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Guy Masterson & Theatre Tours International present the London Premiere of

Absolution

By Owen O'Neill

Performer & | Owen O'Neill
Director | Guy Masterson
Designer | Sarah June Mills 
Composer | Matt Clifford 


Biographies

Writer & performer | Owen O'Neill

Owen is a writer, actor of stage and screen, and Perrier Award nominated stand-up comedian. He has written eight one-man plays winning two Scotsman Fringe Firsts. In 1997, he won the ‘Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Best Comedy’ and the ‘LWT Award for Best Play’ for Off My Face. Owen, along with Guy Masterson, had the original idea of staging the classic American play Twelve Angry Men using twelve stand-up comedians, it was also directed and produced by Guy Masterson. It became the fastest selling show in Edinburgh Fringe history. It’s success was followed the next year by One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater & Mackenzie Crook in which he played the role of Dale Harding. This smashed the previous Edinburgh box office record and transferred directly to the West End where it ran for six months. In 2005, Owen played Roy in Guy Masterson's production of The Odd Couple with Bill Bailey and Alan Davies, which again broke all box Edinburgh office records and it still stands.

In 2009 he adapted The Shawshank Redemption for the stage which ran at the Gaiety theatre in Dublin and The Wyndhams theatre in London. In Sep 2010 Owen won 'Best Actor' for his off Broadway performance as  one-man play Absolution at 59 East 59 Street Theatre for the First Irish Festival of New York.

He has appeared in five feature films including Michael Collins directed by Neil Jordan and The General, directed by John Boorman.

As a screenwriter, his debut feature film Arise and Go Now, a dark comedy about priests, pigeons and the IRA was directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) and screened as part of the BBC Film on 2 series. He wrote and starred in Shooting To Stardom a short film directed by Kieron J Walsh which won the best short at the Cork Film Festival in 1999. He wrote and directed The Basket Case a short film adapted from his short story of the same name which was published in 2004 by Random House. It won 'Best Short Film' at the 2008 Boston Film Festival and 'Best Film' at the Fantasia Film Festival in Brazil.

TV writing includes the sitcom, The Fitz, which aired on BBC2 in 1999.

His latest book of poetry, Licking The Matchbox was published in July 2015.

 

Director | Guy Masterson

After a conventional start as an actor in plays, film and TV, Guy began directing in 1993 with Playing Burton a solo play about his uncle, Richard Burton - which hit at the Edinburgh Festival in 1994. The following 22 seasons saw Guy's association with some of Edinburgh's most celebrated hits including 12 Angry Men' (famously starring 12 comedians) which he directed and produced in 2003 and smashed box office records. For this, he received Edinburgh's most prestigious honour - The Jack Tinker 'Spirit of the Fringe' Award. This production toured to international festivals in Perth and Adelaide (Australia) and Wellington (New Zealand). It was recast in 2005 with Australian actors and won 3 Melbourne Green Room Awards including Best Director and Best Production and a nomination for 'Best Production' at the Sydney Helpmann Awards. In 2004 Guy originated One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest starring Mackenzie Crook & Christian Slater, which smashed his own Edinburgh box office record and went on to two West End runs and a Number One tour. In 2005, Guy then directed Edinburgh's biggest ever (and yet unsurpassed) box office hit, The Odd Couple starring Bill Bailey and Alan Davies.

His production of Morecambe, a monodrama about the late comedian Eric Morecambe, was the smash of the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe, transferred to the Duchess Theatre in London's West End and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment in 2010 plus a nomination for the actor playing Eric.

Over 21 consecutive seasons, his company, Theatre Tours International Ltd, has become the most highly awarded & nominated independent theatre production company currently presenting at the Edinburgh Fringe garnering 8 Scotsman Fringe First Awards, 3 Herald Angels, 3 Stage Best Actor Awards, 1 Stage Best Ensemble Award (plus 24 further Stage Award nominations) and a plethora of lesser awards and accolades.

Other directorial credits include; Cinderella (2015), Sleeping Beauty, Bill Clinton Hercules, Animal Farm (full cast version 2014), The Odd Couple, Beauty And The Beast (2013) Female Gothic, A Soldiers Song, Imperial Fizz (2012) The Diaries of Adam & Eve (2011); Long Live The King, I, Elizabeth (2010); Morecambe, Austen’s Women (2009); Reasonable Doubt, Scaramouche Jones (2008); The Eagle Dances, Follow Me, The Mistress (2007); Levelland (UK & OZ), Cooking With Puccini (2006); The Odd Couple, Swift (2005); Borge Again!, 12 Angry Men - Oz (2004); 12 Angry Men - UK (2003); Goering’s Defence, A Slight Tilt To The Left (2002); Resolution, Mom, I’m Not A Lawyer (2001); All Words For Sex (2000); Adolf (1999); Hollywood Screams II (1998) Bye Bye Blackbird (1997); The House Of Correction (1996); Playing Burton (UK 1994, NZ 2002) The Private Ear & The Public Eye.

He is married to Brigitta and father to Indigo and Tallulah...

Designer | Sarah June Mills 

Sarah studied Performance Costume at Edinburgh College of Art and has an M.A. in Theatre Design from Bristol old Vic Theatre School.

Designer: The Devil’s Passion (National Tour & London); The Picture of Dorian Gray (Tain Arts Centre, Dundalk, Ireland); The Recruiting Officer (Platform Theatre, Drama Centre); The Activists (Battersea arts Centre); Spanners (Battersea Arts Centre); Kiss and Tell (Little Fish Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Pleasance, Islington); Resilience (Little Fish Theatre Tour); Close To You (Southwark Playhouse); Harlequin Goes To The Moon (Rude Mechanical Theatre Tour).

Set designer: Dancing at Lugnahsa (The Tobacco Factory, Bristol).

Costume designer: Sweeney Todd (London); Summer Folk (Pleasance, Islington); Earthquakes in London (Pleasance, Islington); Belvedere (Brighton Fringe); Macbeth (Redgrave Theatre: Bristol); Gentle Harries Farm (Rude Mechanical Theatre).

Associate Designer: Bandages (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); The Ring Cycle Plays (Scoop); The Malcontent (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). Assistant Designer: Jane Eyre (National Theatre); Selfie (NYT: New Ambassadors Theatre); Private Peaceful (NYT, New Ambassadors Theatre); Pastorale (Soho Theatre). The Mouse And His Child (RSC); Nation (National Theatre).

Composer | Matt Clifford 

In a diverse career spanning touring and recording with rock bands, writing for West End theatre, advertising and Hollywood movies, Matt has carved something of a niche in composing for sport over the last ten years. His association with the UEFA Champions League began with creating the walk-on music in 2003 that is still played in European stadiums at the beginning of every game of the competition. He has continually refined the UCL audio brand since then and has also composed the themes for the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Supercup and four Champions League Final Opening Ceremonies (featuring, among others, Andrea Bocelli, David Garrett, Jonas Kaufmann and Tinchy Strider). Matt also composed the official anthem of the Rugby Six Nations and also the broadcast music for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

His theatre work includes the soundscape for Owen O’Neill’s Absolution, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in the West End, Gavin Robertson's The Day Of The Triffids the 2013 Edinburgh production of The Shawshank Redemption and this score for Guy Masterson's Under Milk Wood.

He also composes and collaborates with The Rolling Stones, with whom he has been touring for over 16 years.