Tawni.
The regiment
PETER JOHN DODSWORTH
ASSOCIATE COMPOSER AND MUSICAL SUPERVISOR. MAKES A TERRIFIC G&T.
Peter trained at the Royal Academy of Music London as a Bassoonist and Piano Accompanist. He also worked along side the Musical Theatre Department. Since leaving he has performed internationally as a Bassoon Soloist and Piano Accompanist and is a sought after chamber musician. He has also worked prolifically in Theatre as Music Director and Musical Supervisor, Director and Producer.
Peter teaches extensively - his past and present students are represented in a great deal of professional shows in the West End and internationally and his alumni are represented in almost every Drama School in the UK.
He is the founder of How To Sing LTD which owns an independent record label as well as teaching voice workshops to the corporate and professional voice sectors. How To Sing LTD owns an independent record label, Sing2Win (a singing competition for all ages and styles) and a theatrical licensing company called Global Theatrics which specialises in the licensing of new writing in the amateur dramatics world.
Peter was Musical Director for Little Wolf’s Pantomimes in the 2018/19 season: Jack and the Beanstalk at the Derby Arena and Beauty and the Beast at Loughborough Town Hall. He has also recently been Musical Director in 2018 for two UK tours Forever Dusty and Life Could Be A Dream both for Strictly Theatre Productions LTD, Sister Act for Chesham Musical Theatre Company and Crush for Berkhamsted Theatre Company.
As a writer he works in several collaborative partnerships as composer, orchestrator, lyricist and book writer. He currently has multiple writing projects scheduled including the re-write of Disco Inferno and the screen to stage adaptation of Four Weddings & a Funeral. He has had success with collaborator Carolyn Scott-Jeffs with Fanny: A New MusicHall and Wolfie & The Show Girl.
Peter and Carolyn are working on their new Murder-Mystery Musical called St. Phillida’s home for the Rehabilitation of Lost and Lonely WAYWARD GIRLS Where They Learn The Really Important Things In Life. Other works in progress are Gay Bar: The Musical, Crossing The Line: The New G & S Musical, Disentanglement, Stand Alone and If Only You Knew.
CONNIE WATSON
ASSOCIATE DESIGNER. DOGS LOVE HER.
Connie is passionate about creating original, practical theatre.
Connie’s credits as Set and Costume Designer/Maker include: Much Ado, Tempest and Twelfth Night (HandleBards UK Tour), Crimes on the Nile and Crimes Under the Sun (New Old Friends Uk Tour), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Letters to Emma, Cymbeline, The Hired Man, and Missing Dan Nolan (Lichfield Garrick), The Dreaming, Honk and Gulliver's Travels (Curve Leicester), My Dog's Got No Nose (Uk Tour), Guys and Dolls, Pippin, Oklahoma, Sweeney Todd, Legally Blonde, Urinetown, Singing' in the Rain, Into the Woods and Doctor Doolittle (The Swan at High Wycombe).
ANNA REDDYHOFF
ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER. UNBEATABLE IN A CRISIS.
Anna graduated in 2010. Her early work was predominantly music based, before spending several years on the touring musical theatre scene.
Current and upcoming productions include Heart The Play (Vaults), Spring Awakening (St Mary’s Lichfield) and Emilia (Vaudeville, as Associate).
Previous credits as Lighting Designer include: Sara Pascoe – Lads Lads Lads (Wyndham’s); One Man Two Guvnors (Lichfield); Elf The Musical Junior (Friary, Lichfield); Once Upon a Mattress (Lichfield); Rent (A3 Arena) and Tim Vine’s Sunset Milk Idiot (Eventim Apollo).
Anna also worked as Head of Lighting and Video on Hairspray (UK Tour – Mark Goucher Ltd).
TIM FORD
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR. WILL BEAT YOU AT MOST BOARD GAMES.
Tim is a freelance Theatre Director and choreographer. He has spent the last year working freelance and before this was working as the Artistic Director of The Lichfield Garrick Theatre for three years. Prior to joining The Garrick Theatre, Tim was the Associate Director at Reading Rep Theatre. Previous to this he was the Associate Director at Curve Theatre, Leicester; a director at The Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, The Birmingham REP and The Point Theatre, Eastleigh.
He has been working as a professional director and choreographer for over twenty five years and has directed and choreographed many shows including: Jack & The Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, the world premiere of Letters To Emma, The Hired Man, The Dreaming and Cymbeline for The Lichfield Garrick. The UK Tours of His Dark Materials& A Brief Encounter, The UK premiers of Graham the World’s Fastest Blind Man & Chequered Flags to Chequered Futures. The Dreaming, Honk, The Tempest, Santa’s New Sleigh & Fen for Curve Theatre. A Christmas Carol, The Borrowers, The Bacchae, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Antigone for The Nuffield Theatre. Songs For A New World, Henry VI, Smike, Their Scarves Were Red, Walking The Tightrope, The Speckled Monster, Hamlet, The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, Aladdin, Dick Whittington for Birmingham REP. Fame, Oliver, The Wizard Of Oz for the Grove Theatre. West Side Story, Titanic, Bugsy Malone, Trophies, Animal Farm, Alice In Wonderland for The Point Theatre.
Tim initially trained as a dancer and then went onto train and work as an actor touring the UK in various shows before becoming a director. Tim has extensive experience of making and programming work with and for young people and communities; he was a board member of the National Association of Youth Theatres for four years and has been an associate artist for The National Youth Theatre and worked with The Royal Shakespeare Company for many years on various projects.