MARK PEGLER
(RICHARD HANNAY)

Mark began his acting career at high school in Adelaide, taught by his then drama teacher, now internationally acclaimed theatre director, Gale Edwards. He was a founding member of Gale’s company “Energy Connection”. Mark then trained at NIDA, graduating 1984 and since then has worked extensively in theatre, film and television in both
Sydney and Melbourne. Film credits include One Such Night, Forty Five Dollars an Hour, Bullseye, Burke and Wills and Break and Enter which won the AFI in 1999 for Best Short Film.
Mark’s television credits include Blue Heelers, Stingers, Round the Twist IV, Dogwoman 2, The Last of the Ryans, State Coroner, Law of the Land, Phoneix II, A Country Practice, Flying Doctors, The Last Resort, Perhaps Love, Vietnam, Home and Away, Neighbours, MDA and All Saints.
Theatre credits for Sydney Theatre Company include: Embers, Festen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, All My Sons, Romeo and Juliet, Dance of Death and The White Devil which toured to New York. For Melbourne Theatre Company: Blithe Spirit, The Duchess of Malfi, The Tempest, Private Lives, Julius Caesar and My Father’s Father.
Mark has also performed with many other companies including Playbox (touring Japan and Korea), Chambermade Opera, Hothouse, Castlemaine Festival, Hildegarde, Chameleon Theatre Company, The State Theatre Company of South Australia, Company B, Bell Shakespeare Company, La Mama, Burning House, Melbourne Workers Theatre, O’Punksky’s, Marian Street, Nimrod Theatre Company, at The Comedy Theatre in Melbourne (Noises Off) and danced with Meryl Tankard's Australian Dance Theatre (Nuti and Kikimora). Mark’s most recent appearance on stage was in The Kid for Griffin Theatre Company.

HELEN CHRISTINSON
(PAMELA, ANNABELLA & MARGARET)

Helen graduated from QUT’s Acting program in 2004. While at QUT she was fortunate enough to work with such directors as Michael Gow, Jennifer Flowers, Karen Crone and Sean Mee on shows such as Live Acts on Stage, The Winter’s Tale, Roberto Zucco and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.After graduating from QUT Helen played the dual role of Ellen and Sarmitte in LaBoite’s The Drowning Bride, directed by Michael Futcher. Helen has also worked at QTC, again under the direction of Michael Gow, playing Amanda in Private Lives, a co- production with STCSA, and the seductive widow- next- door, Fanny Wilton in Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman. She has also delved into her darker side playing Lena in the Stablemates’ production of Marius von Mayenberg’s The Cold Child, directed by Anthony Skuse. Helen’s film credits include Rapid Fear, Endurance Island, The Underdog’s Tale and Harrisville. Helen’s dream of working with the MTC was realised this year when she was cast in The 39 Steps under the direction of Maria Aitken.  She has loved every minute of working on this show and is thrilled to be part of the Australian and Asian tour of The 39 Steps.

Octavia Barron Martin
(PAMELA, ANNABELLA & MARGARET) From March 2009

Octavia graduated in 2001 with a BA in Music Theatre from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Prior to her study she appeared in the Australian feature film Looking For Alibrandi. Since graduating she has played the supporting role of Laurie in the feature film The Honourable Wally Norman.
Her theatre credits include Travesties (The Edge); Love’s Triumph (Darlinghurst Theatre); Vincent in Brixton (Ensemble Theatre); Debbie Does Dallas - The Musical (Three Amigos/Rockcity); the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of David Williamson’s Influence, which was also part of State Theatre Company of South Australia and Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2005 seasons, Young Tycoons (Darlinghurst Theatre) and the Australian premiere of Losing Louis (Ensemble Theatre). Her television appearances include All Saints, Out Of The Blue; The Alice; Through My Eyes, Staying Single, Comedy Inc. Out of the Blue and as the ill-fated Mrs. Chandler in the ABC/Film Australia docu-drama Who Killed Dr. Bogle and Mrs. Chandler?. Octavia appeared in the short films The Game and Saturday Night Newtown, Sunday Morning Enmore; the finalist and grand-finalist entries respectively for Writer/Director Christopher Johnson as part of Movie Extra's Project Greenlight 2006. Octavia’s most recent stage credits include The Hatpin, Love Bites, Breast Wishes and Little Women. Later this year Octavia will appear at The Ensemble Theatre in Absurd Person Singular.

