A woman in a pale dress stands centre stage with arms outstretched, her long shadow reaching toward the camera as the ensemble surrounds her.

Rex Doyle Theatre, Guildford School of Acting2025

The Road to Gunpowder Hill

The Production

The Road to Gunpowder Hill was a new original musical produced by Guildford School of Acting and performed by the MFA Musical Theatre course. Written by Matthew Floyd Jones and inspired by the true story of a missing girl, the production played at the Rex Doyle Theatre in early 2025.

45 photographs in the curated edit

Director: Julian Woolford
Musical Director: Matthew Floyd Jones
Choreographer: Phyllida Crowley-Smith
Lighting Design: Ben Lucas
Costume Design: Kit Hand-Holding, Vanessa Dean
Commissioned by: Guildford School of Acting
Photography: Steve Gregson

A uniformed performer leans forward and points sharply into darkness, her face caught in crisp side light.

The black-box stage stretches wide between two seated rows of performers under amber haze and overhead lights.

An ensemble poses under saturated blue and magenta light, with a large fan lifted above the central performer.

A performer in red leans close behind a serious young woman in blue, with another performer blurred in the background.

Two seated performers mime a car journey beneath a road projection, their shadows thrown across a tight spotlight.

Several performers laugh together in close formation, their period-style coats and green shawl brightly lit against darkness.

A performer in a floral dress stands alone in magenta light, with a chair, projection and patterned shadow filling the stage.

A uniformed performer addresses the audience from the foreground while an ensemble strikes gestures across the amber-lit stage.

A uniformed performer sits against blackness with eyes closed, her face sculpted by a narrow dramatic light.

Three performers play around a costume rack, with bright clothes, an animal head prop and a raised red outfit creating a comic backstage scene.

A lone performer stands in a small circular spotlight beneath a projected Guildford sign, surrounded by darkness.

Two seated performers face each other in intense conversation, their hands raised between them in warm side light.

A wide blue-green scene places performers around a circular stage area, with haze, chairs and a projection creating depth.

A woman in a hat reaches toward the audience with wide eyes while a man beside her stares sternly ahead.

A smiling uniformed performer speaks into a handheld microphone, lit sharply against a black background.

A cluster of performers in hats and glasses huddles in low coloured light, faces emerging from the black stage.

Two performers stand close beneath a patterned parasol, smiling at each other against a black stage.

A sparse stage is lit in blue and white, with a chair and performer isolated beneath a projection while shadows cut across the floor.

A smiling performer in a floral dress holds a sunflower bouquet under pink stage light.

Two uniformed performers stand in blue haze, their profiles separated by a beam of light.

A man grips a steering wheel and speaks animatedly while the seated woman beside him reacts under focused light.

A uniformed performer points toward a man at centre stage as the ensemble watches from the surrounding space.

A lit man looks upward in the foreground while a performer in green glasses peers over him from darkness.

A woman in a pale dress stands with arms open beneath a single blue spotlight, framed by darkness.

A performer in a red coat holds a microphone and speaks forward while a woman in a pale dress watches behind her.

A central performer stands in blue light as others wait around the stage edge, their long shadows stretching across the floor.

A performer in a pink jacket points outward while holding a clipboard, with two others watching tensely beside her.

Two performers face each other warmly in close-up, one smiling as soft haze glows behind them.

A uniformed performer stands in a bright spotlight on a dark stage, with seated figures and a projection receding behind.

A performer in flowing green fabric reaches upward into warm light, her red hair and raised arm isolated against black.

A smiling performer spreads a sheer red costume like wings in front of a rack of colourful clothes.

A uniformed performer sits in a small pool of light beneath a large projected black-and-white image of a figure at a table.

A man in a blue sweater faces a woman in a red coat under greenish light, with a landscape projection behind them.

A performer kneels over small objects on the floor while another stands in a bright hazy pool of light.

A young uniformed performer stands in front of a projected face, smiling faintly in a narrow shaft of light.

A performer in a red coat stands close to the lens while other performers occupy the stage behind her under teal light.

The ensemble forms a circle around a central woman in a patterned dress, bathed in blue and amber pools of light.

A woman in a patterned dress sings or speaks into a handheld microphone, isolated by cool light with a seated figure in shadow behind her.

The ensemble lines the stage around a uniformed performer standing in a bright central pool of amber light.

Six performers stand in a line holding illuminated portrait placards beneath a projected face and text.

A performer in a striped scarf and brown jacket looks out with a pained expression under cool blue light.

A backstage operator reads from an open prompt script at a lit desk, with equipment glowing in the surrounding darkness.

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