Jake / India Holmes (2025)

01/03/2023

Deep Blue by Hayley Greggs, directed by Nic Behan & Kate Treadell, musically directed by Ste Reid with movement by Grace Goulding (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).

At first glance, a contemporary gig-theatre piece about adult loneliness may not read like a recipe for laughs, but this show had a strange joy to it. I think that joy grew from the rehearsal room and leaked out onto the stage in an exciting but controlled way. Everyone was making choices about everything, everyone listened to eachother and everyone felt really in-the-room (for lack of a less-wanky term). Our Nic and our Kate weren't really shaping the clay, rather allowing it to fall and form naturally in different ways and then choosing their favourites to set in the kiln.

Top tier kats in this though, everyone in the cast were grafters and the play itself gave us the energy. We each populated the central character Riley's world while simultaneously scoring our Danielle's wonderful performance of her. Riley is a character that feels isolated from society, so this separation of her from the ‘band’ as well as all other characters in the piece helped to show that. Nah but everyone was a real team player here and they all saved my arse when my guitar rig died on opening night.

I played a couple of different people, animals and instruments for this show (I even played a talking houseplant named Harry); which is, I think, testament to how much of a super-genius our Hayley is, as I feel like most playwrights often miss the opportunity of having vegetation pontificate. Deep Blue's world is thoroughly coloured-in. Our Ste's excellent music too made sense of the subtext and made everyone want to join the band (especially Riley lol).

Also I played the fu***ng drums on a couple of tunes for this one. Like they actually let me do that. And they paid me! Crazy.

2022

01/03/2023

BLIP! - a cabaret/installation night hosted by Dan Chan (Unity Theatre, Liverpool).

A lovely wee cabaret to celebrate and highlight a bunch of great artists working in and around Liverpool. A whole host of skills and talent on display in this one, from lips-syncing drag artists and movement installations to singer/songwriters and baton-twirlers.

I played the guitar to accompany our Nadia's singing. A short set comprising of different western songs translated into Malay. Our Nadia had spent a lot of time on these translations, carefully selecting each word, ensuring that it wasn't just the lyrics that were translated but the overall meanings and feelings too. Some of the tunes included Jolene and Hopelessly Devoted To You.

My amp decided to blow up on the last song, creating a cloud of smoke and silence, so we had to persevere acoustically. Luckily, the audience were sympathetic and stomped along graciously upon instruction. Really must get that little Marshall fixed...

2022

22/09/2022

The Arsonists by Max Frisch, directed by Ella Grace Roberts Goulding for the Liverpool Everyman's Young Directors Festival (Liverpool Everyman Theatre Ev1 Studio).

I jumped into this one quite last-minute and joined the team to play the role of Biedermann. A lovely cast, a lovely director and oh my, what a script! Our Ella's cut whittled down this dense and hectic play into a very digestible serving, the perfect size for the Director's Festival. I feel as though the text itself is an underrated classic. Not to mention that the version which we used was translated from its original German dialect, making the fluidly translated wordplay an all the more impressive feat. A Faulty Towers-esque farce with real political meat.

Also never inhale stage-cigarettes, this has been a PSA.

2022

31/05/2022

Save The Night, directed by Chris Tomlinson, Grace Goulding and Kathryn McGurk (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).

A real nostalgia-cabaret. The final installment of YEP's post-lockdown trifecta and the first post-Rutter YEP show was an absolute smash. Centering on the idea of ‘the annex’, an all-purpose space that anyone can use to make art, socialise or simply tell stories in, the show explored how spaces like that have added to this city's cultural footprint.

Dripped in folklore, music and swagger, this partially devised/partially written piece shone a spotlight onto some of Liverpool's oldest fictional and non-fictional stories and characters. From the ‘Poison Sisters of Scotty Road’, a ‘time-travelling scally’, some underage drinkers and a ghostly compere to a beautiful speech in solidarity with the Ukrainian people's dreadful plight and an imagined conversation between Chañtelle Lunt and Laetitia Withall; this show had a pretty broad scope.

The whole show had running through-line of people unexpectedly traveling back in time through storytelling, which we referred to as entering a ‘time-slip’. Now without getting too grandiose here, I feel like connecting to one's past is an essential part of the human experience and what allows us to progress as a society. Spaces like theatres, pubs, youth clubs, libraries or even just shops that specifically sell leather-based goods in train stations enable that tradition of storytelling to continue. We should probably look after them better yenno?

Also there was a fu***ng brilliant live band called Tin Can Voodoo backing this whole piece up with their steadfast rhythms, adding to the cabaret element of the show. And an insane amount of music and dancing in this one, all choreographed and shaped perfectly by our Grace. Tin Can's cover of What'd I Say, which opened the show, was truly a stunner also.

