DIRECTING Emil Wolk’s extensive and varied theatre credits range from small collaborative cutting edge groups most notably The People Show - the UK’s longest existing theatre ensemble to principal roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and the Royal National Theatre in London. The son of a principal baritone of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Jess Walters, he grew up in the high decibel world of trained voices and inevitably found himself involved with Opera but never as a singer, but as a consultant and choreographer. Emil choreographed roles for singers imparting his knowledge of comic business to Papageno in the Scottish Opera’s MAGIC FLUTE and comic characterisation in productions at both the Luxembourg Opera for GIANNI SCHICCI, and Britten’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at the London Coliseum. He was the Vaudeville Consultant for Sir David McVicar’s PAGLIACCI at the Metropolitan Opera. He directed LAUGHTER & TEARS for the Victorian Opera a co-production with Circus Oz. Recently he has been asked to do the comic choreography for Lotte de Beer’s MARRIAGE OF FIGARO at the Aix Music Festival in Provence but the pandemic has put pay to it. Emil has also directed CIRCUS OZ on three occasions: once for Australia’s Bicentennial. He co-directed ANIMAL CRACKERS with Greg Hersov, also at the Royal Exchange, which was then transferred to the West End. The Independent said of it - ‘fast and furious, yet sometimes in slow motion, never the crude custard pie variety, but at its balletic, beautiful best; inspired tumbling, surreal clowning; pure nonsense, without sense or sensibility, cruel and yet innocent, this display of organised chaos will leave your face aching for a week. ACTING Emil has had the pleasure of biting Princess Sophie’s neck in the spoof BATS - a show he co-wrote - while playing Dracula at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. ‘Emil Wolk was a cross between Harpo Marx and a Werewolf!’ The Guardian Emil is not a stranger to the Classics having played such roles as Bottom the Weaver under the directorial skill of Nancy Meckler, Captain Brazen in the RECRUITING OFFICER with Braham Murray at the helm, and Aerial both on stage, and on screen to Sir John Gielgud’s last ever Prospero for Peter Greenaway in his film PROSPERO’S BOOKS. He has performed in operas: most hilariously as the naked body of the dead Buoso in GIANNI SCHICCI at the Vlaamse Opera, and most memorably as the world’s oldest and most inept Puck to David Daniels’ Oberon in Robert Carsen’s renowned production of Benjamin Britten’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at La Scala. Emil also has walked the boards of other great theatres. In CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG he played Goran in the original cast at the London Palladium in which he is one of only two actors who has sung and recorded “Think Vulgar’: specially written for the two spies by the Sherman Brothers. Unfortunately this song was dropped after the first year fo being... too vulgar. At the RSC at Stratford he played one of the two Gangsters in KISS ME KATE and was AWARDED AN OLIVIER AWARD FOR THE BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL which was given to him in a brown paper bag at the office of the Society of West End Theatres - he missed out on the formal presentation thanks to Circus O which he was directing for their Bicentennial show. Most recently he has devised and performed in NO. 137 GOD KNOWS HOW MANY in which he starred in the film as Emil Wishbone in SHADOW ON THE LUNG opposite Hilary Clinton which lauded the virtues of smoking. Emil’s screen work has been extensive: as Cyprus Charlie, best friend to Jeff Goldblum in Richard Curtis’ very first film, THE TALL GUY Emil played Kamenev murdered by Stalin, in Robert Duvall’s STALIN and fled a death camp Samuel in Jack Gold’s ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR. He has had his skull removed in Stephen Soderbergh’s KAFKA; not to forget his moving performance in EOS WORLD OF CANON. He played a Josser in People Show’s THE JOSSERS, and in Channel 4’s very first film STARWASHED as a knight looking for the Holy Grail on the Central L tube. Television includes: PRIME SUSPECT, THE BILL, LOST EMPIRES, CASANOVA, HOUR OF THE PIG, SCHOOL FOR CLOWNS, FULL STRETCH and RAKE. TRAINING Emil originally trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff and after several years in mainstream theatre at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry he went to Paris in 1968 just after Les Événements and trained in mime with Étienne Decroux and in Grotowsky’s physical theatre techniques with Serge Outkine. He also trained at the Gymnase du Cirque with Tudor Bono in acrobatics and in circus skills at the Academie de Fratellini. His knowledge of vaudeville ‘speciality acts was from the remarkable Johnny Hutch MBE.. Jess Walters was his voice teacher.