ABOUT US...

First formed in 2005 by Stephen Wiggins and Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Maple Giant is a fresh-faced independent theatre company bringing together new talent across Oxford.

MGT enjoys producing contemporary theatre in the form of cutting edge productions, concerts and cabaret evenings, and we are proud to develop and support those who are truly interested in making a career in performance.

Stephen Wiggins & Amy Cooke-Hodgson

With a real passion for contemporary, minimalist theatre, Amy has spent the past 7 years directing a variety of shows in South & Central England and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her one act comedy, 'Angels', sold out at its Oxford run before being nominated for a Fringe Award in 2000.

She has coached drama and stage skills at a performing arts academy in Warwickshire and has devised a collection of children's theatre for primary students inspired by making cross-curricular links within the National Curriculum.

Amy performs regularly with the improvised comedy group, 'The Oxford Imps', recently performing at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh where the group received a 5-star review. More recently she has directed an award-winning large cast production of 'Cabaret' and performed in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Stephen began his career in amateur musical theatre in 2000 when he was Producer, Director and Musical Director for 'A Slice of Saturday Night', the final musical production at Westminster College, Oxford .

He has since worked as an accompanist for cabarets, weddings and in semi-professional theatre orchestras. In 2005 Stephen was co-director of St. Columba's choir, conducting and performing a varied mix of choral works.

Stephen's passion for contemporary musical theatre has inspired Maple Giant's production programme. In 2006 the Company debuted at the Studio Theatre, Headington, with the comedy musical revue 'Personals' to sell out audiences. This was followed by a series of cabaret evenings, developed by Stephen, showcasing lesser known and more recent musical theatre material.

The Company made it's city-centre debut with a full-scale production of 'Personals' at the OFS Studio Theatre in Oxford, where they were greeted with another run of sell-out performances. In June 2008 MGT presented the first South of England production, outside of London, of the award-winning 'The Last 5 Years' by Jason Robert Brown.

In October 2008 the Company will return to the OFS with a production of the Pulitzer-Prize winning play 'PROOF' by David Auburn.