JO TURNER
(CLOWN 1)

Jo is an actor, director and writer. A graduate of Melbourne University Jo then trained at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Graduating from Lecoq, Jo performed in Le Bus (Le Théâtre des Deux Rives and National tour). He then created and performed in several new works including Cabaret Monstre (Théâtre de la Jacquerie, Paris); Brainstorm (InTransit Theater. Swiss national tour); Dead on the Ground (Hoipolloi Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, national and international tour). Jo also directed honestly for Hoipolloi (Edinburgh Festival, national and international tour).
In Australia Jo has performed with The Sydney Theatre Company: Thyestes, Fears and Miseries of the Third Reich (staged reading), New Russian Plays (staged reading), Howard Katz, Belvoir Street: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Ensemble Theatre: The Imaginary Invalid, The Australian Theatre of the Deaf: The Language of One, B Sharp: Faustus, The Q Theatre: The Investigation (staged reading), Weather, Somewhere, Black Swan Theatre Company (WA): Plainsong, La Boite Theatre (Qld): Emma’s Nose and The Street Theatre (ACT): Closer. He was in the feature film You Can’t Stop the Murders (Miramax) and short films Fear (AFTRS) and The Making of the Darlings…(Best Short - Aus. Cinematographers Guild). On TV Jo has appeared in Backberner, All Saints, White Collar Blue and heaps of ads to pay for nice things.
Jo recently co-wrote and performed in the new multi-media/theatre show The Window which has toured to Brisbane, Japan and Adelaide.Jo’s directing credits include Puntila and His Man Matti (ATYP), Don’t Stare too Much! (Darlinghurst Theatre), The No Chance in Hell Hotel (IPAC, Seymour Centre), Mademoiselle Fifi (Darlinghurst Theatre), Bookends Project (ATYP and Sydney Writers Festival), Nepean Graduates showcase day, Vanity Fair by Declan Donellan (ACTT), Death of a Stallion (Short and Sweet 08) and Crossfire by Michel Azama (Ashfield Youth Theatre).
Jo recently directed his first short film Eating Cake.

RUSSELL FLETCHER
(CLOWN 2) Melbourne Season only

Russell has produced, performed and led workshops for corporate groups since 1991, and with Troupe Du Jour has wowed Australian business audiences with his energy and wit.
With improvised comedy, Russell is a Theatresports Allstar, has won a WORLD IMPROV CHAMPIONSHIP in Montreal, and hosts the incredible Spontaneous Broadway at The Famous Spiegeltent. Recent stage appearances have included CYRANO DE BERGERAC for the Melbourne Theatre Company, NOISES OFF at the Comedy Theatre, and national tours of TWELVE ANGRY MEN, CERTIFIED MALE and THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. On TV Russell has appeared on WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?, THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE and LANO AND WOODLEY. Russell recently toured his acclaimed A TRIBUTE TO DANNY KAYE around Australia. In 2008 Russell is Associate Producer and performer with a new TV improvisation show called Comedy Slapdown, hosted by H.G. Nelson, and to be screened on Foxtel’s “thecomedychannel” in September.

DREW FORSYTHE
(CLOWN 2) 2009 Tour

Since  Drew Forsythe graduated from NIDA in 1969 he has appeared in over 90 major stage productions in roles that range from Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet to Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace, from Mozart in Amadeus to both Twins in The Venetian Twins (written for him by Nick Enright and Terence Clarke), from the Servant in The Servant of Two Masters to Tesman in Hedda Gabler, from Stan Laurel in Gone With Hardy to Kostia in The Seagull.                  
 In musicals he was the King in Big River, The major General in Pirates of Penzance, Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore, won a Green Room best actor award for his performance as Koko in The Mikado and co-wrote and appeared as the mad scientist, Dr Furtwangler, in The Republic of Myopia (which opened the new Sydney Theatre in 2004).                  
David Williamson wrote the play Flatfoot for Drew in which he played eleven different characters and a parrot. David said, "It was written, in a sense, as a homage to a great Roman comic, Plautus, and a great Australian comic actor, and I think if Plautus were watching from some Roman afterlife he'd feel that Drew is a true inheritor of his comic genius."
Some of the films Drew has appeared in are Stone, Caddie (for which he won an AFI best supporting actor award), Newsfront, Annie's Coming Out, Ginger Meggs, Burke and Wills, Traveling North, Billy's Holiday and Ned, a feature film written and directed by his son, Abe.
On TV he has been in The Dingo Principle, The Party Machine, GP, All Saints, Packed To The Rafters, The Miraculous Mellops and won a best actor award for his role in Whose Baby.  He was the voice and drove the body and mind of the animated talk show host, David Tench, in the Andrew Denton/Animal Logic TV show, David Tench Tonight.
He joined Richard Tognetti and Michael Leunig in a production of Michael's version of Saint-Saens Carnival Of The Humans for the ACO. Acting out all the humans in a Leunig inspired costume.
Drew was a co-creator, writer and performer of Three Men And A Baby Grand which began at the Tilbury Hotel in Woolloomooloo played throughout the country, the Edinburgh Festival, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and as a series on ABC/TV.
The same team of Drew, Jonathan Biggins and Phillip Scott have gone on to create the Wharf Revue for the Sydney Theatre Co and later this year will go on to write the next revue for what will be their tenth year and 16th show and follow it up in 2010 with a national tour.