2022

31/05/2022

Tap Tap, directed by Matt Rutter, Chris Tomlinson, Nicole Behan, Kathryn McGurk and Grace Goulding (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).

One of the most fluid devised shows that I've ever been a part of, perhaps due to the highly relatable subject matter. Analysing our own relationships to social media and using that to inspire scenes of ever increasing absurdity.

I played an ‘influencer’ who incites the downfall of an unsuspecting young lad by removing context from a video of him confronting a predator on a train, framing him as an unprovoked aggressor for clickbait-sake. There was lots of gold in this piece though; including a BSL sign-along song, an online dating story, an absurd conspiracy theory scene and a rap about the ‘algo-rhythm’.

I think it became very quickly apparent that this was to be one of the most collaborative and free devising processes that had ever been tried with a YEP show, which resulted in a very supportive cast. A united and caring atmosphere always results in better work than a competitive one, this show proved that to me.

A right corker this one and our Matt's last one as creative director (and father) of YEP.

2022

28/05/2022

Water Tiger, a 10 minute performance for Lunar New Year 2022 with Movema (The Blackie, Liverpool).

I made the music for Movema's beautiful celebration of endings and new beginnings. This was unlike anything I have ever made musically, as I am about as unversed as you might get with regards to traditional Eastern music.

I am however very pleased with the 10 minute score that I produced. Two different versions of the track will be available to stream shortly via whatever it is you use.

I'll keep you posted...

2022

28/05/2022

NOSE Live, an album-launch gig (Liverpool Everyman Street Café).

In spite of a coughing amp and last-minute switcheroos, we studiously played the five tracks from the NOSE album twice over for an audience of friends, contributers and curious theatre-goers.

Our Sami, our Angus, our Chloe, our Ella and our N**s were on cracking game here and all. There are some snippets of each of the tracks in my highlights bar too I believe.

2022

28/05/2022

Soapbox, directed by Matt Rutter, Chris Tomlinson, Nicole Behan, assisted by Kathryn McGurk with movement by Grace Goulding (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).

With little over a month to devise and rehearse, this show shot out of us like a bullet from Clint Eastwood's right hand. The simple premise of the soapbox (saying what you want to say, aloud for all to hear) kind of sits at the heart of what YEP is for me. Splitting us into two teams, the show was bookended by Monday and Tuesday group's vocal and humourous speeches; the topics of which, changed from person to person.

Myself and the rest of Thursday group embarked on a 15 minute movement section that acted as the centrepiece to the show and focused on the right to protest. This proved to be a very frustrating dive into why we cannot allow the right to protest to be stripped away from us and a rather sickening reminder that it is going to be, as long as we all remain unstirred by Tory lies.

A short but sweet one, packed with content and bite. Among many highlights from the show was a perfect duologue about grief and a poem that dealt with women's ongoing need to protest which persists in spite of barriers, blockades and bloodshed.

I also briefly played a rather sexist character called ‘Stoward Hern,’ who in no way resembled any legendary real-life rock'n'roll radio hosts...

2021

28/05/2022

The writing & recording of NOSE, a short album for Nadia's LCR project with Writing On The Wall (Coastal Studios).

With the words penned beautifully by the young participants from Knowsley, it was our job to turn those words into great sounds. Each of the five tracks on the record were in the style of the writer's choosing too, making it a real mashup of genres. My main concern was on how to make it a coherent piece that flowed nicely as one whole experience.

I felt like the trick would be to make it sound like a live band, that had its own sound, trying out different genres from song to song. Now with our Sami on bass and our Angus on drums, we very quickly found our groove. This was made achievable too by the very cool and helpful folk at Coastal Studios who catered to my stubborness and enabled us to record live and without a click track in spite of time delays.

Very pleased with how this one turned out.

2021

28/05/2022

Gigs in The Scholar (and also various other venues and gardens) as an unnamed acoustic duo.

These gigs were incredibly helpful and fun ways to earn money. Myself and our Suzie had our s**t so tight that you couldn't even see the seams. Easy cash maybe, but it's really more about playing isn't it? This isn't like a lot of money we're talking about. So what's it all for? Who can say...

I'll accept the argument that we're exhibitionists.

2021-2022

28/05/2022

Macbeth, directed by Chris Tomlinson & assisted by Kathryn McGurk, movement by Grace Goulding (St Luke's Church Liverpool).

