About Antic Disposition

Antic Disposition was founded in 2005 by director Ben Horslen and director/designer John Risebero. The Peter Brook Award-winning company presents innovative interpretations of classic plays and stories, with a particular emphasis on the works of Shakespeare.

Based in London and Bath, the company has earned a strong reputation and much critical acclaim for its high quality, visually striking productions presented in historic buildings and unusual non-theatre spaces. Recent productions include The Comedy of Errors in Gray’s Inn Hall, location of the play’s first recorded performance in 1594; Richard III in Leicester Cathedral, where the King was recently reinterred; and Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet in the 12th-century Temple Church.

Marking the centenary of the First World War, Antic Disposition’s moving adaptation of Henry V has been presented in France, received three London runs and toured many of the UK’s finest cathedrals and churches, including a series of very special performances in Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, burial place of William Shakespeare.
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The company’s acclaimed musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, performed in the spectacular Elizabethan setting of Middle Temple Hall for seven sell-out seasons, has been seen by over 17,000 people and is firmly established as one of London’s most magical festive treats.

Antic Disposition also tours its productions abroad, including many summers performing in stunning open-air locations around the Lot and Dordogne valleys in southwest France. On the cobblestones of medieval village squares and against a backdrop of vineyards and sunflower fields, the company has presented many of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays to an appreciative international audience.

The company has released three albums, Music for Shakespeare, Henry V and A Christmas Carol, and was honoured to win the prestigious Peter Brook / Equity Ensemble Award 2014.

Ben Horslen

Director

Ben read English at Cambridge University. He founded Antic Disposition with John Risebero in 2005. For the company he has co-directed: Henry V; Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth; Much Ado About Nothing; Richard III; The Comedy of Errors; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Twelfth Night; The Tempest; A Christmas Carol; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Importance of Being Earnest; and The Shakespeare Revue.
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John Risebero

Director / Designer

John trained in Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He founded Antic Disposition with Ben Horslen in 2005 and has co-directed and designed all the company's productions. He has designed for the West End, Off West End, Royal Opera House, across the UK and abroad, and is the joint recipient of the Peter Brook Ensemble Award and the Golden Triga international award for Stage Design.

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Nick Barstow
Composer / Musical Director

Tom Boucher
Lighting Designer
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James Burrows
Composer

Christopher Peake
Composer / Musical Director
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Scott Rylander
‍Photographer

Hanna Wilkinson
‍Costume

Acting Company

Over 200 actors and musicians have appeared in Antic Disposition's productions since 2005.

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Chiraz Aich
Mark Aidan
Isabella Ainslie
Gabriel Akamo
David Alderman
Geri Allen
Bruce Allinson
Floriane Andersen
Sammy Andrews
David Anthony
Russell Anthony
Harry Anton
Charlotte Armer
Megan Ashley
Keith Atkinson
Tony Austin
Ben Baker
Brage Bang
Sarah Barron
Gaynor Bassey
Galina Baxter
Henry Beale
Tony Bell
Michaela Bennison
Ben Benson
Louis Bernard
Rhys Bevan
Ben Bibbings
Natalie Blenford
Andrew Bolton
Robert Bradley
Susie Broadbent
Anouke Brook
Scott Brooks
Billy Brown
Ed Browning
Judy Burgess
Tommy Burgess
David Burt
Tristan Butler
Maurice Byrne
Ben Callon
Georgina Carey
Stephen Carlile
Adam J Carpenter
Ben Carpenter
Carole Carpenter
Francesca Casey
Scott Christie
Barry Clarke
Mabel Clements
Callum Coates
Pete Collis
McCallam Connell
Ashley Cook
Robyn Cooper
Clare Corbett
Philip Correia
Sophie Cosson

Chris Courtenay
Paul Croft
Janet Cost-Chretien
Matthew Curnier
William de Coverly
Nicola Delaney
Richard Dempsey
Jayne Dickinson
Glyn Dilley
Patrice Dorling
Taite-Elliot Drew
Keith Ducklin
Jesse Dunbar
Chris Edgerley
Marian Elizabeth
Ayrton English
Helen Evans
Huw Evans
Ben Everett-Riley
Joe Eyre
Ethan Fairclough
Emma Fenney
Alice Fernbank
Elliot Fitzpatrick
Adam Flynn
Lucy Ford
Richard Franklin
Edward Lewis French
Robert French
Jacob Fullagar
Tom Gabriel
Harley Gallacher
Gilles Geary
Moragh Gee
Christopher Gilling
James Girard
Naomi Gisbey
Simon Grant
Thomas Grant
Ewan Guthrie
Dylan Hall
Pamela Hall
Ian Hallard
Nathan Hamilton
Austin Hardiman
Vanessa Havell
Andrew Hayden-Smith
Chris Hespel
Jack Heydon
Keith Higinbotham
Andrew Hislop
Andrew Hodges
Robyn Holdaway
Richard Holt
Lara Honnor
Alex Hooper
Victoria Hope
Eloise Howe
Scott Howland

Ross Hugill
Kate Hume
David Hunter
James Hutchinson
Mark Iles
Alexander Jonas
Jack Joseph
Ollie Kaiper-Leach
Stanley Kayley
Sam Keen
Dylan Kennedy
Victor Klein
Theo Landey
James Lavender
Jenny Lee
Aude Le Pape
Andrew Lewis
Stephen Lloyd
Harvey Loakes
Kerry Loosemore
Katie Lovell
Ellie Ann Lowe
Kate Macauley
James Mackay
Alexandra Mackenzie
Peter Mair
Stefan Majczak
Leo Mann
Toby Manley
Philip Mansfield
Emma Manton
Daniel McCarthy
Charlie McLellan
Mark Middleton
Molly Miles
Helen Millar
Bethany Minelle
Tim Molyneux
Shaun Morton
Christabel Muir
James Murfitt
Tom Murphy
Timothy Mylechreest
Robert Nairne
Jess Nesling
Charles Neville
Jonathan Newman
Joanna Nuttall
Haydn Oakley
Sarah Ogley
Nicholas Osmond
Charlie Palmer
Christopher Peake
James Pellow
Jonathan Pembroke
Susan Penhaligon
Simon Pennicott
Adam Philps
David Pibworth

Howard Platt
Hippolyte Poirier
Oliver Powell
Stephen Pucci
Brendan Quinn
Tom Radford
Nigel Richards
Zachary Richardson
Robin Rightmyer
Dean Riley
Bill Risebero
Maria Rodriguez Reina
Miles Roughley
Christopher Rowland
James Russell
Giovanna Ryan
Andrea Sadler
Nicolas Sagar
Jake Samuels
Roger Sansom
Ami Sayers
Jonathan Silvestri
Paul Sloss
Theo Spofforth
Jill Stanford
Owyn Stephens
Archie Stevens
Matthew Stevens
Freddie Stewart
Chris David Storer
Lorna Stuart
Noah Swer-Fox
Barnaby Taylor
Bryony Tebbutt
Louise Templeton
Vinicius Timmerman
Paul Tonkin
Geoffrey Towers
Aaron Townsend
Obioma Ugoala
Alexander Varey
William Vasey
Andrew Venning
Chris Waplington
Damien Warren-Smith
Nicholas Waters
Alfie Webster
Robert Welling
Tim Wells
Matt Whipps
Natalia Wierzbicka
Nicholas White
Emma Whittaker
Theo Williams
Philip Wolff
Hadleigh Wood
Rosie Woodham
Russell Wootton
Tony Wredden