We are versatile in the roles we play, although we have our favourite characters, which we share with you below. However, if you have specific needs, required for a certain property or event, then please do get in touch.

My name is Sarah Morris. I have been in love with the Tudors since I was eleven years old, and with Anne Boleyn, in particular. She is my historical heroine, a true force of nature and a woman ahead of her time. As a result of this passion, I began writing a novel about her innocence in 2010. This was published in two volumes in 2012 and 2013. It is called Le Temps Viendra: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. Two more Tudor books have followed since, this time both non-fiction; In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn and In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII. Both focus on telling the life story of the women in question but looking through the lens of the places they visited and called home.

The characters I play are Anne Boleyn and Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond. Whilst everyone knows of Henry VIII’s ill-fated second wife, Mary is less well known. Younger than Anne by some eighteen years, Mary appears in contemporary records as serving a key role to her mistress in great ceremonial events. Unusually, Mary was of the reformed faith, quite at odds with the rest of her powerful, Catholic family. Married to Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, she remained a widow from the age of seventeen, after the duke died. Thereafter, she forcefully resisted the attempts of her male relatives to secure a second marriage. Like Anne, Mary was a strong woman, who dared to defy convention. I love them both!

My name is Chris Rew. I am a more recent player in the Tudor community. However, I have always had an interest in this fascinating period. I find Henry VIII and his court to be compelling. In my professional life, I spend a lot of time with business leaders exploring the leadership challenges they face. Today leadership is a more complex  – and subtle – art. As the dominant alpha male of the time, Henry resorted to more drastic measures than we see today to wield his power! This larger-than-life character makes for an engaging experience for all.

The characters I play have included occasionally a young (and slim!)  Henry VIII, and Sir Henry Norris.  Henry VIII is perhaps one of the most well-known characters in English history. However, his courtiers are less well known, but in my opinion, often equally as fascinating. Sir Henry was a close confidante of the king, serving as his Groom of the Stool from 1526 until his execution ten years later. A popular character at court, Sir Henry was very much part of the cosmopolitan Boleyn faction. However, it was his closeness to Anne and the Boleyns which was to be Sir Henry’s downfall. A minor argument between Anne Boleyn and Henry on 30 April 1536, in which the queen accused Sir Henry publicly of looking for ‘dead men’s shoes’, was to seal his fate on the scaffold, on 17th May 1536.

More recently I play Thomas Boleyn, Anne Boleyns father of course, and I am currently researching Thomas Cromwell, as Henry’s foil and support for many a year, superceding his mentor Cardinal Wolsey. Cromwell has a fascinating upbringing and history, bringing him to the attention of Henry, rising to become one of the most influential members of Henry’s court as principal minister. His roles were many and particularly that of Vice-regent in Spirituals, Cromwells influence is well known in his enthusiastic efforts in the Dissolution of the Monasteries…

My name is Debbie Allen. Like my fellow ‘Players’, I have been fascinated by the Tudor period since childhood, when Tudor re-enactors visited our school. I remember being captivated by the booming sound of King Henry VIII’s voice echoing around the hall. I admired the beautiful gowns of the ladies of the court, and I remember them showing us how to bow and curtsey before the king and queen. It was an experience that always stayed with me and which sowed a seed for my later interest.

Now as a re-enactor, I’m proud to be part of a group that are passionate about recreating this captivating period of English history. The character I play is Lady Elizabeth Worcester, lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn. Born Elizabeth Browne in about 1502, she was about the same age as the queen. She was married by 1527 to Henry Somerset, the 2^nd Earl of Worcester, thereafter becoming the Lady Worcester. The role of Lady Elizabeth in Anne’s life and death is somewhat of a mystery. On the one hand, contemporary records describe how Elizabeth was ‘the fyrst accuser’ of the queen. However, if the Lady Worcester was the queen’s enemy, it seemed Anne Boleyn knew nothing of it.  After her arrest, the traumatised queen ‘much lamented my lady of Worcester… because her child did not stir in her body… for the sorrow she took of me.’

Lady Worcester had ten children in all. It was suggested her daughter, Anne, was not the Earl’s child, although there is no indication of this in the family records. Her story is far from straightforward. It appears that she was a feisty character, and on these grounds, to me, she remains one of the most interesting ladies in the queen’s household. She died in 1565; her effigy is at St Mary’s Church, Chepstow, Monmouthshire.

My name is Liz Burns.  My fascination with the Tudors began when I bought a book on Catherine Howard at eight years of age.  Coming from Yorkshire, I have always been interested in the Tudor connections to the North of England including the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536 and the fateful Royal Progress of Henry and Catherine Howard in 1541.   This royal house contains a world of beguiling characters, and if you were to see my bookshelf today, you would quickly realise that it takes a lifetime of reading to get to know them all, but what a world to live in (if only)!

The character I have chosen to play is Anne Gainsford, Lady Zouche.  Anne (or Nan) joined the household of Anne Boleyn in 1528, before her marriage to King Henry VIII, and became one of the Queen’s official ladies-in-waiting in 1533.

A close confidant to the queen, Nan was trusted with Anne’s own copy of Tyndale’s “The Obedience of a Christian Man”.  It was eventually taken by Nan’s fiancé George Zouche to Cardinal Wolsey who deemed the book heretical and ultimately into the hands of the King.  Nan was also a witness to what Anne Boleyn referred to as “a book of prophecy” which was left in her private apartments.  Depicting images and letters that were interpreted as King Henry, Catherine of Aragon and Anne herself, it showed Anne without her head.

Anne Zouche was questioned in the lead up to Anne’s arrest and was forced to testify against her queen.

