About Us> Alumni
CHRISTOPHER TOMKINSON
Christopher first turned up at
atyp in about 1986 and threw up from food poisoning [thank you, cheeseburger]. It wasn't a great start but it just got better from there. Classes and shows and friends that are still my closest today.
His first play with
atyp was
Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees at the Opera House. Then a couple of devised shows made in classes before
Burger Brain - the Fast Food Musical [where the only cheeseburger was one he waxed his surfboard with],
Spring Awakening,
All Stops Out [which toured the UK] and then
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Henry V and
The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other.
So in the 90s Christopher went off to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and on return began working with STC, Bell Shakespeare, Ensemble and a variety of other companies, including his own production company.
While working as an actor in Shakespeare, contemporary plays and musicals as well as the occasional spot on TV, Christopher has been working at the
atyp as a workshop leader and director of scripted and devised works. Where he has made a raft of new friends.
Christopher's play
The Orphan's Orchard has just been published in South Africa, and he is the director of
The Teenage Alchemist, a play developed by
atyp and produced by the kids' cancer charity Camp Quality, which is touring NSW at present.
atyp has shaped my life and taught me so much about myself and the wonders of the world. It has given me so much and I love being able to give some of that back to other folks.
- as at 1 Sep, 2009