After twenty years as a Head of Drama, advisor and examiner, Cate Hollis left full time teaching to found Voices of the Holocaust. As the only specialist Holocaust theatre in education company, grounded in years of research and the collective informed advice and wisdom of educators and academics from all over the world, Voices has toured the UK, performed at the European Parliament and received standing ovations at the International Jewish Theatre Awards. Cate has been nominated for Pride of Britain, National Diversity and NICE (excellence in cultural innovation) awards.
Voices began with the original play Butterflies devised / written by Cate and a dedicated team of young actors which was based on the story of Hana Brady, first explored by Cate at a National Drama conference with renowned Professor Belarie Zatzman from Toronto University. It led to further study, a number of postgraduate qualifications including a Masters from Warwick University and meeting numerous inspirational survivors and educators who persuaded Cate to change direction and dedicate her professional life to telling the stories that needed to be told.
Cate lives in Milton Keynes with her very patient partner, a usually patient seven-year-old and an impatient house bunny who has a tendency to chew through her laptop cable and slow her down when she is working from home. In her spare time she volunteers at a homeless shelter when she is not cooking in her kitchen or becoming something of an expert in space and dinosaurs thanks to a small boy. In the year of Covid, Cate has been loving working as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities.
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Mark Wheeller began writing whilst a student at Marlwood Comprehensive School, Bristol. After teaching drama for thirty-six years he retired in July 2015 to concentrate on writing and delivering Drama/Theatre workshops to students and teachers across the world.
Mark is one of the most-performed playwrights in Britain. Too Much Punch For Judy has been performed over 6,000 times and Chicken! nearly 6,000. Missing Dan Nolan and Hard to Swallow are both set texts for the GSCE Drama 9-1 exams. His work has been a staple part of the Drama curriculum both in the UK and abroad for the past three decades. Professional productions of Hard to Swallow, I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die and Chicken! regularly tour schools and many of Mark’s works are available on DVD and digital formats. His study guides include Drama Schemes, The Story Behind Too Much Punch For Judy, Drama Club & Hard to Swallow – Easy to Digest. Salamander Street are pleased to be publishing a new career retrospective book Mark wrote during the lockdown, Verbatim – The Fun Of Making Theatre Seriously.
He has three children and lives just outside the New Forest, with his wife Rachel, and Labrador, Dusty.
