Writer/Director

Ryan has expanded his creative career beyond his established acting work to become a playwright and filmmaker. He further developed his writing skills through specialised training with Hull Truck.

His theatre works include Shock Horror: A Ghost Story, Merlin and The Magic Mirror, and Bottoms Up. His transition into filmmaking has proven equally successful, with horror films Seizure and Demon Eye receiving theatrical releases in America and Europe and distribution across thirty territories globally.

Ryan's recent short film Tea With The Reaper garnered four prestigious awards following its initial release.

Dramaturg

Steve is Chief Executive and Director of Programming for Watford Palace Theatre. He has been working in the creative industries for over 25 years and was Co-Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Soho Theatre (2010-18) then established PantoCo Ltd – a company specialising in large scale family shows.  

He is an acclaimed theatre executive, producer, director and writer who is committed to live performance for people who don’t traditionally attend and seeking out new artists with stories and insights we have never heard before. In 1996 his first play 97 – A play about the victims of the Hillsborough Tragedy was the story of his experience as an 11-year-old boy attending the match that day. 

Set Designer

Caitlin Mawhinney is a Yorkshire-born and bred designer.

She was the winner of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund for Visual Design in 2021 and has continued to gain recognition with a double nomination for Best Designer at The Stage Debut Awards 2022, finalist for the JMK Awards, as well as being a Creative Associate at Jermyn Street Theatre and a Resident Designer at New Diorama Broadgate. She trained in BA Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University.

Her work as a set and costume designer has seen main stages, studios, and unconventional spaces across the country. Recent collaborations include National Theatre Public Acts, Hull Truck Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Soho Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Northern Opera, Southbank Center, alongside many others. She loves to design for shows with a social and political motivation, using her designs to walk a line between reality and abstraction.

Alongside this, Caitlin's work takes the form of installation design, most notably for the National Trust, and as Associate and Assistant to a number of designers, including for the West End, Scottish Opera, Royal Opera House, and National Theatre.

Composer

Ben Parsons composes music for TV, films and theatre.

He has scored for many series and programmes for TV including Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country, Bear Grylls and received an Emmy nomination for Netflix’s The Hidden Lives of Pets. Ben has also scored feature films including Demon Eye and a number of shorts. 

Theatre work has included Cascade’s Frankenstein dance piece. Ben used to tour and record with bands including Cherry Ghost and Arctic Monkeys and now lives and works in North Manchester.

Lighting Designer

Andrew Crofts is a visual designer and technologist who works with lighting, video and interactive tech for theatre, dance and mixed-media companies. As well as working with Thunder Road previously on Shock Horror, Andrew has worked with a range of other artists and companies including Imitating the Dog, Jasmin Vardimon, Blast Theory, Every House Has A Door, Invisible Flock, Streetwise Opera, Geraldine Pilgrim Performance, Belarus Free Theatre and Spymonkey.

Sound Designer

Nick's work as a sound designer, over more than 30 years, has seen him collaborate on productions across the world, in a wide range of genres including drama, family theatre, dance, and performance art.

From the West End to Broadway, Sydney to Halifax, LA to Beijing, his work has often bridged the worlds of soundscape and music, sometimes immersive and intimate and at others theatrical extravaganza on a grand scale.

Most recent sound design credits include: Mary Said What She Said (New York), Pessoa (Paris & Lisbon), Horrible Histories (2025 UK Tour & West End), Awful Auntie (UK Tour), Jungle Book (World Tour), and Tree of Codes (World Tour). Nick has also provided the sound design for three Olivier Award-nominated productions.

When not travelling the world being "creatively noisy," he is also a music producer and songwriter at 3507 Studio Recording, specialising in developing new and emerging music artists.

Illusion Designers

Jamie Docherty and Lewis Joss, also known as the magic double act Jay & Joss, are the creative team behind Fine Entertainments Ltd. They have created original magic for a wide range of stage productions, including Dr. Faustus at the iconic Minack Theatre, and regularly consult for magicians on Britain's Got Talent.

Their theatre work extends to unique live events, from producing a magical presidential entrance at the Chelsea Lodge annual dinner to regular appearances at the Royal Variety Aftershow. Commercial credits include campaigns for Dulux and Marks & Spencer, and a recent routine created and taught for rapper Nines, filmed in a West End theatre.