My name is Russ Allen. I work as a Maintenance Manager for Network Rail and also volunteer as an events assistant for three National Trust properties in Kent. I am married to the lovely Debbie Allen, aka, Lady Worcester. I have always had a penchant for history from a very early age, especially Tudor, and more recently, the history associated with the 2^nd World War. I find it all just fascinating, and something to be embraced by all. So, bringing it to life is really fulfilling.

The main character I play is Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII`s Chancellor of the Exchequer, born around 1485, in Putney. He was the king’s Chief Minister for over 8 years, a powerful man and advocate of the Reformation. He worked tirelessly to assist Henry VIII, helping to engineer the annulment of the king`s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, thus removing obstacles to his union with Anne Boleyn. During Cromwell’s rise to power, he also made many enemies, including his former ally, Anne. He played a prominent role in her downfall. However, he himself, fell victim to the machinations of the conservative faction at court, having made himself vulnerable on account of the central role he played in bringing about the king’s ill-fated marriage to Anne of Cleves. He was executed on Tower Hill in 1540. When required, I also re-enact as Thomas Boleyn and Sir John Russell.

The songs of the period are alive with hidden messages, double meanings and as much detail and colour as a tapestry, and I absolutely adore them!

My name is Melita Thomas, and, like my fellow players, I’ve been intrigued by Tudor history since childhood. I am the co-founder of the Tudor Times website, devoted to all things Tudor and Stewart in the period 1485 – 1625 and I’m currently researching for my PhD at UCL, in Early Modern Studies.

I am the author of two non-fiction Tudor books. The first, The King’s Pearl: Henry VIII and his daughter, Mary, traces the complex relationship between Henry and Mary. During her childhood, she was the apple of his eye, and even during the tenure of Anne Boleyn as queen, their relationship did not break down completely. Later, Mary was to hold a prominent place at court, as friend and companion to three of Henry’s later queens. My second book was the House of Grey – which follows the fortunes of the Tudor family’s cousins, the Greys of Dorset, and attempts, in part, to answer the question of why Henry, Duke of Suffolk, imperilled the life of his daughter, Lady Jane Grey, in a bid for the throne.

The main character I play is Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox. She was the daughter of Margaret, Queen of Scots and the Earl of Angus, but spent most of her life in England, a great favourite with Henry VIII and later Mary I, but looked on with suspicion by Elizabeth. An inveterate plotter, she promoted the marriage of her son, Lord Darnley, to Mary, Queen of Scots, and was one of the few people imprisoned in the Tower who lived to tell the tale!

I also play Cecily, Baroness Harington and Bonville, who was the wife of Thomas, 1^st Marquis of Dorset, and thus daughter-in-law to Queen Elizabeth Woodville. Cecily was a great heiress and builder, but quarrels over money significantly damaged her relationship with her son, the 2^nd marquis.

My name is Craig Lightoller. I am currently a student Nursing Associate studying at Roehampton University and a Tudor nerd. Hailing from Leicestershire, I recall many Sunday afternoons at Bradgate Park, gazing at the ruins of the Tudor manor house that belonged to the Grey family and Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen for nine days before Mary I reclaimed the crown.

Re-enacting came later in life for me as on my 50^th birthday; I held an intimate Tudor Feast at Coombe Abbey. Dressed in Tudor finery, I was being photographed before meeting my guests when I was alerted to several hotel guests shouting, “Alright, Henry”? It was at that point I resembled the ageing Tudor monarch.

I started with The Tudor Players as Charles Brandon, the first Duke of Suffolk and made my debut at Chenies Manor. I was hooked and slowly transitioned into becoming Henry VIII, an honour that has been bestowed upon me and one that I cherish. When dressed as Henry VIII, I strive to immerse myself in the mindset of a king while also exploring his vulnerabilities as a man.

My name is Wendy Dixon.  I first fell in love with the Tudors watching the Six Wives of Henry VIII in the 1970s, starring Keith Michell.  I was a teenager and from then on, I was hooked.  The Elizabeth R series with Glenda Jackson followed and my fascination intensified – the costumes, the politics, the Tudor language, the dancing, the music, the total dominance of the King.  

I now have an extensive collection of historical DVDs and particularly the Tudors.  Anne Boleyn intrigues me the most, how Henry’s relationship with her began so passionately but ended so quickly in disaster for Anne.

I have also acquired over 300 historical dolls, which began with my Elizabeth I doll and this has now ballooned into a doll for most of the Kings and Queen’s of England, and their spouses, plus some other notable characters.

I have played the part of Anne Sapcote, Lady Russell, c. 1500 – 1559 – Lord Russell’s wife and owner of Chenies Manor which Henry VIII visited on his return from York on the 1541 Progress.

Anne married three times: firstly, to John Broughton, secondly to Richard Jerningham Russell, and finally to John Russell 1st Earl of Bedford. She had three children by her first marriage and one by her third.

Anne died in 1559. She and her husband were buried in the Bedford Chapel in Chenies, Buckinghamshire.

My name is Isabella Haasz and I have always adored history. My passion for the Tudors was born from my experience as a steward at Acton Court where I first saw Tudor re-enactment and had the opportunity to partake for a day. I was instantly hooked in the beautiful and wonderfully crafted gowns and the dramatic, oftentimes brutal, history of Henry VIII’s reign.

As the youngest member of the Tudor players, I often play the free-spirited Catherine Howard, as well as Anne Boleyn’s cousin and lady in waiting Madge Shelton. 

I adore the history of the war of the roses as well as the Tudors and I particularly love the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. I am pursuing a career in theatre with a keen interest in Shakespeare and I enjoy my volunteer work at Berkeley castle!

When I’m not in Tudor gowns and dazzling jewels I am in my workshop making my own costumes and creating props for my hobbies of cosplaying.