IMPETUS THEATRE Co presents

Jonathan Collings

Storyteller    Playwright

jon@jumble.freeserve.co.uk     01902 425587

After graduating in English, Jonathan spent five years teaching English and Drama in comprehensive schools.  He then took a postgraduate course in acting at Mountview Theatre School, and set about becoming a full-time actor.

Acting

He worked on the London Fringe, in Children’s Theatre, and in Theatre-in-Education - two years full-time with Gazebo TIE (Darlaston) brought him to the West Midlands, where he has remained ever since.

The range of his theatre work broadened to include provincial rep (Salisbury, Milford Haven, Worcester, Coventry) and community touring (Northamptonshire and Leicestershire). He also became a regular performer in radio drama (mainly working at Pebble Mill, Birmingham).

Writing

From the beginning of his acting career, Jonathan was also interested in writing.  He had a play presented at the Croydon Warehouse, wrote plays for TIE companies (Watford, Salisbury and Gazebo), and had a full-length play commissioned by Southern Arts for Stage 65 (Salisbury Playhouse’s Youth Theatre). More recently, he has written four pantomimes for Central Youth Theatre (Wolverhampton), and three one man shows.  In 2001 he helped set up New City Playwrights - a playwriting group in Wolverhampton - and much of his recent work has been connected with projects promoted by that group.

A full list of plays can be found on the Playwright page.

Storytelling

Jonathan’s interest in storytelling began when his own children were small. In 1988 he set up Impetus Theatre with Christine McGowan, and toured nursery and infant schools with “Scare The Crows”, an inter-active show on environmental themes. He follow2ed this with “The Bric-a-brac Man”, a show he devised himself, in which objects on the Bric-a-brac Man’s stall prompted him to tell a variety of stories. Over the years, his repertoire of stories has increased, and the range of audiences and venues has widened.  Recently, he has become increasingly interested in inter-active storytelling workshops, and in using his skills as a cartoonist to illustrate his stories as he goes along - an activity that goes down particularly well with younger children, and childrem with learning difficulties.

For more details, please go to the storyteller page.

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