Young Trondra actor set for stage role in Peter Pan
A young actor from Trondra is one of the stars in Peter Pan, which opens today at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh.
Antony Okill, 22, plays the role of young Michael Darling in the Christmas family adaptation of the classic children’s story by J M Barrie.
Antony graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow this summer. His first taste of acting, which set him on the course he has since pursued, was at Scalloway Junior High School and subsequently he became enthusiastically involved in the productions of the Shetland Youth Theatre and The Shetland County Drama Festival.
After he finished his education at the Anderson High School and a singing performance in their production of Anything Goes, Antony moved down to Edinburgh to do an HNC in Performing Arts at Telford College. This prepared him for the many rigorous auditions around Britain to acquire a much-contested place in a prestigious drama school.
At the RSAMD he has performed in a wide range of productions including Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Peter Barnes’ The Ruling Class and Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening. He also played the goose in the Mother Goose pantomime last Christmas.
During his time at the RSAMD, Antony has worked “front of house” in both the Theatre Royal and King’s Theatre in Glasgow and at the Edinburgh Festival.
Peter Pan promises to be one of the Christmas shows of the year. Peter is played by Scott Fletcher, Wendy by Kim Gerard and Captain Hook by Stuart Bowman.
The show is directed by Jemima Levick, assistant director at the Dundee Rep who directed Baby, Baby at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre and brought the play to Shetland earlier this year.
Many performances of Peter Pan, which runs twice daily except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day until 3rd January, are already sold out. For booking details go to www.lyceum.org.uk or call the booking office at 0131 248 4848.
Last year Francesca Leyland, from Lerwick, starred in a production of Aladdin in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
She played the part of Jasmine alongside Ray Meagher, best known to British audiences as Alf from the TV soap Home and Away, Pui Fan Lee from CBeebies as Aladdin and Billy Boyle as Widow Twankey.
She is studying for a BA in musical theatre performance at the Arts Educational School of Musical Theatre in London.
