Miss English’s summer holiday turns to adventure when a particularly enthusiastic student, a platypus, stows away in her camper van.

Miss English teaches her last lesson of term in Italy and arrives at the English seaside. She paints on the beach, enjoys fish and chips in the company of an annoying seagull and deals with the English weather – all while stowaway Platypus tries to convince her to give him English lessons. Miss English’s holiday romance sees her sharing her passion for Punch and Judy and Platypus’ new friend follows him to Italy to start the new school year. With plot twists, puppetry, masks, magic, sing-along songs and comedy between the puppets and Miss English, the show delights young audiences and has them in fits of laughter.

Miss English’s Holiday is aimed at 3 to 7 year old English speakers or children up to 9 where English is their second language.

Turin’s Action Theatre, led by Lecoq-trained Rupert Raison, is one of Italy’s leading English Teaching Theatre companies. Specialising in masks, puppets, physical theatre, songs and comedy, the company performs approximately 1,200 Workshows in central and north Italy each year to students aged 4-14. In 2023, Miss English’s Holiday toured extensively in primary schools with great success.

In conjunction with live shows, Action Theatre’s digital platform, Learning English Through Fun will be rolling out interactive resources for teachers and young English learners in 2024.

Rupert Raison is a writer, director and artistic director of Action Theatre. He is a leading expert in the field of English Teaching Theatre and with over 50 titles to his name he has created a host of unique comedy characters. Originally from London, England, Rupert studied at Jacques Lecoq in Paris for two years and then moved to Italy to work in physical theatre where he founded the Dizziacs Theatre Company and subsequently Action Theatre to teach English to Italian students. He has co-written five primary school textbooks called Mr. English for the Raffaello publishing company and spent two years writing the comedy sitcom Tracy and Polpetta to teach English to kids with Rai Divertinglese, the national Italian TV company. Rupert is delighted to see his characters come to life both live and online.

Ina Lark is a London-based Finnish musical theatre performer who has been entertaining people around the world ever since she graduated from musical theatre studies at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Ina performed in cast production shows in Menorca and Turkey, toured the UK and North Italy. She has also worked on Brittany Ferries as an entertainment manager and vocalist.

Her prominent roles include Helen in Fun Home (Mountview), Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Mountview), Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff and various other characters in Macbeth (Quantum Theatre), Gerda in The Snow Queen (Quantum Theatre) and Miss English in Miss English’s Holiday (Action Theatre).

Juliet Turnbull is an actress, singer, qualified teacher and workshop leader. She has a BA in Drama from Queen Mary, University of London and a Masters in Education from the University of Cambridge. Juliet first worked with Action Theatre in 2017-18 as an actress before completing her teacher training and working in schools in England. She is now based in Turin and working for Action Theatre, performing in theatre shows, leading workshops, producing online tutorials and coordinating summer camps.

Juliet previously performed at the Fringe Festival in HOUSEPLAY (Queen Mary Theatre Company, 2015), iDolls (Queen Mary Theatre Company, 2016) and WAGGO (Queen Mary Theatre Company, 2017).

See more of Miss English and friends here!

If you have any enquiries, please do not hesitate to get in touch!
For press or collaboration inquiries, please contact us at: infoactiontheatre@gmail.com

Miss English’s Holiday is available for theatre bookings and international tours from autumn 2024.