ActII
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    • 2007 >
      • Big Sister
      • We Will Rock You
    • 2008 >
      • Return To The Forbidden Planet
      • The Jungle Book (Kids)
      • Whooooo's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?
    • 2009 >
      • The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
      • The Crucible
      • A Pirate's Life For Me
    • 2010 >
      • Bat Boy
      • Take That And Party!
      • Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision
      • The Timothy Bile Show
      • Our House
    • 2011 >
      • Our Country's Good
      • The Recruiting Officer
      • Oklahoma!
      • The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
      • Charming!
      • Seussical
    • 2012 >
      • Alice In Wonderland
      • Miss Saigon School Edition
      • Nosferatu - A Live Silent Film
    • 2013 >
      • Bad Girls - The Musical
      • The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)
      • Monty Python's Spamalot
      • Pygmalion
      • 24 Hour Performathon
      • Revue 2013
    • 2014 >
      • Avenue Q School Edition
      • Les Miserables School Edition
      • Our Day Out
      • Beware the Jabberwock
      • Parents' Evening
      • The History Boys
      • Tommy
    • 2015 >
      • Dr. Dolittle Jr.
      • Johnny And The Dead
      • Hamlet
      • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
      • Great Expectations
      • Into the Woods
      • Sing As We Go!
      • The Odyssey
      • Urinetown: The Musical
      • Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida
      • Sleeping Beauty
    • 2016 >
      • 6in6 project
      • All For 1-2-3-4!
      • Carpe Jugulum
      • Bring It On
      • Made In Dagenham
      • The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui
      • Private Peaceful
    • 2017 >
      • Carrie: the musical
      • Peter Pan
      • Disco Inferno
      • The Monster That Ate 3B
      • The Seagull
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    • 2018 >
      • Candide
      • Rock And Roll Riot!
      • Bonnie And Clyde
    • 2020 >
      • Chicago
    • 2021 >
      • Legally Blonde
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    • 2022 >
      • London Road
      • All Shook Up
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      • The Madness of George III
    • 2023 >
      • In Love and War
      • C2H4
      • Eurobeat (The Pride of Europe)
      • The Sound of Music
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      • The Welkin and A Few Good Men
      • The Christmas Elfie
    • 2024 >
      • Seussical Jr
      • The Revengers' Comedies
      • Disney's The Little Mermaid
      • An Alien Stole My Skateboard
      • Everybody's Talking About Jamie Teen Edition
      • 13
      • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    • 2025 >
      • Kings and Queen
      • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
      • School of Rock
      • Kes
      • The Labyrinth
      • A Country Chorus Jamboree
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​WHO'S WHO

Karl Gernert, Director

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Karl gained a BA (Hons) in English and Drama in 2002, following which he worked for 2 years as Head of Drama at a theatre company.  He then set up Act II Theatre Company in 2004.  Karl holds Qualified Teacher Status and a post-graduate diploma in American History.  He works in pit bands as a bass guitar player, double bass player, pianist and conductor and is the bass guitarist for function band Zebra.

Karl's research interests include 1920's and 30's horror films, blurring the boundaries between film and theatre, and theatre in non-theatrical locations.

Charlotte Gernert, Director

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Charlotte worked for 2 years at the same Theatre Company as Karl, and then studied at Queen Mary's, University of London, where she gained a BA (Hons) in Drama (Applied).  She was secretary for Queen Mary Theatre Company, with whom she worked as a director, actor and technical operator and toured to the Edinburgh Fringe.  As a child, Charlotte gained the St. Cecelia Singing Award for choral singing.

Charlotte's research interests include the relationship between actor and audience, exploring the boundaries of where theatre starts and ends, the role of the curtain call in a performance and theatre in non-theatrical locations.

Alice Haley, Director

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Alice first became a student of Act II when she was a primary school. Once turning adult she interned with the company before heading to York St.John University to complete her BA (Hons) in Film Production. She now works full time for Act II and is responsible for our new and growing Early Years output. After a sabbatical to work as an au pair in Oregon, U.S.A. she is back at the studio and a valued member of the team!

Alice's research interests include animation, merging film and theatre and theatre in non-theatrical locations.

Liz Hallissey, Administrator

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Liz has been working with us since 2020 but has been a friend and supporter of the company for many years prior to that. Liz keeps the Act II ship sailing smoothly, managing finances, dealing with correspondence and generally being all-round essential. She is usually the first person our members see when they arrive at the studio and she always greets them with friendliness!

Olivia Black, Class and Parties Assistant

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Olivia is an Act II alumna, having performed in countless Act II productions as a child.  She gained a First degree honours in Acting for Film at the University of Chichester Conservatoire.  Olivia is Assistant Director at our Music Theatre classes, but can often be found covering other classes and running parties too! 

Olivia's research interests include the internal dialogue of a character, foreign language films and TV, and an actor's ability to alter the meaning and dynamic of a scene through their portrayal when using the same text.

Barry Perkins, Stage Manager

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Barry is our stage manager and has been with Act II since the company was founded.  He leads our backstage team, and heads up the inclusion of the Act II parrot (our unofficial mascot) in all of our productions.  If you come to see something, see if you can spot it!

Joe Dickinson, Assistant Stage Manager

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Joe grew up as a member of Act II, performing in a huge number of our productions (including Horton the Elephant in Seussical the Musical and Captain Walker in The Who's Tommy).  Joe has since become an invaluable member of the backstage team, not only during shows but also building many of our sets.

Emma Swords, Stage Crew, Class and Parties Assistant

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Emma grew up performing, with a particular emphasis on dance.  She started volunteering with Act II as part of our backstage team and quickly became an essential member of the Act II family.  She began working for the company as Assistant Director then moved on to her dream job in animal husbandry! Emma can still be found backstage, helping at classes (often with choreography) and in our workshop building and painting!



Sophie Gale, Stage Crew, Class and Parties Assistant

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Sophie is a former student who can't keep away! She is an invaluable member of our regular crew and often works at our birthday parties and at classes.  As a performer, she was Grizabella in Cats, Christmas Eve in Avenue Q School Edition and Cousin Kevin in The Who's Tommy, amongst many, many others!

Peter Graper, Exam Pianist

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​Peter is our exam pianist.  All of our singing students are accompanied by him for their exams.  In addition, he can sometimes be found accompanying our productions.
Peter is an retired teacher and church organist / choir master.  As a child, he went to Llandaff Cathedral School, and sang at Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation!

Kieran Watson, Technical Consultant

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Kieran works for Act II in a variety of capacities (helping with classes, administration, building sets etc.) but mostly works on our productions as a technical manager and sometimes deputy stage manager.  Kieran was previously a student at Act II and studied stage management at Central School of Speech and Drama, he now works in stage management in London.

Kieran's research interests include the use of multi-media in performance and theatre in non-theatrical locations.

Committed to providing arts for everyone.