Truly over a year in the making, our Macbeth had balls (figuratively). Updated and rejuvenated by the young cast's voices, this script sits in the streets of Liverpool like a fu***ng manhole. Embedded.

I played Macduff, who is like basically the hero of the play and honestly doesn't have too great of a time. Lots of fun scenes to act though. I really like Macduff, even if he does make questionable childcare arrangements. The whole thing had a perticularly A* cast though; with our Chloe as the title role, redefining each scene and bouncing off walls. Our Luke too, who in my opinion, gave a greater Lennox than Shakespeare himself could have ever hoped for. All where honestly at peak in this.

I, our Maudie and our Sami also co-wrote and co-performed the live score for the play.

2021

28/05/2022

The Summertime Doorstep Pantomimes with the Liverpool Lighthouse, written & directed by Rebecca Ross-Williams (musically directed by Peter Hawley).

This is one of the most joyous projects that I've ever contributed to. A summertime story where the ‘Summer Folk’ need the help of a special person to end winter and bring new hope. This thing was a real Swiss-watch of a show; with magic, singing, dancing, bongos and fairy light. A real flash trip.

Theatre's immobility is probably it's most excluding factor, so the idea of taking a show and hand-delivering it to people's homes is pretty much the definition of a dream job. Our panto was written to ignite a bit of hope during a very bleak summer. These were very deserving homes too, which made the hope all the more needed.

A full filmed version of this pantomime exists online too, so that if your nan or neighbor or whatever would ever want cheering up or even a bit of company, they could have a gander at it:

https://vimeo.com/567043139

2021

28/05/2022

One Big Dance (Parts I & II), directed & choreographed by Grace Goulding, Felipe Pacheco & Alice Lapworth.

A gorgeous project that helped to occupy time during the latter part of lockdown, as well as to provide a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. This project has an accompanying documentary/performance film that can be found here:

https://www.offtheground.co.uk/one-big-dance

Also my first purely movement/dance based project not performed in La'go at 2am.

2020

28/05/2022

Beasts & Beauties by Carol Ann Duffy, directed by Lucy Jones & Mathew Walker for my 3rd year at LJMU.

Covid-19 cut short my time in LJMU, really. I know we technically finished the module (and the year), but the total halting of all physical modules, a few weeks before our final performance was due to happen, pretty much checked me out of the course.

All the same, this final show was lovely and the first real piece of children's (or rather young adult's) theatre I had ever done. Multi-rolling and multi-purposing. Taking charge of a few characters as well as writing the music with the words from the lovely script.

2020

28/05/2022

Welcome To Andromeda by Ron Whyte, directed by Jamie Pye (Liverpool Everyman Theatre Ev1 studio).

A great find. A great co-actor. A great idea.

An absolute pleasure to do this two hander with our Flush. I really learned a lot about acting from doing this show with him. I hope he says the same about working with me (if not, I take it back). The production too, what a ball ache! Changing the female Nurse character to suit me required pretty extensive cutting. Sorting our own props and set and music (which had to be actual vinyls, actually playing) too, really made me realise what goes into even the smallest of moments onstage.

The fact that our FOAM production was officially the first time Welcome To Andromeda had been performed in the UK was no surprise to me; it's a fantastic but very weird play. I am immensely proud of it though, as a piece of work and as a professional lesson. Ultimately, our Pye's passion for this script was what made this so interesting to me in that first read-through and I only hope that I did it some justice.

We also made some money doing this, though I wouldn't recommend it as a steady wage...

2019

28/05/2022

A Night At The Iron Door, written by Andrew Sherlock, directed by Sarah Hogarth & Andrew Sherlock (The Liverpool Royal Court studio).

A show to honour a club that more than played it's part in shaping the Merseybeat scene. A documentary film spliced with live action scenes that brought the history to life. These scenes followed the two owners of the club, Jeff and Harry, introducing our fake Merseybeat-type band ‘The Grasshoppers’ to the club where we bumped into a young John Lennon. Though the star of the show was truly the music. Spotlighting the rich tapestry of artistry and songwriting that poured out of this city during that era.

It was fun to be in it, and to play those songs in front of the people that played and heard them first was a privilege.

2019

28/05/2022

Antithesis written & directed by Jason Kelly (John Foster Drama Studio).

I was very lucky to have been asked to create original music for and accompany such a unique project. A genuinely singular and original artistic vision provided the backbone to this biblically ambitious show. The play told the dark yet hilarious tale of a bank robbery that coincides with the end of the universe, and we played the part of God's very own house-band.