Their magic has also featured in television and documentary projects, including School of Hard Tricks (BBC), A Day in the Life Of (Channel 4), and Theatre of Wrestling for Wrestling Resurgence.

As touring performers, Jamie and Lewis continue to bring their large-scale illusion shows to theatres across the UK, blending innovation, spectacle, and a deep love of live performance.

Graphic Designer

Rebecca is a British designer and art director who has been creating key art for theatre since 2008, beginning with a stint at West End advertising agency Dewynters. Notable London work includes SIX, The Time Traveller’s Wife, Amélie, The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale, Treason, Unfortunate and Your Lie in April. She also works for a number of regional theatres, including Watermill Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Theatr Clwyd, Exeter Northcott Theatre and The Barn.  Her work can be viewed at www.rebeccapitt.co.uk

Director of Photography

Dave works internationally across features, documentary, corporate, short film, and time-lapse. For Dave, Shock Horror represented a truly unique and exciting opportunity to weave cinematic content into a live theatrical narrative.

Over the past five years, he has collaborated on a number of award-winning projects including: Polterheist (2018), Seizure (2018), Demon Eye (2019), Tea with the Reaper (2022), his own directorial debut - Hide (2023). He’s currently working on a number of virtual production 'volume' productions.

Set Construction

Will is the Technical Manager at Uppingham Theatre, as well as a Scenic Carpenter and Set Designer.

Credits include: The Worst Witch (UK Tour and West End), Hetty Feather (UK Tour and West End), Ottone (UK Tour), The Siege of Calais (UK Tour), Il Mondo Della Luna (UK Tour), La Bohème (UK Tour), Girls and Boys, Instructions for Correct Assembly (Royal Court Theatre), Good Canary, Romeo and Juliet, My Brilliant Friend, The War of the Roses (Rose Theatre Kingston), Sheppey (Orange Tree Theatre), The Magic Flute, King Priam, and Paul Bunyan (Royal Opera House).

Scenic Painter

Sophia is a scenic artist and creative, trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in Scenic Painting for Stage and Screen BA (hons) and is starting her MFA in Scenography at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Selected Credits include: Before After, London Zoo, When We Strike, and The Frogs (Southwark Playhouse), Roman Fever and The Human Voice, Ruth and Six of Calais, and The Aspern Papers (Pegasus Opera), Choir of Man (Arts Theatre), Gucci Cruise 2025, McLaren 2024, and Hublot x Daniel Arsham (Tate Modern), Hermés Brides de Galaxy (Titan Studios), Burberry Spring Summer 2024 (London Fashion Week), Shifters (Bush Theatre), Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon (Garrick Theatre), and Waterperry Opera Festival (Waterperry Gardens).

Technical Manager

Dominic is a Lighting Designer and Production Technician based in Greater Manchester.

He’s been working within music and theatre since graduating from The University of Hull in 2019. He's worked alongside a variety of producers, playwrights and education establishments to share their stories and works with the wider world. And joined Thunder Road last year for their UK Tour of Shock Horror: A Ghost Story.

Design credits include: BUFF (UK Tour), BI-TOPIA (UK Tour), Macbeth (IC Theatre), A Night with Me; Myself and Bi-polar Brenda and The Formidable Lizzie Boone (UK Tour).

Production credits include: Shock Horror: A Ghost Story (Thunder Road Theatre), SO UNFAIR (One Tenth Human)and ROTTEN (Emmerson & Ward).

Marketing Manager

Jess is a Yorkshire-based arts marketing specialist with a focus on touring theatre and dance. She studied psychology before completing an MA in Advertising and Design at the University of Leeds. She is Northern Broadsides' Marketing and Communications Manager and has previously worked at Leeds Playhouse, Yorkshire Dance, and Theatre Royal Wakefield.

As a freelancer, Jess has worked with companies including Northern Rascals, Claybody Theatre, Stute Theatre, Filament Projects, Beggars Belief Collective, Restoke, and Watershed Productions, as well as supporting shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Marketing Assistant

Alyx is a budding marketing and communications specialist at the start of her professional journey. Graduating in 2024 from the University of Leeds as a BA Journalism (BJTC accredited) degree holder, she has a strong foundation in storytelling and understands the value of connecting with a diverse range of audiences. Drawing on her years of experience in the theatre world—from performing at the New Vic Theatre to working in hospitality at Leeds Playhouse—she is keen to put her knowledge of the industry to use and contribute to marketing campaigns that connect and inspire.