Alan Rickman was an English actor and director known for playing a variety of roles on stage and on screen. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in modern and classical theatre productions, as well as gaining wider notice for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series.

Bea Roberts is a West Country writer. Her plays include: The Whitby Rebels (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, 2024); Ivy Tiller: Vicar's Daughter, Squirrel Killer (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2022);  And Then Come The Nightjars (Theatre503, London, 2015); Infinity Pool; A Modern Retelling of Madame Bovary (Tobacco Factory Theatres/The Bike Shed Theatre/Plymouth Theatre Royal); Scoop (Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour) and Nights with Dolly Henderson (Box of Tricks at the Salisbury Playhouse/The Bike Shed Theatre/Bolton Octagon).

In addition to writing plays, Bea has written and performed sketches, storytelling pieces and stand-up comedy.

Kat Roberts studied Drama and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway University; English Literature at The Open University and Acting at the Poor School. Her writing credits include short plays The Second Stage of Grief produced by The Goat Theatre Company (2012); Take me (2014) and Age UK (2015); both for Blackshaw Theatre’s New Writing Nights. Her first full-length play, Staying Alive, was produced by Blackshaw at the Pleasance, London, in 2015.

Dr Philip Roberts is Emeritus Professor of Theatre Studies in the University of Leeds and a theatre historian, particularly of the Royal Court.