Simon is currently playing Trinculo in Greg Dorans ground breaking production of The Tempest with Simon Russell Beale for the RSC, the critically acclaimed, sell out production heads to the Barbican theatre in the summer of 2017. He recently played regular roles in ITV’s supernatural thriller Midwinter Of The Spirit and BBC’S smash hit series Ordinary Lies season 2.
He trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Upon graduation he won the BBC Carlton Hobbs Award becoming a member of the BBC Radio Rep Company where he has appeared in over 60 plays for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. Since then he has worked continuously in mainstream Theatre including the RSC, Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal Court, Birmingham Rep, Barbican, Young Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre, Soho Theatre and Hampstead Theatre.
Simon was the very first actor to play Puck at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in Mike Alfred’s acclaimed 2002 production of ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’, which led to an appearance as Puck in the BBC’s ‘In Search of Shakespeare’ documentary. This led to his first season at the Royal Shakespeare Company where he has appeared in 14 productions in Stratford Upon Avon, America, Madrid and the West End over the last 11 years.
During his time with the Company he won the Clarence Derwent Award (best supporting Actor on the British stage) for his role in ‘The Taming of The Shrew’ and was nominated for the Helen Hayes award in the USA for the same production. He was also nominated for the West End’s Evening Standard Award for his role in the RSC’s award winning ‘House of Desires’. Having appeared alongside Dame Judi Dench and Simon Callow in ‘ Merry Wives the Musical’ Simon was honoured to be one of 30 actors chosen to perform a speech at the closing of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, that company included Sir Ian Mckellen, Patrick Stewart, Sir Antony Sher and Dame Judi Dench.He later reopened the brand new £115,000,000 Theatre playing Ariel to Antony Sher’s Prospero.
Simon spent 4 months in Hamburg playing Puck in Benjamin Britten’s Midsummer Nights Dream at The Hamburg State Opera under world renowned conductor Simone Young.
After playing Caliban to Pete Postlethwaite’s Prospero at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre Simon moved into Television and Film appearing on the BBC and ITV in ‘Holby City’, ‘Dalziel and Pascoe’ and ‘The Children’. His film work includes Anton Chekov’s ‘The Duel’, horror flick ‘The Dark Half’ and he starred in a prime time drama for ITV with Anna Friel called ‘Without you’. Simon also appeared in the BBC film of ‘Richard The Second’ produced by Sam Mendes, directed by Rupert Goold and starring David Suchet, Patrick Stewart and Ben Whishaw.
Simon directed ‘Henry V’ for the RSC young company in conjunction with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Swan Theatre Stratford Upon Avon and ‘Kidnapped’ for the Manchester fringe with theatre company ‘In The Red’.
He is represented by Oliver Thomson at Cole Kitchenn, London. http://www.colekitchenn.com/
Simon teaches regularly at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Drama Centre London, Man Met Theatre School, RSC, Advanced Performers Studio LAMDA, Heat & Light Hampstead Theatre, Actors Centre Sydney, National Theatre Drama School Melbourne, McDonald College of Performing Arts Sydney, BSA and his own Independent Centre for Actor Training in London and Manchester.