We tried to score the piece with the story's duality in mind; at times amplifying the tension of a scene with more serious moral quandaries, and other times providing a whacked-out funkadelic backdrop to the moments of surreal comedy. All the way through, being guided by the fantastic writer/director/artist/visionary who birthed this wonderful piece.

10/10, would come again.

2019

28/05/2022

Crowd, directed by Matt Rutter & Chris Tomlinson, movement by Grace Goulding (Liverpool Playhouse Theatre).

Crowd was an interesting show, and I feel like up to that point it was the most ambitious show that YEP had ever done. Multiple storylines all interwoven with poetry, and set in the same dystopian world; this show was heavy.

As an exploration of what happens when a population becomes entirely complicit. My role within the piece was that of an evil anti-gay n**i doctor and I used footage of real life gay-conversion ‘therapists’ to draw inspiration from.

A riotous piece in all; for me though, the three poets that bookmarked every scene with their lyrical wisdoms took the biscuit.

2019

28/05/2022

Another Undergraduates gig in the Hope & Anchor.

The five-headed-dragon and a bunch of very entertaining and heavily armed guest singers. This was a pretty ambitious moment for us. We had a much better PA system by this point and took full advantage of that by having all of the night's guest singers and musicians re-join us onstage for the final song (Somebody To Love).

Me and our Flushy also did Tribute by Tenacious D, which will be forever the best thing we ever do.

2019

28/05/2022

Our own adaptation of This Is England by Shane Meadows, directed by Sarah Hogarth for my 2nd year at LJMU.

Firecracker of a show this. Adapting a film to stage is a tricky thing, but we pulled it off. Each cast member took the responsibility of re-writing (and re-examining) a couple of scenes each, and we collectively re-worked the story into a promenading piece of immersive theatre. I had decided pretty early on in the process that I wanted to play Woody, and I knew that our Sarah was making casting decisions based on how we acted in the room, so I tried my best to behave as woodylike as possible at all times. Great cast this though, like in general.

This piece too, marked the very first time that I would contribute to a show's music. Myself on bass and guitar, our Fin on keys and our Jack on the drums; this show sparked an idea in our heads to form a kind of “multi-purpose-University-house-band” which would go on to do greater things...we did a fantastic one minute cover of Louie Louie an'all.

28/05/2022

Rachel Cusk's adaptation of Medea by Euripides, directed by Ros Merkin for my 1st year at LJMU.

I played the evil and ever creepy Creon in this and I enjoyed fully hamming it up. Creon fancies his own daughter, so I felt like it was okay to ham as he clearly wasn't written to be a very relatable character haha. I also played Jason a little bit too, but had a lot less to do there. A bloody nasty play this. Lots of mean people doing mean things. But a pretty fun watch I feel. Maybe? Who knows. I also built a large wooden puppet (a stick with a wig) that we used to portray Jason's new lover, whom we all lovingly re-named Gladice. What a show...

2018

27/05/2022

LoveHistory's Trial By Jury, written & directed by Judy McLean (St George's Hall).

Another great script and another great couple of nights. The response is always immediate and honest with this kind of audience. And yet again, the venue is truly special.

I also believe Derek Acorah came to watch one night of this show, if I'm not mistaken? I hope he liked it.

2018

27/05/2022

The City (& The Value Of Things), directed by Chris Tomlinson & Matt Rutter, movement by Grace Goulding (Liverpool Everyman Theatre).

This was a huge show. 55 people onstage at once I believe. Dunno if that was an Everyman record; it felt like it should be. Some of the best and most important things that had been in any YEP show up until this point were in this show. Amongst them was a beautiful tribute to Liverpool's rough sleepers. And I had the joy of pretending to be a strange 70s American policeman. Probably my favourite YEP show.

2018

27/05/2022

LoveHistory Halloween show directed by Judy McLean (St George's Hall).

I really, quite sadistically, enjoyed scaring a bunch of old women from the catacombs underneath St George's Hall. And I really very deeply enjoyed the heck out of that coat. Just look at it! Gorgeous.

2017

27/05/2022

Alternative Truths Written & Directed by Tim Lynskey.

A hilarious show. A true satirical epic created by someone who I'd consider a true artist and mentor. This was our final HNC performance and it was really long, and really funny. The whole year was a strange highlight in my life and this show felt like the cumulative result of a bunch of very admirable people's efforts. I think the people on that perticular course, on that perticular year are forever bound by that shared experience. We were 13 completely different individuals going in, with virtually nothing in common and I believe all of us finished the year having changed in some way. Mostly for the better.

For the full two and a half hours of madness click here:

https://youtu.be/meKXsBeuTbQ

2017

27/05/2022

Trial By Jury, written & directed by Judy McLean (St George's Hall & Session's House Liverpool).

