Artistic Patrons
Dame Judi Dench
One of the country’s most esteemed and best loved actors, Dame Judi was a member of the repertory company for Oxford Playhouse in the 1960s, performing the role of Irina in Three Sisters, Anna in The Twelfth Hour, Silia in The Rules of the Game and Lika in The Promise, which transferred to London’s West End.She is a long-standing artistic patron and supporter of Oxford Playhouse. Her distinguished career has included notable roles on stage, television and film, including Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Academy Award.
Sir Michael Codron
With a hugely distinguished career, Sir Michael is a leading producer of West End shows including My Brilliant Divorce, Blue/Orange and The Importance of Being Earnest. He is particularly known for his productions of early works of Harold Pinter, David Hare, Simon Gray, Christopher Hampton and Tom Stoppard.Michael is a graduate of Worcester College, Oxford and during the 1990s was the 4th Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre.
Sir Michael Palin
Sir Michael is a comedian, actor, writer and television presenter, perhaps best known as a member of the iconic comedy troupe Monty Python.
Michael studied Modern History at Brasenose College, Oxford in the early 1960s. Together with Robert Hewison, he started writing and performed comedy material for a University Christmas party. They were then joined by Terry Jones and in 1964 performed together in the Oxford Revue (Edinburgh Fringe), and the acclaimed production of Hang Down Your Head and Die (Oxford Playhouse), which transferred to the Comedy Theatre, London and went to New York.
Michele Dotrice
A distinguished British actor, Michele is probably best known for her portrayal of Betty in BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978. Michele was married to the late actor Edward Woodward, who was also an Artistic Patron of Oxford Playhouse.
Paterson Joseph
Paterson is one of Britain’s finest actors. His acting credits include Brutus in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Julius Caesar in Stratford, New York and on the BBC, and has appeared regularly at the National Theatre in plays such as Emperor Jones, The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Saint Joan. Paterson is also well known for his regular roles in Peep Show, Law and Order, Casualty and Green Wing. He has worked on three collaborations with director Danny Boyle, including appearing in The Beach alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Paterson worked with Oxford Playhouse in 2011 on Sancho – An Act of Remembrance, his first play, which was performed in the Burton Taylor Studio. He reprised this role on the main stage in 2015, after which the production toured to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the US.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw MBE
Gugu was brought up in Witney, Oxfordshire. She joined the local acting group Dramascope and, from the age of eleven, appeared in a number of Oxford Playhouse pantomimes. She was also a member of the National Youth Music Theatre.
Gugu has starred in both theatre and films such as Hamlet, in London's West End and on Broadway opposite Jude Law, and Romeo and Juliet at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, where she was nominated for best actress in the ‘Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards’. In 2013 she starred in Belle with Emily Watson and Tom Felton. She also starred in the romantic drama Beyond the Lights (2014) and was nominated for a Gotham Award for Best Actress for her performance. She received an MBE in 2017 for services to drama.
Rowan Atkinson CBE
A multi award-winning actor, comedian and writer, Rowan studied for an MSc at Queen’s College, Oxford. During his time at Oxford, Rowan acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Drama Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club, where he met writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, whom he would continue to collaborate with after university.
Rowan has had multiple starring roles across TV, film and stage including Blackadder, Mr Bean and as Fagin in the 2009 West End revival of Oliver.
Samuel West
Actor, narrator and theatre director, Sam studied English Literature at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and was president of the Experimental Theatre Club. In 1996 he played Hal in the English Touring Theatre production of Henry IV Part I and Part II at Oxford Playhouse alongside his father, Timothy West.
Sam was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres from 2005-2007. His distinguished acting credits include Jeffrey Skilling in Lucy Prebble's Enron, a performance that earned him an Olivier Award. More recently, he portrayed Malvolio in the RSC’s production of Twelfth Night. He has also appeared in several long-running television series, including Waking the Dead, Slow Horses and as Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small.
Together with his father and mother, the actor Prunella Scales, Sam performed a benefit performance at Oxford Playhouse in 2009 entitled A Family Affair. Timothy West was also an Artistic Patron of Oxford Playhouse until his death in 2024.
Sinéad Cusack
Celebrated Irish actress Sinéad first took to the stage at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. In 1975 she moved to London and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.
One of Sinead’s best known stage roles was playing Mai O’Hara in Our Lady of Sligo [1998] for Out of Joint in Ireland, on Broadway, at the National Theatre and at Oxford Playhouse.
In 2004 Sinéad, together with her husband Jeremy Irons, performed two readings of Mirad, a Boy from Bosnia by Ad de Bont in aid of the British Red Cross and the Bosnia Aid Committee for Oxford Playhouse.
Stewart Lee
Born in Shropshire in 1968, Stewart studied English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and began writing and performing stand-up at the age of 20. In 1990 he won the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year award and for the next five years he contributed to various BBC Radio comedy shows, including Fist of Fun and On The Hour, with Steve Coogan and Chris Morris.
Stewart's subsequent three stand-up tours consolidated his live audience and critical standing. This contributed to BBC2's decision to commission his 2009 series, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle; the second series of which won a BAFTA and two British Comedy Awards. In 2001 he was invited to help write the libretto of, and direct, Jerry Springer The Opera, at Battersea Arts Centre. The show won four Olivier awards after its National Theatre run.
In 2012 Stewart was placed at number 9 in the Top 100 Most Influential People in UK Comedy, and in 2018, The Times named him as the best current English language comedian. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
