Gillian Bevan

Most recent theatre:

Mama Mizner in the European Premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Prior to this she played Sheila in Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury and was asked to appear in the 80th Birthday tribute concert of Company for Stephen Sondheim for the Donmar. Gillian recently played Alice in Billy Liar at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and With a Song in my Heart at Salisbury. Other theatre includes the award winning Grand Hotel at the Donmar Warehouse, and a tour of Japan with Adam Cooper in On Your Toes. She started work at Perth Rep, then worked in many rep companies including the Bristol Old Vic (A Doll’s House). She spent three years with Alan Ayckbourn’s Theatre in the Round appearing in Season’s Greetings, Me Myself & I, Making Tracks, Saturday Sunday Monday, Twelfth Night, and culminating in a US Tour of Way Upstream and Absent Friends.

Other regional work includes:

Ophelia in Hamlet (Leatherhead), Belle in Little Me, Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers (York), Lady Teazle in School for Scandal (Cambridge Theatre Co), Hawks and Doves (directed by Patrick Sandford) at Southampton and Facade at the Sage Gateshead for the Northern Sinfonia.

Work in London includes:

Lace in Making Tracks (Greenwich), Gertie in Noel & Gertie (King’s Head), Young Phyllis in Follies (West End), Roxy in In the Midnight Hour at the Young Vic and Luciana at the Open Air Theatre in The Boys From Syracuse (directed by Judi Dench).

Work at the RSC includes:

Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Barbican and Stratford and the Cast Album) and Celia in As You Like It (directed by John Caird).

Television:

Gillian is most known for playing Gina Hope for a year in Holby City, who went to Switzerland for assisted dying and four series playing Claire Hunter (the Head Teacher) in the award winning Teachers for Channel 4. Other TV includes The Innocents directed by Peter Kosminsky, Lewis, The Chief (Series 5/Det Supt Penfold), Cissie in Lost Empires (with Laurence Olivier and Colin Firth), the cult screen one drama Ghostwatch (BBC), Dance to the Music of Time (Millie Andriadis), Touch of Frost, Foyles War, Family Man, Whistleblowers, Kiss & Tell, Peak Practice, Loved by You (two series), Sunburn, New Tricks, Harley St and many other television performances.

Film includes:

Sergeant Slaughter with Tom Hardy.

Other work includes:

Founder member of Tight Assets Theatre with Tessa Peake-Jones and Helen Kluger. Directed John Dodd Gets taken for a Ride and A Good Place for Fishing written by Richard Lumsden for Radio 4. Gillian co-wrote the Radio Five Drama series Fifteen Love. Co-wrote and produced the Radio 4 two-part drama No Rights-Only Wrongs starring Celia Imrie and Robert Daws. Gillian has been in over fifty plays and has done many readings for BBC Radio 4. She also co-produced with Simon Green and played Mary in the charity gala at The Shaftesbury Theatre of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Sunday with Sondheim directed by Julia McKenzie.