In Town Today 12th August

Award winning actor David Callister was born in Norwich, Norfolk and educated locally. It was while playing leading roles in school productions such as Oliver Twist that David realized his future was to be on stage. With a flare for mimicry, David gained experience performing his own one-man show as an impressionist and as a Pontins Bluecoat before formally training at The Webber Douglas Academy in London. Following his graduation, he quickly won a variety of roles encompassing all manor of performing genre. Theatre triumphs came early as Tom in The Glass Menagerie, Malvolio and Orsino in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Max Millar in We’ll Meet Again for Channel Theatre Company and The Actor in the play God by Woody Allen. More success followed as Gorringe in Black Comedy, Josef Kobut in Judgement Day, Mike in Births, Lysander In A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Moon in Sir Tom Stoppard’s A Real Inspector Hound. The early 90’s marked David’s debut on the small screen. While auditioning for a part in a television sitcom, he was offered the role of P.C. Kevin Anderson in the hit crime drama series The Bill, a role he played for eight months.

Subsequent TV performances followed in The Chief for ITV, Crime Monthly, Michael Winner’s True Crimes, The Casting Couch and Heat of the Day. He has also appeared in a number of films, most notably as Jerry in Little Big Deal, Steve in Odd One or Two and Mike in The Feminine Touch, which was a multi award winner at The Raindance Film Festival. During this period, David was offered a major theatre break by leading UK producer Ian Dickens whose company he has continued to work with on a regular basis for several years now. In his first season of weekly rep with Ian Dickens, David appeared in 13 of the 15 productions staged, 10 of which were leading roles. He has gone on to become one of the UK’s most popular touring actors today having played everything from Agatha Christie to Alan Ayckbourn. Roles of particular note include; Norman in The Dresser, Bernard in Camoletti’s Don’t Dress For Dinner, Norman in Ayckbourn’s Trilogy The Norman Conquests and George Pigden and John Smith in the Ray Cooney farces Out of Order and Run For Your Wife. More recently he received great critical acclaim for his role as John Barrett in N.J Crisp’s psychological thriller Dangerous Obsession but it is perhaps for his high energy, precision performances in Ray Cooney’s farces that he is best loved and for which he has received consistently rave reviews over the years. David has just completed touring as Rick in the thriller Killing Time and Ernest Foster in Murder with Love, again for Ian Dickens Productions and has just completed a tour as the Rev. Lionel Toop in Philip King's Pools Paradise.. Away from the theatre, David’s interests are many and varied. A fanatical film enthusiast, he boasts a vast collection of videos and DVDs and is constantly looking to extend his library. With keeping fit a priority, he enjoys working out at the gym, eating healthily, relaxing on long country walks and gardening. David is a committed animal charity supporter.  Giles Watling writes:        February 2010. Welcome to the land of me. It's been a while since I edited this and now, after a long hard winter, I feel able to tackle the inter-web once more.  Note the new shots above - both 2009 - very different.  In fact we could do one of those 'spot the difference' things.  One in colour, one black and white.  I bet you can spot a few more. Still writing and doing the voice work - everything from beer to selling office space in China...  Usual stuff.  You can check out a voice sample at:  http://www.crocodilemusic.co.uk/  - click 'Voices' and I'm on page 2.   Very nice people! You might recall my mentioning Brian Clemens' new thriller "Strictly Murder" which I played in at the wonderful Mill Theatre at Sonning.  Well, we did get it on again.  Not in the West End sadly, but a national tour for 2009.  I directed and Ian Dickens produced.  You have to take your hat off to that man, when many others have fallen by the wayside because of all the financial trials and tribulations over the last couple of years, he seems to keep on batting.  The tour was a great success.  The original cast, Nick Waring, Maxine Gregory, Clare Hatfield, the superb Jeffrey Perry, was modified for various reasons; the lovely Maxine was replaced by gorgeous Kim Tiddy, Clare by my great friend Sabina Franklyn and Jeffrey by the thrilling Ben Roberts. I want to work with all of them again... May 2008 I directed Ray Cooney's 'Funny Money'.     We opened to cracking reviews in Lincoln and has toured for the summer and autumn.   It was a national tour for Ian Dickens starring John Altman, my old mate Vicki Michelle, Chris Ellison, Peter Blake, Sally-Ann Matthews and the ever effervescent David Callister.   As an actor I've been back on the road (somebody help!).  A comedy thriller called 'A Party to Murder'.  I've known better pieces.  It read well though and the audiences liked it.   I discovered on the first day of rehearsals that my character is west coast American.  After a few weeks doing a vocal tour of the States I settled down to what has been described as a passable Northern Californian accent.  It's always best to do an accent that nobody is familiar with... Earlier this year I directet a National tour of 'Inside Job' by Brian Clemens. Jeff Phillips is a local Swansea artist holding an exhibition in the hite Room at the Grand Theatre until 21st August. There are two separate themes, one being The Life and Times of Dylan Thomas stretching from the Uplands in Swansea to New York. This is in collaboration with the Dylan Thomas Experience. The other theme is Swansea life through trams, the coal era, steel and railways & trams.