Toby began a lifetime of working in theatre with inspirational drama teachers Bill Stanton and Stella Webley at Trinity School Leamington Spa.

 

BA (hons) in Drama from Hull University (1987).

 

Trained at National Youth Theatre (1983), Fool Time Circus School, Bristol (1987-88), and at the École Philippe Gaulier et Monika Pagneaux in Paris (1990-91).

 

Toby has worked in music and theatre as a busker, actor, variety performer, circus artist, Las Vegas porn-clown, improvising musician, composer, musical director, creative producer, graphic designer, director and physical comedy consultant.

 

Early work included solo street performance and membership of the German circus/rock-n-roll/comedy group The Jumpin' Juggins (1988-90). With fellow Gaulier students he formed Comecon, a polyglot physical theatre company based in Cologne, producing UBU ROI (1991) and UROBORUS (1992). From 1994-97 he was musical director and actor with Karl’s Kuhne Gassenchau, the lZurich-based site-specific performance company, creating with them the quarry-based spectacles S.T.E.I.N.B.R.U.C.H (1994, 1997), R.U.P.T.U.R.E (1995) and GRAND PARADIS (1997).

 

In 1997 he formed Spymonkey with Aitor Basauri and Petra Massey, with whom he has performed all of their shows to date, including STIFF (dir. Cal McCrystal 1998), COOPED (dir. Cal McCrystal 2001), ZUMANITY (with Cirque du Soleil 2003-05), BLESS (dir. Cal McCrystal 2007), MOBY DICK (dir. Jos Houben & Rob Thirtle 2009), LOVE IN (dir. Christopher Green 2011), OEDIPUSSY (dir. Emma Rice 2012), EVERY LAST TRICK (dir. Paul Hunter 2014), THE COMPLETE DEATHS (dir. Tim Crouch 2016), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (dir. Ed Gaughan 2018).

 

Other performance work has included The Walking Orchestra’s OTHELLO MUSIC (dir. Tom Morris, BAC 1999); member of the Improbable Theatre LIFEGAME company (1998) which ran off-Broadway in 2000, and ANIMO (1999); Sandi Toksvig and Ronnie Corbett's CHRISTMAS CRACKER at the Royal Festival Hall (2009). TV appearances include Cirque Images’ 2003 series SOLSTROM for Bravo Cable Network and BBC2 HYPERDRIVE.

 

Toby is an acclaimed teacher of clown, physical comedy and music, including Central School of Speech and Drama, National Theatre Connections programme, National Drama Teachers Conference, University of Kent, University of Winchester, LIPA, Hull Truck and New York Clown Festival.

 

Trustee of Tall Stories Theatre Company since 2002.

 

 

DIRECTING & PHYSICAL COMEDY

 

• physical comedy director, JACK ABSOLUTE FLIES AGAIN (National Theatre, dir. Thea Sharrock, in developement 2020/21)
• physical comedy director, Vaudeville Productions' UNBELIEVABLE (in development 2020/21)
• physical comedy director, TARTUFFE (National Theatre, dir. Blanche McIntyre 2019)
• physical comedy director, MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (RSC. dir. Fiona Laird 2018)
• physical comedy director, MACK & MABEL (Chichester Festival Theatre dir. Jonathan Church 2015)
• physical comedy consultant to Sacha Baron Cohen for GRIMSBY (Columbia Pictures 2015)
• physical comedy consultant for ALADDIN (Lyric Hammersmith, dir. Ellen McDougall 2016)
• physical comedy consultant for FANTASTIC MR FOX (Nuffield Southampton, dir. Maria Aberg 2017)
• director and co-creator of FABULOUS BÄCKSTRÖM BROTHERS, a clown chamber opera (Finland 2014), and BIG BANG SIEGFRIED, a symphonic version for Orchestra Hagen (Germany 2016), and A FABULOUS CHRISTMAS CAROL Kapsäkki Theatre, Helsinki Finland (2020)
• director of YOU AREN'T DOING IT WRONG IF NO-ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE DOING by Rachel Blackman, a Brighton Festival 2020 commission
• co-director and composer for THE GAMES (2010) and SINK OR SWIM (2013) for Spike Theatre Liverpool
• co-director with Maria Aitken of Georgia Pritchett’s TELLING TALES, for ATG (2015)
• co-director with Will Kerley of ENTER THE DRAGONS by Emma Edwards & Abigail Dooley (UK touring 2017, Best Show Brighton Fringe 2017)
• co-director of Hijinx's THE FLOP (Total Theatre Award nominee 2018) and THE OPENING / THE CLOSING (2012)

 

MUSIC

 

• Original score and songs for Spymonkey's COOPED (2001), BLESS (2007), MOBY DICK (2009), LOVE IN (2010), THE COMPLETE DEATHS (2016)
• Original score and songs co-written with Neil Filby for Spymonkey's OEDIPUSSY (2012 dir. Emma Rice)
• Original score and songs co-written with Ross Hughes, Ed Guaghan, Marcus Penorse for Spymonkey's CHRISTMAS CORKER (2014) and CHRISTMAS CAROL (2018)
• Exstatic - original score for 1080 ORIGINAL GRAVITY (Edinburgh 1993)
• Karl's Kühne Gassenschau - joint musical director S.T.E.I.N.B.R.U.C.H (1994, 1997), R.U.P.T.U.R.E (1995) and GRAND PARADIS (Zurich & Montreux 1996)
• Mimbre - original score for SPRUNG (1999), THE BRIDGE (UK tour 2006)
• Guy Dartnell - original score for WOULD SAY SOMETHING (UK tour 1998, winner Best Show Time Out)
• Walking Orchestra's OTHELLO MUSIC - performer (dir. Tom Morris BAC 1999)
• Improbable Theatre's LIFEGAME - performer (1999-2000 international tour & off-Broadway)
• Graeme Gilmour / Northern Lights - original score for site specific KIELDER WATER (2006)
• U/Z Events' FIRHILL BASIN - original score for site specific commission in Glasgow (2008)
• National Trust / Northern Lights - original score & site specific installations for THE ELECTRIC ESTATE (2010)
• EVERY LAST TRICK (Royal & Derngate Northampton 2014) original score & songs, dir. Paul Hunter
• ADVENTURES IN MOOMIN VALLEY original score and sound design (South Bank Centre & UK tour 2018)

SPYMONKEY

 

COOPED / THE COMPLETE DEATHS / STIFF / CHRISTMAS CAROL

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Mack & Mabel (CFT 2015)

 

Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC 2018)

 

Fabulous Backstrom Brothers (2015)

SPYMONKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL

SPYMONKEY / LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN & PLAYHOUSE 2018

 

HALF A PIECE OF COAL

lyrics and music by Toby Park, arranged by Ross Hughes, performed by Sophie Russell / Toby Park, band Ross Hughes / Marcus Penrose / David Insua Cao

directed by Ed Gaughan

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