My debut with LoveHistory in St George's Hall. This was a great trial, I was the defendant for a rather charmless scallywag sea-captain who was to be hanged for murder, so it felt like a hell of a thing to get him off scott-free. The third show took place in Session's House accross from St George's which is where this picture is from. That building is such a beautiful part of Liverpool and I feel it often gets overlooked, perticularly it's interior decor, so we felt very luck to perform in such a picturesque venue.

2017

27/05/2022

The Establishment, directed by Matt Rutter & Chris Tomlinson, movement by Grace Goulding (The Invisible Wind Factory).

Crazy venue and a very fun show. I remember a lot of our scenes being improvised for this one and some of the jokes were golden. I wonder where those pig-masks went?

2017

27/05/2022

The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning, directed by Chris Tomlinson & assisted by Jack Cooper (Liverpool Playhouse Studio).

I remember this as a very intense show. It felt as though, each night, the play's ending was unwritten. Partly because the story itself was still unveiling in the news in between each show. This one really stayed with me and I think that myself and the whole cast are probably committed to following Chelsea Manning's story for life.

2016

27/05/2022

The Environmentalists, directed by Chris Tomlinson & Matt Rutter, movement by Grace Goulding (Liverpool Everyman).

Loved doing this one and it was my first big Young Everyman Playhouse show. I named my character Recycle Michael which I thought was genius. Several years later I saw the same name-gag on an episode of The Simpsons which I felt was theft of my intellectual property. I also wrote a silly poem during the rehearsals of this that was never used in a scene, but was used in some of the promo for the show and I'm still immensely proud of it.

A World Without Bread:

The only thing you can have with everything,
Without it we’d be healthier
Reduced obesity
And then we’d be hungry
No sandwiches
No pizza
No cheese on toast
No last supper for Jesus
He wouldn’t have been able to feed the 5000
We couldn’t feed ducks.....or pigeons
Bakeries would be out of business
No British bake off,
Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry would be homeless and struggling to survive
No French loaves
No use for Jam and butter
B.R.E.A.D would never have been filmed
This list would not exist without the existence of bread.
Wheat farmers would just be farmers
We’d all miss out on the Warburton’s advert
But those who are gluten intolerant wouldn’t.
Toasters would be pointless
Sausage rolls would no longer be rolled.
Beans on what?

No bread – no hope
Without it we’ll be toast.

2016

27/05/2022

6th Form devised show. We called it Borders Of Mad Bureaucracy (B.O.M.B) and it was a riot. Classic A-Level drama show, lots of choral stuff and transitions with music. I also played David Cameron in a few scenes. And yes, my sign says ‘lies’. This was deep.

2015

27/05/2022

My first band was called The Upstarts. It's pretty hard to be in a band when you have no musical ability and I really can't stress enough how obnoxious I was during this time. I vastly overstated my guitar playing ability to get in the band, so in the weeks leading up to my first rehearsal I was frantically learning a bunch of songs and riffs from You Tube. It was the first time I ever sang in front of people too, Do I Wanna Know was the song I believe. We didn't actually do anything as a band but we had fun and felt very cool. I miss Vulcan Studios.

2014.

27/05/2022

Dressed as Charlie Chaplin for some sort of Hollyoaks school talent show thing. This is a pretty good image because the actress nudged me in such a way that I truly did lose my balance. They say the greatest actors give true reactions, and I am no exception...

2014

27/05/2022

Got paid a bit more on this one because we had to dub the sound of us laughing in over the top of the clip. I remember this vividly. One of the lead actors told us his secret to cued laugher, which was to imagine the word p***s in his head. He even giggled when he said it. Still had no idea what was happening though. I figured also that I'd save some people's anonymity, especially if they aren't pulling very flatting expressions...

2014

27/05/2022

Hollyoaks is an interesting thing. It's not often a background-artist gets asked to be a foreground-artist. Had to really mentally prepare for this one. Looking back on it, I had no idea what was happening...and it really shows.

2014

27/05/2022

The parade for the grand opening of the new Everyman walked up from the Playhouse to the new building with probably a few hundred people and young actors all going crazy and doing scenes in the street. I remember it as a very fun and optimistic night. I look awfully small in this first photo though.

2014

27/05/2022

One of my first Young Everyman sharings in the Playhouse studio. Wayyy back in 2012. Some great scenes in that show and probably some of my best work.

2012

27/05/2022

My first gig. That cereal box guitar got the class dancing every Friday. We Will Rock You used to go down especially well if I remember correctly...
..also for some reason I was left handed.

2001

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